Agnes Lam

Strategic Global Advisory: Acted as a key partner for the Global Hospitality Media business, ensuring our people strategy directly supported commercial goals across different regions. Organizational Design & Change: Led critical initiatives in re-organization and succession planning. I focused on making the workforce more adaptable by redesigning roles and improving team structures. Development & Performance: Used data-driven insights to manage talent development and employee growth, ensuring the organization was prepared for future business shifts.

Site Leadership: Led the People & Culture function and Office Management team in Berlin, serving as the main point of contact for both senior management and employees. Coaching & Partnership: Provided daily guidance and coaching to managers on topics ranging from performance management to culture-building, helping them lead their teams more effectively. DACH Regional Compliance: Ensured all local people operations and policies were fully compliant with German regulations. As part of the DACH P&C management team, I balanced local legal requirements with global corporate standards. Global Project Integration: Collaborated closely with the Global P&C team to roll out international HR projects and initiatives within the Berlin office.

Established HR from zero: As the first HR hire, I built the entire department's operations and policies from scratch to support our growth in the AI and autonomous driving sector. Strategic partner to Founders/C-suite: Worked directly with the leadership team to align people strategy with business goals. I managed everything from high-level organizational planning to day-to-day HR operations and German employment law compliance. Built the Tech Team: Led full-cycle recruitment to hire specialized AI and software engineering talent. My focus was not just on technical skills, but on finding people who fit the fast-paced, innovative culture of a deep-tech startup. Retention & Culture: Developed initiatives to improve the employee journey, ensuring our specialists stayed engaged and had clear paths for professional growth within the company.

Regional HR Leadership: Led the HR function across four key offices: Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Seoul. I ensured consistent HR operations and standards across these diverse markets. Strategic Advisory: Partnered with senior leadership to align talent management and organizational development with business goals. I provided hands-on advice on performance management, compensation, and employee relations to drive office performance. End-to-End Recruitment: Managed both Graduate and Lateral hiring for legal and business support roles across the region. This included sourcing, interviewing, and onboarding top-tier legal talent in competitive markets. Talent Mobility & Compliance: Managed the full employee lifecycle, including complex cases such as international secondments, promotions, and sensitive dismissal processes, ensuring compliance with local labor laws. Engagement & Mentorship: Drove initiatives to improve staff communication and engagement. I also served as a mentor to Office Managers and support staff across the APAC region to develop local leadership capabilities.

KPI-Driven Recruitment: Managed and supervised the achievement of critical hiring targets, focusing on time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, and quality of hire to meet business demands. Full-Cycle Staffing: Led the end-to-end recruitment process, from implementing sourcing strategies and screening candidates to managing offer negotiations and relocation logistics. Diversity & Future Talent: Drove key hiring initiatives focused on graduate recruitment and diversity, ensuring a balanced and high-quality talent pipeline. Hiring Manager Partnership: Acted as a consultant to hiring managers on recruitment best practices, ensuring all processes remained compliant with global company policies. Vendor & Resource Management: Established and maintained relationships with external recruitment vendors to supplement the internal staffing plan and meet fluctuating hiring needs.

Regional Resourcing & Team Leadership: Managed a team of HR professionals and Office Managers across China and Korea. Led all recruitment activities, including high-volume graduate trainee programs and lateral hiring for legal staff. Global Mobility & Strategy: Represented Greater China in the Global Mobility team, managing international assignments, secondments, and transfers while ensuring competitive compensation packages aligned with market conditions. Project Management & Regional Expansion: Played a key role in major Asia-wide projects, including the successful opening of the Seoul office, firm mergers, and the annual regional salary and bonus review. Financial & System Oversight: Managed a regional HR budget of over €2.4M (HKD 20M+) annually. Acted as Project Manager for the implementation of a new HRIS system across Asia, including training and change management for all users. Brand & Vendor Management: Oversaw recruitment marketing and managed relationships with key headhunters and vendors, negotiating terms and contractual provisions to ensure cost-effectiveness. International Campus Recruitment: Represented the firm at major career fairs and campus presentations in Australia (Sydney and Melbourne) to secure top-tier international talent.

Full time MBA program. Specialised International Finance, M&A, Consulting, Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Master thesis topic: What is the Human Resources function in different stages of startups? Cases of Berlin-based startups. Grade: 1.2 (equivalent to A)

City University of Hong Kong is one of the top Public universities in Hong Kong. It is ranked 18th in Asia and 53rd in 2021 QS Global World Rankings.