Consultant and Coach Bio
John Y L Chan
Managing Partner
Mobile Phone: (65) 9833-8033
Email:
John Chan is a business/executive coach to senior managers in Asia. He has over 37 years working experience in various leadership positions in Human Resources, Marketing, Manufacturing, Planning and Finance in Shell Companies in Singapore and in Shell International in U.K. In his previous roles, he has worked with and coached many business leadership teams in Shell in Asia. He is currently a consultant to organizations in Singapore and other Asian countries providing coaching and HR/change management consultancy services in Asia. He has also undertaken projects for the Civil Service.
Professional Expertise/Services
John has worked in Shell in Singapore and Europe for over 37 years and has held various leadership appointments in diverse business functions in Shell (including Retail Marketing Manager, Commercial Marketing Manager, Regional Manager, Business Consulting and Solutions) during his career; he also worked for 3 years at Shell headquarters in London as Strategic Change consultant as a member of the Group Organization and Leadership Development (GOLD) Team.He was HR Director of Shell in Singapore for 6 years and was also concurrently the Transformation Manager for Shell in the East where he worked with both local and regional leadership teams in business transformation and change initiatives, many of which included both team and individual coaching assignments. He has undergone professional coaching training with a reputable coaching programme and is a member of International Coaching Federation.
He is currently involved in consulting projects and coaching leaders in Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Japan and Korea.
John is also well-known in Singapore for his HR and Change expertise and his achievements in building a strong partnership and employee relations operating model with the Shell Employees Union and growing the Union's Co-operative business to over 3 times since taking over as its President since March 2000. His contributions and achievement was recognized in May Day 2006 by being awarded the prestigious "Friend of Labour" award by the Singapore National Trade Union Congress.
John was also appointed by the Work Development Agency, Ministry of Manpower, Singapore recently as Co- Chairman of Manpower Skills Development Council to oversee the development and implementation of the national competency standards for the HR profession in Singapore, and separately also as a member of Workplace Safety and Health Manpower Skills and Training Council.
Recent Coaching Assignments
- Regional VP of a global energy company. Focus was on developing leadership competences to take on his Asia Pacific responsibilities. A key area of focus was to work on the transition to the larger role involving the management of locations with staff from different cultural backgrounds and also managing demands of stakeholders. The individual have transited well in the role and have been to lead and transform his business unit to a high performing from the KPIs. He has since been promoted to a more senior regional position.
- Executive coach to a VP of a global function of a global chemical company. Key focus was working on a change on mindset about leadership (transiting from manager to leader) and development leadership competences gaps identified and preparation for him to take on greater responsibilities in the future. We used the a key transformation project he was heading and also the personal leadership brand as platforms on working on the behavioural issues identified. His superiors have reported that the coachee had undergone noticeable changed in his style and interactions after a year and the key project he was heading was supported and is being implemented. This led to additional two coaching assignments in the same company.
- Team coaching with a country functional leadership to transform the business unit into a high performing unit. The unit was trailing at the bottom against units in other locations in Asia-Pacific. Worked was done with the team in both identifying their competences gaps and building a cohesive team riding on the process used to identify their vision, mission and organization interventions to improve work processes and build a high-performance culture. After a series of leadership workshops spread over one and half years, the team was able to move the performance of the unit significantly up the rank order among its peers.
- Coaching both individuals and teams in various countries in Asia working on leadership development through a business transformation projects.
Career History
Coach/ConsultantStarted as a professional coach and HR/Change consultant in July 2006 after his retirement from Shell. Contracted by Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd. to do coaching and change management assignments in Singapore and Asia.
John has also worked in HR and Change Management consulting assignments for global companies in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, H.K., and Shanghai. He has also undertaken projects for the Civil Service and is familiar with the AIM Competences.
Career History with Shell
HR General Manager and Director
Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd. (mid 2000-2006). John was the Country HR head for one of the largest multi- nationals in Singapore with over 2000 employees including 220 expatriates and investments in assets exceeding US$5 billion.
From 2000-2004 he concurrently held the position of the Transformation Manager for Shell Oil Products East and was responsible for supporting leadership teams and business in implementing change and restructuring initiatives.
During the period he was a member of the Board of Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd., Shell Singapore Trustees Pte Ltd., President, Singapore Shell Employees' Union Co-Operatives Ltd.
Regional Manager, Asia, Business Consultancy and Business Solutions, Shell Services International (1998-2000)
He headed a team of local and expatriate consultants based in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to provide internal and external consulting work in transformation and business change.
Strategic Change Consultant, Shell International, London (1996-1998)
Based in London he provided change management consultancy to Shell Headquarters functions and businesses in Europe and U.S.
Retail Marketing Manager, Shell S'pore (1992-1996)
He was responsible for the P/L bottom-line for the whole retail business in Singapore. His major achievements include the re imaging of the retail sites and stores, the launch of the convenience stores in Singapore, introduction of differentiated fuel offering and franchise and company-operated outlets. He built the Singapore network to be one of Shell's top performers in the world during that period.
Commercial/Aviation Marketing Manager, Shell S'pore (1990-1992)
Responsible for the P/L of the Commercial Fuels and Lubricants and Aviation Businesses in Singapore.
Employee Relations Manager, Shell Companies in S'pore (1988-1990)
During this period, he was instrumental in building strong relations and rapport of the Singapore Shell Employees Union and was the key driver in the development of the Shared Industrial Relations Vision programme which has been recognised externally by both SHRI and NTUC as a leading IR practice and model.
HR Manager, Bukom Refinery, S'pore (1985-1988)
General Affairs Manager, Bukom Refinery (1983-1985)
Industrial Relations Manager, Shell Companies in S'pore (1979-1983)
Various positions in Finance, Retail, Planning, Organization Development (1968- 1978)
Jardine Waugh, Area Sale Manager, Consumer Goods Division, Brunei (1968).
Education and Professional Affiliations
- Completed Coach Training from Results Coaching
- Member of the International Coach Federation
- Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons.) - U. of Singapore
- Board Member, Singapore Professional and Executives Institute
- President, Shell Singapore Employees Union Co-operative
- Co-Chairman HR Manpower Skills Training Council, WDA, Ministry of Manpower 2006-2009
- Recipient of Singapore National Trade Union's, prestigious "Friend of Labour" Award 2006