From Employee to Chief People Optimiser

Mar 05, 2025 35 Min Podcast

They got the high positions, but they are deeply unhappy.

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Michelle Ann Iking's Journey to Empowering People and Leaders

Want to elevate your team and make a lasting impact? Meet Michelle Ann Iking, who started off as a dedicated employee and rose to become the Chief People Optimiser, empowering others to reach their full potential. 

In this episode, Michelle reveals the secrets behind cultivating leadership at every level, turning the intangible art of people development into measurable success, and building powerful HR systems that drive real results.

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Welcome to Transformation Talks, where we dive into the riveting world of change management and business transformation. Join us as we navigate challenges, opportunities, and insights from visionary leaders shaping the future.

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A leadership facilitator with over 15 years of senior management experience across luxury hospitality, financial services, HR tech, and property development. Michelle has held C-suite Chief People Officer roles, managing multi-level stakeholders from board directors to interns. Passionate about mentorship, she guides women at entry to mid-management levels and supports those returning to the workforce after a sabbatical. A dedicated wife and mother, she believes life is a privilege, embracing her purpose while helping others navigate their own paths.

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Arul is currently an independent consultant working on improving the component level supply chain for a popular electric vehicle brand and also enabling the disruption of delivery services with cloud based technology solutions. He formerly was with GEODIS as the regional director of transformation and as the MD of GEODIS Malaysia. In GEODIS, he executed regional transformation initiatives with the Asia Pacific team to leapfrog disruption in the supply chain industry by creating customer value proposition, reliable services and providing accurate information to customers. He has driven transformation initiatives for government services and also assisted various Malaysian and Multi-National Organisations using the Lean Six Sigma methodology.

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