View Interview
Hot Seat
Paul Simons
Chief Human Resources Officer, MUFG
Paul SIMONS was appointed Chief Human Resources Officer of MUFG in Asia in September 2023. He is a member of MUFG Asia Regional Executive Committee (EXCO) and the Global HR Leadership team and is responsible for delivering the people agenda including the human capital strategy in the region. MUFG in Asia spans 18 markets in ASEAN, East Asia including China, South Asia including India, and Oceania region, and has close to 7,000 staff. He is based in Singapore.
Paul has over 30 years of HR experience across multiple geographies and industries, including senior leadership positions in Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore), Centrica (UK), Diageo (UK) and GlaxoSmithKline (UK). He joined MUFG from Prudential Plc in Hong Kong where for the last 10 years, as the Chief Human Resources Officer for its Insurance Growth Markets group he led its HR function across 16 markets in Asia and Africa.
Paul graduated from University of Leeds in the United Kingdom with a Bachelor of Arts degree majored in Economics. He is a certified CIPD by Thames Valley University.
Q:If you were asked to articulate your “north star” for HR in your organisation over the next 5–10 years, how would you frame it?
A:My north star for HR over the next 5–10 years is to position our function as the employee equivalent of what the CMO represents for customers—a trusted advocate and strategic partner. We will leverage data and insights to guide decisions, ensuring that every people investment delivers maximum ROI. Ultimately, our goal is to create an employee experience that drives engagement, performance, and long-term organisational success.
Q:In your opinion, what are the biggest barriers that prevent organizations from becoming truly people-centric?
A:One of the biggest barriers to becoming truly people-centric is scale. As organizations grow, they inevitably introduce rules, standards, and processes to maintain consistency and compliance. While necessary, these structures often limit our ability to individualize the employee experience. This is where technology—especially AI—can play a transformative role. At MUFG, we are actively adopting and exploring advanced tools and solutions to personalize interactions at scale, anticipate employee needs, and deliver tailored experiences without compromising efficiency or governance.
Q:The workforce is transforming faster than ever. What emerging skills or mindsets do you believe will define future-ready leaders?
A:Future-ready leaders will need more than technical expertise—they must embody critical thinking, learning agility, curiosity, and empathy. Critical thinking ensures sound judgment in complex, fast-changing environments. Learning agility allows leaders to adapt quickly and thrive amid uncertainty. Curiosity drives innovation and continuous improvement, while empathy fosters trust and inclusion, enabling teams to perform at their best. Empathy, in particular, is something I strongly advocate because people are the heartbeat of the bank—our greatest asset.
Q:Looking ahead, what emerging business model or organisational structure do you believe will dominate, and what does that imply for how HR builds capabilities today?
A:I don’t believe a single business model will dominate in the future. Many multinational structures were designed during a period of global convergence—when the EU was expanding, China was opening up, and the post-Soviet bloc was integrating. Those assumptions no longer hold. Today, geopolitical shifts, cultural diversity, and regulatory complexity demand greater localized flexibility. For HR, this means building capabilities that enable agility—such as tailoring policies to local contexts, empowering regional and local leadership, and leveraging technology to maintain cohesion without imposing rigid uniformity.
Q:In your opinion, how will “psychological safety”, “inclusion” and “diversity of thought” evolve in their importance and practice over the next decade?
A:We’re experiencing a temporary backlash against ‘woke’ politics. While this has put these ideas on the back foot for now, I believe this is a short-term challenge. Over the next decade, these principles will only grow in importance. Organizations that fully embrace diversity and inclusion in all its forms will be the ones that win the war for talent. They will attract, retain, and inspire the best people—because creating environments where individuals feel safe, valued, and heard is fundamental to long-term success.
Q:What data or metric (currently under-leveraged) do you believe will become a critical barometer of organisational health in the next 5 years?
A:I believe engagement measurement will evolve significantly over the next five years. Instead of relying solely on periodic surveys that capture what people say, organizations will adopt more agile approaches that also reflect what people do. With advances in technology and analytics, companies will be able to capture a wide range of behavioral and sentiment data, providing continuous, real-time insights into employee experience and organizational health. I’m particularly excited about this shift because ‘Speak Up. Listen Up.’ is a core cultural principle at MUFG. We pride ourselves on acting on feedback, and these new capabilities will allow us to amplify that commitment. By combining our culture with technology, we can ensure that every voice is heard and acted upon—at scale and in real time.