Singapore — As SAP (NYSE: SAP) continues to grow aggressively in Asia Pacific and Japan, attracting and retaining strong talent remains a key priority. To this end, the company has appointed a new Vice President of Human Resources in APJ, Jairo Fernandez, responsible for human resource management across the region to support SAP’s accelerated growth.
Part of the SAP team since 2009, Jairo Fernandez has transferred to SAP’s Singapore regional headquarters from a similar role overseeing Latin America and the Caribbean, where he was based in Miami, Florida. Fernandez will apply his record of success toward further strengthening SAP’s talent base in the company’s fastest growing region. His team supports SAP’s 14,250 employees across Asia Pacific and Japan.
“Nothing is more important to SAP’s future success than its people,” said Fernandez. “As we grow the business in Asia Pacific and Japan, nurturing talent and sustainable leadership will be instrumental to achieving our goals and cultivating innovation. We aim to take our strong retention rates even higher through increased engagement and our world-class development programs.”
Over the past three years, as VP of Human Resources for SAP Latin America, Fernandez led his team in delivering outstanding results through innovative programs in talent attraction, leadership and diversity. Fernandez’s leadership drove high levels of employee engagement and generated a competitive advantage for SAP in the region. Fernandez was thrice named in the Excellence in Human Resources Awards of the South Florida Business Journal, in 2008, 2010 and 2011, among other awards.
Prior to SAP, Fernandez held roles spanning human resources, sales and marketing at technology firms, with regional experience at Neoris as Chief Human Capital Officer & Chief Marketing Officer, and at Unisys as Global Talent and Business Effectiveness Director, after managing human resources and marketing in Colombia, then Latin America.
SAP has developed several programs to develop and foster new talent to drive growth. In 2012, SAP’s headcount grew 23 percent in Asia Pacific, and the company plans to continue to hire more people in the region through 2015. In addition to hiring, SAP has made strides in improving its retention rate to 94 percent in 2012 worldwide.
In 2013, SAP’s Global Graduate Program will produce 330 graduates in China, India and Japan. Additionally, SAP HANA Talent University reaches over 200 universities across Asia Pacific to train young talent and encourage innovative applications of the solution.
About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 232,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.
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