On 16th July 2025, GT Bar, Audi House of Progress hosted StaffAny’s 16th edition of HR Happy Hour, where great insights are shared through fireside chats and Singapore’s HR professionals can network over great food, drinks, and GTR cars.
“How HR Leaders Leverage LinkedIn for Personal and Corporate Branding” was this session’s fireside chat topic, and today’s attendees were in for a treat. The speaker for this session was none other than Sam Neo, founder of People Mentality Inc, Group HR Director of Park Hotel Group, and a popular HR influencer known for his authenticity and personal brand on LinkedIn.
Surrounded by sleek GTR cars, the clinking of drink glasses, and insightful sharing from a branding guru, the evening was a reminder that branding is for people too, not just for products.
Here are some of the fireside chat’s highlights:
Why HR Needs a Brand
Human resource functions tend to get relegated to a support function, or even a dumping ground for troublesome staff. HR’s value beyond core functions like recruitment and payroll are well known among its own staff, it usually isn’t articulated well to others.
During Sam’s early years in HR, he noticed this and decided to change people’s perceptions of it into a profession worth pursuing. Encouraged by his mentors, Sam built his personal brand by sharing what he would have loved to know when he was first starting out as a HR professional, while working to shift people’s perceptions about HR by sharing the true value of what this function brings.
One phrase he used to describe this situation was the ‘Asian HR problem.’ Most people are too shy to speak up about the value their function brings, so people tend to perceive them as being worth less than their actual value.
“If we really want to have a seat at the table as a true business partner, as cliche as that sounds, we need to elevate our brand beyond just our capabilities to show our X factor. That’s where I think personal branding can make a huge difference.”
Start with Right Intention, Not Perfection
At the heart of this matter was the fear of being judged. The local Singaporean term ‘paiseh’ describes this perfectly: fear of being judged, of posting the “wrong” thing, or of appearing self-promotional.
To counter this, Sam offered a practical reframe:
Post the lessons your past self needed.
When you write to serve instead of to impress, you’ll find the courage to hit “publish.” Sam mentioned that when you write with the right intention, good attracts good. “If you put good things out there, good intentions, good content, you naturally attract good people, and good opportunities to you as well,” Sam shared.
He also encouraged HR leaders to lean on the community. “Your friends that you’re meeting in this session, your team members, your peers can help you build that initial safety net. When you support each other’s posts, it makes the journey less lonely.”
That way, you can support each other’s personal brand posts by commenting, resharing, and reacting to them.
Quick-fire Tips for Personal Branding Posts
Sam also provided a lot of great insights, such as:
- Authenticity requires alignment – While some vulnerability is good to keep your posts human, true authenticity requires alignment. That means being the same person online and offline.
- Consistent quality over quantity – Focus on posting consistently with quality rather than trying to post too often.
- For brand advocacy, develop guiderails – Build brand advocacy by making your team feel safe and supported when they share. This can require stakeholder engagement and training.
A Brand-Building Community
The night ended with drinks, stories, and new connections forged among HR professionals from brands like Don Don Donki, Shake Shack, Tiong Bahru Bakery, Miniso, Tim Hortons, and more.
As always, HR Happy Hour proved that beyond the learnings, it’s the community and conversations that leave a lasting impression.
A big thank you to Sam Neo for reminding us that HR doesn’t have to stay behind the curtain.
We’ll see you at the next one.
Your voice matters, on LinkedIn and beyond.
