English scary for Thais
Want to hurt your competitors' recruitment efforts? Perhaps, just spreading a rumour that the rival company strictly demands fluent English language skills may be enough.
Artirat Charukitpipat, chief human resources officer at Bumrungrad International Hospital, told a recent seminar organised by the Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration that Thailand’s leading hospital group used to consider setting a minimum TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) score for candidates like some other leading Thai companies in other industries. But it had to abandon the idea. The reason?
“Some candidates were scared to apply for jobs at Bumrungrad. Because they had heard that we had TOEIC requirements. The rumours perhaps came from our competitors,” said Artirat, smiling at his apparent joke.
To counter the “rumours”, Bumrungrad has redefined its recruitment communication to let candidates know that if they work with the hospital, they will be provided English training.
SCB and year of the goat
In the Year of Goat, bad luck is expected for those born in the years of Ox, Goat, Dragon and Dog. Well, is that going to affect Siam Commercial Bank too, after the promotion of two top executives.
Arthid Nanthawithyam, 47, and Yol Phokasub, 53, senior executive vice presidents, were named as the next deputy executive chairman and president, pending the approval of shareholders in April.
Born in the Year of Goat and Ox, respectively, both have experienced strong currents even before taking over their new responsibilities – the embezzlement scandal at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) and the recent fire at the bank’s headquarters. The incidents affected Arthid more than Yol.
Fires at the bank’s headquarters are rare, given that they are the offices of top executives and home to systems that ensure smooth nationwide operations. Worse, SCB’s headquarters has been considered an intelligent building, expected to have a good fire-prevention system.
Originating on the 10th floor, the fire eventually damaged the ceiling of an office on the 9th floor. Yes, the office belongs to Arthid.
The banker admitted that he should have heeded the notion that this year could be bad for him. A Chinese fortune-teller had earlier advised him to avoid bad luck by moving his office to an upper floor. Another advice is he must not be in Thailand during the Chinese New Year, which falls on February 19.
He could heed the first advice easily. With his promotion, he would secure an office on the 32nd floor.
He is also looking at a place to visit as the Chinese New Year arrives. Well, it will have to be somewhere close to Thailand, as he is now the bank’s spokesman responsible for updating the media.
After the two incidents, he may not dare to ignore the fortune-teller’s advice.
Contributed by Sucheera Pinijparakarn and Pichaya Changsorn
