INSPIRED by her boss at the company she used to work for, Annie Yap started up AYP Associates in March last year to fulfil her dream of being an entrepreneur.
Previously the CEO of human resource consultancy GMP Group, Ms Yap's move to start her own HR consultancy was motivated by her mentor, GMP's late founder Giam Cheng Lan.
'I worked for her for seven years before she died. So for those seven years, I was trained in entrepreneurship,' says Ms Yap. 'In the eight years after she died, when I managed GMP, I treated it like my own business. So in terms of entrepreneurial skills and mindset, they haven't changed.'
She tapped her savings for several hundred thousand dollars to rent a serviced office and hire staff to set up AYP Associates. Now, the company has grown to one with 12 staff and has a permanent office. It also has an office in Hong Kong and tie-ups in India, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China and Malaysia.
To Ms Yap, the main difference between managing GMP and founding and running her own company is the total freedom she now has.
'At the end of the day, even if I could treat GMP as mine and run it like my own company, the fact is that it was under the ownership of the founder's family,' she says. 'So if there were any major decisions, I still had to consider seeking their approval. Now, I don't need to seek any approval. I can make any decision I like.'
Her years of experience at GMP have contributed to a differentiating asset for AYP Associates: its capability to network.
Ms Yap, now a 'brand name' in this industry, says she thinks 'the market was quite surprised' when she left GMP.
'Basically, all search firms provide the same services,' she says. 'The only difference is myself - my experience over the 15 years in this industry.
'When it comes to recruitment, it is easier to recruit when people know you, trust you. It's the same when you want to acquire a customer - it is easier to go in. They will give the business to us.'
Talent-spotted by Ms Giam to be an HR consultant, Ms Yap, who originally applied to join GMP as a marketing executive, chanced upon HR by a stroke of luck.
'Ms Giam herself usually doesn't interview job applicants personally,' she recalls. 'But that day there happened to be a birthday celebration, so she just asked the rest to relax and came out to interview me.'
Ms Yap was a fresh graduate - and that was her first job. But in it she found she had a passion for HR consulting.
'It brings a lot of joy to me personally when I see I can help candidates find their dream job,' she says. 'We spend a third of our life working, so job satisfaction is very important. Also, I am a very 'people person'. I like to work with people, and in this job, almost 80 per cent of my time is spent working with people, talking to people, communicating with them.'
Besides this, Ms Yap thinks that finding the right candidate for a company can have a positive effect on that company's performance, thus making her job meaningful. This is especially the case with executive placements, which is what AYP Associates is focusing on. The company has expertise in three main sectors - banking and finance, energy, and industrial.
Expanding a step at a time, Ms Yap hopes that by the start of next year, the company will be able to venture into junior-level placements by synergising with existing clients.
AYP Associates is projecting a $1.8 million turnover this year.
Looking ahead, Ms Yap says the recruitment industry is getting more competitive due to low barriers of entry.
The Internet has also accelerated the process of searching for potential candidates. In a generation where people are getting more mobile, AYP Associates intends to continue expanding its network in Asia to facilitate job-matching regionally.
'If you ask me about tactics, I say there are no clear tactics,' Ms Yap says. 'If you ask me about strategies, I say: stay very close to the customers, understand their needs, understand their wants - and supply those needs and wants.'
