Dear NEM members and community,
I am William Tan from Singapore and I am the Head of NEM Singapore. It has been my joy and privilege to be serving NEM in Singapore - promoting NEM technology to enterprises and the general public as well as building up a NEM friendly eco-system to further NEM’s interest.
Today, I have the honor of announcing my candidacy for the post of NEM Council Member.
WHY WILLIAM TAN for COUNCIL MEMBER?
1. Expertise in Human Resource Policies and Implementation, Change Management and Strategy work with large corporates and non-profit organisations
2. Corporate & Executive Coaching background working C-suite management and senior executives
3. A fresh pair of eyes looking into the blockchain and NEM world and into how to co-create an organisation that takes its place among the tech-world elites
4. Familiarity with the NEM workings and dynamics having crash-coursed into the industry and many hours of leg-work promoting NEM blockchain platform
5. Networked across NEM leadership teams across the Asia Pacific
STRATEGY BLUEPRINT FOR 2018-2019
There are a number of Core Areas that needs to be instituted and enhanced, viz.
1. HIGH GOVERNANCE WITH A LIGHT TOUCH
As a citizen of Singaporean – whose corporate governance and rule of law is highly regarded worldwide, I see much that is happening in the NEM community and workings that can be further refined to beef up corporate governance and its implication on NEM as an international foundation registered in Singapore.
NEM is tech-play. It has to punch its weight yet stay nimble in order to better tackle shifting sands in market environment. A light touch means being mindful of not having too much red-tape bog things down.
2) TRANSPARENCY
NEM’s operations worldwide calls for greater corporate governance so that it can be consistent, above board and most of all, professional. Some areas where transparency can be improved are:
- Rules of Engagement - vis-a-vis interaction amongst NEM members as well as with technology adoption-clients.
- Council Governance Code - including policy on Code of Conduct, Disciplinary cases etc
- Council Meetings – notice of meetings to be given in advance, minutes of meetings apostilled for better reference, bye-laws and constitutions clarified and refined and made available to members.
- Better Communication - of what transpired at council level to the NEM community worldwide to avoid all the side-talks and groping in the dark by the members.
- Greater Visibility - of the Exco, including communication of strategic directions, policies etc
- Greater Transparency on funds disbursement - to and from harvesting bounties, payroll and marketing activities
- Proper budgets - to be submitted on time and discrepancies explained
- Regular and proper accounts - submitted and audited by independent auditors and final statement of accounts apostilled
- Payment authority levels - defined and the multi-signatory feature utilised as a check and balance.
3) ACCOUNTABILITY
The recent surge in NEM activity world-wide over the past year has resulted in much expansion in terms of technology adoption as well as manpower requirements. For NEM to be where it should be, it is important that business, technology as well as human processes be strengthened. Some of these are as follows:
- Proper Reporting Lines - a NEM Foundation Organisation structure defined.
- Fair but enforceable KPIs - for everyone, including council members
- Feedback Channels
- Proper Channel - for any reporting of wrong doings
- Service Level Standards - defined in terms of time taken to return phone calls, enquiries etc, including when not to engage
4) PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES
There is much to be articulated and institutionalised. In order of importance, these are as follows:
- Talent Identification and Recruitment - (CRITICAL)
NEM’s immediate and critical need is to hire good competent developers to get Catapult off the ground. A **hiring committee headed by CoreDev comprising one member each from CoreDev, Council and Foundation HR** to be set up to help identify, vet and approve employment quickly.
- HR Policies on talent management, recruitment, remuneration etc
- Roles and Responsibilities
The roles and responsibilities as well as powers of the respective positions should be defined, with possibly each council member taking charge of a strategic initiative
- Communication Channels and Processes Defined
- Constitution and Bye-laws re-visited and benchmarked (where possible) with similar international organisations
- Election Guidelines to be further refined
- Training and Certification Courses for NEM technologies
5) TEAM PLAYER
There is much that the Council can achieve if it stays “AS ONE”.
6) BLOCKCHAIN OF NEM RECORDS
Appropriate NEM records (finances, agreements with clients etc) should be block-chained, apostilled and time-stamped for transparency.
SUMMARY
I am sure NEM has what it takes to be the blockchain protocol front-runner. I see much commitment and passion amongst many of the leaders and in the community. HOWEVER, there is a big need for internal housekeeping in the areas of GREATER TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY and ROBUST PROCESSES…
I intend to play my part.**
william