Original production by Thrive HR Exchange
Hosted by Matthew Chapman, Co-creator of Thrive HR Exchange and Founder of ChapmanCG

The motto ‘it’s a marathon, not a sprint’ has been a mantra for Martin Appel and his team at The Yoma Group for as long as he can remember. Martin discusses the effects of COVID-19 and the situation in Myanmar: the impacts on the employees, work environment and business performance.

With 10,000 employees working across six sectors, Martin shares some of the key challenges COVID-19 has brought on the business, as well, as the silver linings:

• Building resilience through increased communications and short-term goal setting.

• Introducing working from home – a foreign concept for many companies in Myanmar.

• Ways to engage employees socially in a virtual environment.

Guest Bio:

The Yoma Group is a leading conglomerate in Myanmar with a focus on the Real Estate, Financial Services, Automotive & Heavy Equipment, Healthcare, Consumer and Tourism sectors. Through its subsidiaries, Yoma Strategic Holdings and First Myanmar Investment, Yoma Group has built up a nation-wide presence and is widely regarded as the partner of choice for international organisations in Myanmar.

Martin joined the Group in August 2016 and serves as Chief Human Resources Officer, where his focus in building the People Capacity and Culture to support the Mission to Build a better Myanmar for its People.

Prior to that he held executive HR roles in Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Honeywell and IBM.

Originally from South Africa, Martin has lived and worked in Asia, including Singapore, India and Malaysia, and now Myanmar since December 2000. He is a naturalized Singapore citizen, and proud father of three daughters and 2 grandchildren.

He graduated from the University of Kwa Zula Natal (formerly the University of Natal), Durban, South Africa with a BA HDE Degree, and from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa with a Bachelor of Education (Hons).