Markets Media spoke with Alana Newman, Senior Director, Human Resources (APAC), Cboe Global Markets, who won Excellence in Talent Management at the 2024 Women in Finance Asia Awards.

What was your reaction to winning the award?

Very surprised, but also very humbled to first have been nominated, but then to have been recognised. Sometimes HR are the quiet achievers working away in the background, so it is nice to have our efforts called out occasionally!

What have been the main drivers of your success?

A supportive team and having leaders within the business who understand how critical the HR function is in achieving business outcomes. Having a seat at the table, so to speak.

Why is talent management so important? And what talent management initiatives are in place at Cboe?

Talent Management is so crucial to the success of an organisation. Everything from making great hiring decisions, developing and retaining talent and leveraging data to make informed decisions. Cboe within the APAC region has been on quite the journey since it acquired Chi-X 3 years ago. We have seen a significant amount of growth, so recruitment has been a high priority, but our focus has also been on implementing some of the basics and leveraging what great existing systems and processes Cboe Global Markets already had in place. This has been crucial to getting us where we are today and setting us up for future success.

What are your tips for an effective talent management strategy?

Leverage data to make data-driven decisions and gain insight into what is actually needed. Ensure there is buy-in from the top and alignment with the organisational goals.

How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?

I’ve often been described as the duck who is floating calmly on top of the water, but madly swimming beneath the surface. I think for me it’s important to keep a level head during stressful situations. I’m also a big advocate for looking after your own mental health, so I use meditation and breathing as a way to keep calm and composed. We are lucky enough at Cboe to have a subscription to the Headspace app as part of our wellbeing offering – I’m a big fan!

What’s your favorite aspect of working at Cboe? 

The people. I know everyone says that, but it’s true. I genuinely love working with my fellow Cboe colleagues, both locally and globally. I think it also helps that there is buy-in amongst our people that we are all working towards to same goal of building trusted markets. Cboe are a very people-focused business and we are always reviewing how we can improve and do better in our offerings to employees. It’s great to be part of an organisation who truly put their people first.