I recently read an article about HR and Recruiting thought leaders written by Glassdoor.com

It appeared to be a great list of many people I really admire in our industry. What I was really disappointed with though was APAC did not even get a mention. I know their disclaimer was “We’ve based this list solely on social profiles and online engagement.”

But c’mon is Glassdoor trying to build a global tool here? Don’t be like Facebook and leave little old NZ out of the loop.

APAC has some remarkable HR and Recruiting folk and some I deem to be very much in the “thought leader category.”  So needless to say I was pretty annoyed at Glassdoor for not tipping their hat to anyone on this side of the world.

I am an Australian who lives in New Zealand and so have mad respect for both my birth and adopted countries and I am really inspired by what we in our industry achieve over here.

The sad thing is that every day I also recruit in the America’s and EMEA and I still speak to people and they say things like, “New Zealand, is that near London?” or “We have this company over here called IKEA, it’s an American company and I am not sure if you have it in Australia?

For those that are reading and don’t know why I would be going on about thought leaders over this side of the world let me tell you….

There have been many amazing people come out of Australia and New Zealand rather than the film and music celebrity type people. ANZ has seen many amazing inventors and thought leaders and so please let me share some facts for you.

Australia:

1. Everyone knows about black box flight recorders, an audio recorder in a super-strong casing that records the conversation of the pilots in a plane’s cockpit. If the plane comes down, salvage teams can listen to the recording to find out what went awry, and apply prevention measures if possible. It was invented by Australian chemist Dave Warren, who one day thought to himself, “What if the pilots could tell us themselves?” His device is now installed in every commercial plane in the world. Oh, and is actually orange. Not black. *But hey I hear ‘Orange is the new black.’
2. For the old school recruiter. You should know that JA Birchall an Aussie bloke from Tasmania (The little island located 240 kilometres (150 mi) south of the Mainland) of Tasmanian stationery company Birchall, was the first person to take loose sheets of paper, cut them in half, back them with cardboard and glue the top edge. Thus creating the notepad. Every good recruiters friend before tablets.
3. For the modern recruiter. You should know that a group of five CSIRO (Australian) scientists invented wireless LAN technology, otherwise known as Wi-Fi, which is used in more than five billion devices globally and has earned more than $430 million in royalties alone. I thank these 5 amazing Aussie men when I am at  recruiting conferences around the world.

New Zealand:

1. Christchurch inventor Glenn Martin has developed a jet pack that enables fliers to stay aloft for half an hour. He launched the jetpack at the Oshkosh air show in the United States in July 2008 and his company is now taking orders.
2. Kiwi scientist Baron Ernest Rutherford was the first in the world to split the atom in 1919. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work with radioactivity.
3. Probably the most famous Kiwi invention of the modern world. Daredevil AJ Hackett pioneered the bungy jump, opening the world’s first commercial site in 1988, the year after he illegally leapt from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Certainly the most hair-raising Kiwi invention!

Now I do not mean to begrudge the ‘thought leaders’ of the HR and Recruiting world nor suggest that everyone is ignorant to our fair lands. We have had some amazing speakers and commentators from all over the world come and share their wisdom over here. Some of my favourites have been, Will Staney, Bryan Chaney, Laura Stoker, Matt Charney, Bill Borman, Derek Zeller, Andy Headworth and Irina Shamaeva.

So to these amazing guests and all the others I thank you, but please sit down a minute. What I really wanted y’all to come and read this for is to hear about some of the amazing HR and Recruiting peeps I love from this side of the world.

So below I give you a list of the top HR and Recruiting bad asses of APAC. 

*Please note: I have not used social engagement tools to complete this list and chosen people I have met and admire and or people I have not met, though tip my hat off to. You can kick my ass or buy me a beer next time you see me in a bar for your entry or omission. 

APAC’s 2015 HR & Recruiting thought leaders to follow (in random.org order):

1. Mark Mansour
2. Paul Jacobs
3. Marc Hammond
4. Matt Pontin
5. Angela Farrelly
6. Bob Olivier
7. Daoud Edris
8. Kellie Egan
9. Iain MacGibbon
10. Simon Martin
11. Helena Gannon
12. Kirsti Grant
13. Keith Muirhead
14. Greg Savage
15. Jade Shearstone
16. Vanessa Payne
17. Phillip Tusing
18. Mark Sumner
19. Siobhan Lyndon
20. Elena Di Fiore
21. Scott Brown
22. Axel Koster
23. Jon Rice
24. Mathew Bosher
25. Richard Westney
26. Nigel Mills
27. Ross Clennett
28. Mel Rowsell
29. Amanda Tolley
30. Leslie Taylor
31. Dale Clareburt
32. Hassanah Rudd
33. Tracy Earl
34. Steven Miratana
35. Richard Earl
36. Troy Hammond
37. Mark Souter
38. Melissa Bowden
39. Kimberley Gilmour
40. Dan Buchanan
41. Rob Fortescue
42. Aaron Dodd
43. Matt Bartlett
44. Andrew Cross
45. Dan Nuroo
46. Rebecca Clarke
47. Juhi King
48. Jordyn Riley
49. Warren Young
50. Celeste Kocabay

So there it is my list of HR and Recruiting folk who kick ass and take names in ANZ. The list is more biased to the recruiters of the region as I come across them the most in the hiring of “All the People”

Comment below on other amazing recruiters and HR peeps I have left out and make me feel like a jerk.

“As always the rule is of anyone stupid to make a list, you shall be ridiculed” ~ Troy Hammond