Dr Michael Loh is an acknowledged authority on the psychology of change and a Master Productivity Specialist recognized by the Association of Productivity Specialists.
Due to his training and decades of experience, Dr Loh possesses a deep understanding of psychological principles and research methodologies that are at the intersection of theory and practice in business settings. His strength lies in his ability to identify key psychological theories and applying them successfully to a wide variety of challenges facing contemporary organizations.
Such robust use of psychological methods and findings of scientific psychology to solve contemporary organizational problems is what differentiates Dr Loh from the many self-proclaimed (and “certified”) change management “experts” (with zero track record) proliferating today’s organizational landscape.
Gower, recognized as one of the world’s leading publishers of specialist business and management books and resources has commissioned Dr Loh to write two books on re-engineering. The Straits Times refers to Dr Loh as “Singapore’s re-engineering guru, having been consulted on over 70 projects in Asia since 1986, even before Dr Michael Hammer made re-engineering fashionable.”
Dr Loh was headhuntered to join IBM in 2001 and held various regional leadership positions with the company. His last appointment with IBM was Executive Consultant, Integrated Technology Delivery, Geo Service Delivery, IBM Global Services, ASEAN. In July 2011, Dr Loh retired from full-time employment with IBM but agreed to return as a visiting expert on an “as-needed” basis.
Since he left IBM, Dr Loh has been working almost exclusively at board level. He is being engaged by various boards to offer change leadership advice as well as to coach CEOs. In addition, Dr Loh conducts leadership development training for several multinational corporations. He has gained a reputation as the troubleshooter to call on for damage control of consulting projects that have gone awry, especially those involving organizational change. Dr Loh is also on the faculty at Deloitte University Asia Pacific.
Dr Loh has worked on all major IBM consulting projects in Asia involving monumental change: Affin Bank (US$121 million 10-year contract), Bharti Tele-Ventures (contract value estimated to be US$225 to US$275 million for the first 5 years and at least US$700 to US$750 million over 10 years), DBS (US$680 million 10-year contract), Thai Farmers Bank (US$230 million 10-year contract), Malaysia Airlines (US$115 million 10-year contract), Singapore Airlines (US$180 million 7-year contract), Maxis (US$199 million 5-year contract) and several others.
His HR Transformation & Culture Change work with SIA is considered IBM intellectual capital and is a recognized IBM methodology. In 2006 he conducted Change Management training for about 100 senior executives at Philips. Since 2004 he has conducted teambuilding for over 1000 IBM and client personnel. Recently Dr Loh has been involved in a study on the creation of a corporate university for IBM India as well as strategy work for IBM ASEAN following IBM India’s independence from IBM ASEAN. Dr Loh has also created and delivered the following courses for IBM and clients: Creative Thinking, Effective Public Speaking, Managing Conflicts, Excelling at Interpersonal Relationships, Influencing without Coercing, Leading & Managing Change, Beyond Customer Service and Winning at Negotiations. In addition, Dr Loh was very active in IBM Global Sales School as facilitator and call taker.
He was also the only IBMer in the region certified to run Wilson Learning’s Building Relationship Versatility course.
He is very highly-rated as a trainer, and has even achieved a Net Satisfaction Index of 98.2% – a feat never before achieved by anyone else in IBM. (NSI is based on participant feedback.)
These are typical comments from executives he has trained:
“An expert on change who is a great speaker and trainer.”
“Michael Loh is the best trainer I have met…Michael you rock!”
“Michael is a brilliant instructor – full of energy…great sense of humor.”
“Dr Loh is simply awesome. We had a great time with him.”
“Dr Michael Loh is a very knowledgeable person. He is very expressive and funny. I like his way of conducting classes.”
“A great class…should have more training conducted by Dr Michael Loh.”
“Dr Michael has been a very effective instructor…very witty…enabling the class participants to be more open with each other…learning was fun.”
“Of all the training in IBM, this is the best training workshop I’ve attended. The trainer makes a lot of difference to the effectiveness of the training.”
“Working in IBM is already so stressful; Dr Loh’s training inspires every participant…lots of practical examples.”
“Very good training with a good trainer…Dr Loh should train our bosses too.”
“Dr Michael Loh is a great instructor. I had much fun and great learning.”
“Michael is a very good trainer and this is the best training I ever had.”
“I’ve never had so much fun attending training. The method used to deliver the contents is indeed powerful. I strongly recommend this class to others.”
“Very useful, practical, and effective. This class is great! No boring lapses.”
“Michael is definitely the teacher/facilitator I always want to meet to improve my management and interpersonal skills.”
Not surprisingly, Dr Loh is also a very popular public speaker at business forums in the region and is often rated the best speaker.
In 2007 he created a customized version of the MBTI instrumentation and administered it to 1000 IBM personnel. He was recently commissioned to create a new Foundational Competency Assessment tool for IBM HR.
Dr Loh’s other roles and achievements in IBM included:
- Evangelist, e-business on demand, IBM ASEAN/South Asia (31 speeches, 7 newsletters and 1 major paper published, also 5 press interviews).
- Asia Pacific Leader, IBM Institute for Business Value – a think-tank (10 keynote addresses, 12 articles and 10 papers published, 15 papers edited plus influenced US$50million in revenue).
- Consulting Leader, Strategy & Change, Business Innovation Services, IBM ASEAN/South Asia (participated in high profile projects like MINDEF, Singapore, ASEAN Secretariat, and numerous other engagements).
Dr Loh has lectured on MBA programs for University of South Australia, University of Western Sydney, University of Hull (UK), Burapha University (Thailand), and University of Luton (UK). His 9th book – Managing Change in a Project: A Practitioner’s Field Guide – has just been published in 2022.
Before IBM, Dr Loh was with IMPAC (VP & Chief Analyst and Chairman of Senior Management, Asia) Hay Group (Director, Strategy & Organizational Effectiveness) and Deloitte Consulting (East Asia Director, Change Leadership.)