share on
Speaking at Total Rewards Asia Summit 2026 – Malaysia, Shazmi Ali, VP HR, Shell Business Operations (SBO), Shell Malaysia, challenged long-held perceptions of the rewards function, arguing that technical expertise alone is no longer enough to reach the top HR role. Umairah Nasir reports.
Total Rewards professionals sit on some of the richest workforce data in any organisation. They oversee compensation, performance, pay equity and workforce costs, making them one of HR's most data-rich functions. Yet despite this, relatively few go on to become chief human resources officers (CHROs).
According to Shazmi Ali (pictured above), Vice President of Human Resources, Shell Business Operations (SBO), Shell Malaysia, the issue is not capability.
Opening Day 1 of Total Rewards Asia Summit (TRAS) 2026 – Malaysia, he challenged reward professionals to rethink how they position themselves within the business, arguing that while many have mastered the technical side of the role, the next step lies in becoming storytellers, strategic advisers and business leaders.
"Reward guys are amazing," he said. "I rely on my rewards person so much. But a lot of times, the function keeps them stuck in the role, and not the individual."
From owning the data to owning the narrative
Shazmi began by highlighting what he believes is one of the rewards function's greatest strengths: data.
No other HR function, he said, has access to such a breadth of information, from compensation and performance data to budgets and workforce costs. However, he questioned how often reward professionals use that data to influence business conversations.
Much of it, he noted, remains within the function. While CEOs frequently reference insights from culture, employee engagement, or workforce transformation initiatives, the same is rarely said about reward presentations.
"The data is only kept with you," he observed, encouraging attendees to think beyond reporting figures and instead explain how those insights help solve business challenges.
Reflecting on discussions from the Singapore edition of TRAS earlier in July, Shazmi shared one recurring message stood out to him: reward professionals are widely recognised for their technical expertise, but many believe the function now needs to evolve from being a centre of excellence into a more strategic business partner.
The call has been there for quite some time.
Why reward professionals get 'stuck'
Shazmi then turned to what he sees as the structural reasons why reward leaders often remain specialists rather than progressing into broader HR leadership roles.
One factor, he said, is their strong technical identity.
Reward is one of HR's most specialised disciplines, and organisations depend heavily on those with deep expertise. Ironically, that expertise can become the very reason they remain in the role.
He pointed to another irony.
Reward professionals are among the HR specialists most likely to receive retention bonuses because their knowledge is so difficult to replace. Yet they are also among the least likely to be considered for CHRO positions.
Again, he stressed, this is not a reflection of individual capability.
It's just how the function has been designed.
Shazmi also noted that reward teams are typically evaluated on operational measures, such as staying within merit increase budgets or maintaining pay equity, rather than the commercial outcomes those decisions create.
Similarly, while they are often tasked with implementing budget cuts, they are rarely involved in the earlier conversations about why those reductions are necessary.
Instead, reward professionals are frequently viewed as the people responsible for enforcing policy and compliance.
Whether it's adhering to salary increase guidelines or ensuring governance is followed, they become associated with saying "no", rather than helping shape business decisions.
Adding to the challenge is the cyclical nature of the function. Compensation reviews, bonus exercises, and benefits benchmarking often follow fixed annual schedules, while businesses today can change direction several times within the same year.
As a result, reward teams may be perceived as moving too slowly, even though the nature of their work has been designed around longer planning cycles.
Visibility matters just as much as expertise
Shazmi got the audience involved by asking their views on his opening question on why so few CHROs come from rewards.
One attendee suggested visibility as a reason, to which Shazmi agreed. Unlike reward professionals, HR business partners work alongside business leaders every day. They participate in commercial discussions, build relationships with senior stakeholders and gain a deeper understanding of how the business operates.
That visibility, he said, naturally places them in a stronger position when leadership opportunities arise.
Rewards professionals face a different reality.
"When you pay everyone correctly, it's perfect. Does anybody care? No," he remarked. "But when you make one mistake, it's like the whole world is crashing down."
Recognition, therefore, often comes only when something goes wrong.
At the same time, many of the major business priorities over the past decade, such as digital transformation, AI adoption and organisational change, have tended to be led by HR business partners or transformation teams rather than rewards functions.
Combined with the perception that reward professionals are process experts first and strategic leaders second, this has limited their exposure to succession discussions at the highest levels.
A shift is beginning
Despite these challenges, Shazmi believes the landscape is starting to change.
He shared that executive search firms are increasingly including total rewards leaders on CHRO shortlists as organisations recognise the strategic value of workforce data.
However, one trend stood out: those who successfully secured top HR roles almost always had experience beyond rewards.
Whether through cross-functional projects, business partnering responsibilities or additional leadership portfolios, they had demonstrated capabilities outside their technical specialisation.
His advice to attendees was simple: seek opportunities beyond rewards. Even if those responsibilities are informal, temporary or in addition to existing workloads, they help build the breadth of experience required for senior HR leadership.
"I will still deliver – don't worry; but I want to do something above that," he suggested reward professionals tell their managers after returning from conferences or development opportunities.
Speaking the language of business
Looking ahead, Shazmi argued that the qualities expected of future CHROs extend well beyond technical expertise.
As AI makes data analysis and reporting increasingly accessible, he believes the real differentiator will be the ability to connect the dots between workforce data and business strategy.
Storytelling, he said, is becoming one of HR's most valuable leadership skills.
He encouraged reward professionals to build stronger relationships with business leaders, seek mentors outside HR and become comfortable navigating ambiguity rather than waiting for clear-cut answers.
He also challenged attendees to rethink how HR communicates its value.
Finance leaders, he noted, are respected because they consistently speak about return on investment (ROI).
HR, meanwhile, is still too often viewed as a function focused on softer outcomes.
Instead, he urged reward professionals to begin reframing conversations around return on human capital (ROHC), quantifying how investments in people contribute to organisational performance.
He also encouraged them to ask for a seat at strategic discussions before decisions are made, rather than simply executing the outcomes afterwards, while making KPIs more specific and measurable instead of relying on broad phrases such as offering a "competitive salary".
Driving the Ferrari
Closing his keynote, Shazmi left attendees with a simple analogy – total rewards professionals already possess one of HR's most powerful assets: data.
The question is whether they choose to make full use of it.
Comparing the function's wealth of information to owning a Ferrari, he challenged reward leaders not to leave it "parked in the garage", but to use it to influence business decisions, shape organisational strategy and ultimately redefine what leadership in total rewards can look like.
In doing so, he suggested, the path to becoming a future CHRO may be closer than many reward professionals realise.
ALSO READ: Small habits, big shifts: How Total Rewards leaders can build trust, agility, and business impact
Image / HRO
share on
