Gametize Hub

Guan Heng Tan (aka Guan): Head of Academy

I spent the first ten years of his professional career in the MICE industry managing a host of proprietary exhibitions and conferences. Starting out selling booth spaces, sponsorships and advertising, I worked my way into project management and subsequently, several senior management positions.

From late 2005 until 2015, I worked for a New York-based trade association, representing the global retail real estate business with over 110,000 members around the world, as its Managing Director for the Asia-Pacific region. I was responsible for opening up an office in Beijing to support the China market – the first time the organization has had physical presence in the PRC – and staffed the office with a full-time team. All this was accomplished in a little over 7 months.

In 2017, I transitioned into adult education, which meant going back to school and learning/re-learning skills… skills he thought he had. It was a humbling experience going through certification after certification, in order to really learn the basics of helping people develop and grow. It took hundreds of classroom hours (and NUMEROUS coaching certifications) to learn how to ask questions; and hundreds more to get better at it. Since then I have developed, curated and facilitated programs in the areas of soft skills particularly in honing leadership qualities, critical thinking, problem-solving, effective communications… the list goes on.

Which brings us to where we are today… At Gametize. There’s a story to how Guan and Keith met. Buy either one of them a drink and you might get to hear it.

What exactly is it I do at Gametize?

It started out with me creating a multi-level gamification designer certification program. Since then, we have launched and ran numerous programs, certifying dozens of candidates. We have also successfully registered the certification program with HRD Corp Malaysia and sealed a collaborative framework with Universiti Putra Malaysia to co-certify the program. If you want to learn more about how you can get yourself certified, write to guanheng@gametize.com As the new resident “old guy”, I have the privilege of imparting wisdom and clarity through regular coaching sessions internally. It’s always incredibly rewarding to help a colleague grow as a professional and as a person. I’m learning a ton of new stuff too, believe me. Talk about teaching an old dog new tricks…

What matters most to me...

Pet peeves...

  • Family
  • Friends
  • Health (physiological, mental and emotional)
  • Ability to eat, drink and be merry
  • Laugh
  • Travel
  • Faith (in Him/Her/you/me)
  • People who make saying ‘No’ a default response
  • Toxicity and Negativity
  • Pandemics in general
  • Unstable (or non-existent) Wi-fi
  • When you break the yolk of my sunny-side
  • Cold coffee
  • Warm beer

Some things about me...

  • Quit smoking after 31 years (Sigh… picked it back up again after 18 months. I’ve got to do better)
  • Was an officer in the army (Recon) and served in a variety of roles including Company 2i/c, Platoon Commander, Team Commander, Brigade AS2
  • Avid sportsman growing up – sprinter, footballer and badminton player in primary school; footballer in secondary and footballer and tennis team in JC
  • Cultivated the discipline to work from home (one good thing from Covid)
  • Music… always a song in my head
  • Pretty good at DIY home maintenance (including light plumbing, plastering, wood repair)
  • Not a bad cook – just ask my kids

My learning journey:

  • Certified Facilitator, Trainer and Assessor (ACTA)
  • Certified Performance Coach
  • Certified Action Learning Coach (WIAL)
  • Certified EQ Facilitator and Coach
  • Agile Facilitator and Coach
  • Business Management
  • People Developer

It’s always a work in progress….