Behind The Contract — A Conversation with Izyan Ronedin

In this episode of The Common Room, Joshua sits down with Izyan, Head of Human Resources at an international school in Singapore. With thirteen years of HR experience — the last four spent in international education — Izyan brings a rare, practitioner's view of what really happens behind the closed doors of HR, and why keeping it human matters more than ever in an increasingly automated world.

Together, they unpack the realities of relocating for international teaching roles: the contract clauses candidates often skim past (and shouldn't), the hidden costs that never quite make it into the offer letter, and what genuine onboarding support looks like when someone is building a new life on the other side of the world.

In this conversation, we cover:

- The notice period clause most candidates overlook 
- The hidden costs of visa applications that rarely get mentioned upfront
- What good HR communication looks like before, during, and after a contract is signed
- The biggest misconception staff have about what HR is actually there to do
- How AI is changing HR — and why it's making the role more human, not less
- The challenges expatriates face settling into a new country, and Izyan's advice for anyone considering the move

Whether you're an academic staff member curious about what goes on behind the scenes, or you're weighing up your own move into international education, this episode offers honest, practical insight from someone who has genuinely walked alongside hundreds of staff through that journey.

A huge thank you to Izyan for her time, her honesty, and her generosity in sharing what HR looks like from the inside.

The Common Room is hosted by Joshua Sussex — Deputy Head of Secondary and EdD candidate: researching leadership in international schools.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

International education. The classrooms, the staff rooms, the lives built far from home. This is the Common Room. I'm Joshua Sussex. Let's talk.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Welcome to the third episode of the Common Room Podcast. Today we are joined by Miss Izzy Ann Ronaldin, who is the head of human resources at an international school in Singapore with 13 years of HR experience across multiple industries, including the past four years in international education. She holds a bachelor's degree in management, majoring in human resources. Izzy Anne is passionate about building cultures that help people and organizations thrive and creating workplaces where people feel valued and supported. A strong advocate for keeping HR deeply human in an increasingly automated world. She believes technology should enhance, not replace, the human connection. Aside from this, she's currently learning to master negotiation skills, not in conversations with staff, but with her seven-year-old son. Welcome, Izzy Anne.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Thank you, Josh. Congratulations for your first episode of Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

What are the clauses people skim past when they really shouldn't when it comes to contracts?

SPEAKER_02 1:16

One of it would be the notice period, right? I mean, I get it that new employees they tend to read past it because notice periods, you look at it only when you want to leave the company. But uh notice spirits work both ways, right? If the organization wants to end your employment, that notice period also applies, right? So it is just not a clause in your contract. It actually allows time for both parties to transition professionally. Know your rights as an employee, know your rights and responsibilities, keep that notice period in mind. Let's say, for example, if it's six months, if you want to leave the company, keep in mind that you need to serve that notice period. And if, let's say, the organization wants to end the employment, they need to give you that six-month notice period for you to transition out of the organization. I can think of something that is unwritten in the contract. One of it is the hidden cost of visa applications. Organization would tell you that, okay, we help to apply for your visas, we help to pay for the visa applications, but documents that are required for the visa applications, would that be part of that cost? Because usually they don't. So things like attestation of your certificates, your medical certification, and your police checks, your police clearance certificate. So all these are costs that are not covered by the organization. But of course, organizations we apply for your visa applications and pay for the application fee. But that cost that goes into getting the documents for the visa applications, it's usually on you. So if you're unsure, ask them and make sure that you are prepared before proceeding with the applications of your visas for yourself and for your family members.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

That point there about contracts and signing that, let's say that the expatriate teacher has signed a contract. What is the process after that for when it comes to HR and an external candidate coming into the country and into the school? What is your role and what is your communication like with that member of staff?

SPEAKER_02 3:26

So, as a HR, what we would do once the head of school or the senior leadership team tells you that, all right, we want this candidate, can we proceed with offering? So we would make a connection to them and say that, okay, uh, the role, you have successfully been appointed, and we would like to have a conversation with you in terms of if you have any questions before you officially accept the offer. We would like to have a conversation with you on the contract, and this is the perfect time that you as a candidate you could ask as many questions as possible. And for us as employers, we don't see it as this candidate is asking too many questions. Asking questions is about you being prepared, and every candidate's situation is different. So it is really important for you to clarify what is written on the contract and what is not written. This is the time for you to really ask things like what are the costs, what are the other things that I should know before I officially sign the contract. Just to share as an example, a candidate has asked me before, what is the retention rate in your organization? It was a really good question because that question actually would tell a candidate the leadership, the culture, how does an organization actually retain its employees? What are the things that make employees stay? So after uh official acceptance, that's when we give the soft lending from day one. So we need to make sure the time where we reach out to you before uh you know you ask questions. I would share my personal WhatsApp straight away to that candidate because there are things that they would want to know immediately, because the email sometimes you get overlooked or you need two, three days to respond it. But there are things that they genuinely want to know, like how the tax rate like, for example, um, they start to get anxious or excited about their move because they're building a life in a new country, in a new place. And my role as a HR, you need to make them feel belonged. You need to assure them they have made the right choice. So be there for them, assure them that if you have any questions, just give me a shout-out. So that is really important for them to feel belonged, for them to feel that you know what, if you have any issues or any questions, I'm here for you.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

What's the next steps from a HR perspective? The contract signed, the initial communication has started, there's a direct communication between you and the external candidate to ensure there's a sense of belonging. What happens then practically after that?

SPEAKER_02 6:04

What we would give is a timeline of what to expect. That means the start of the deadline for each document that is needed, following up with the documents, because it takes two hands to clap, right? If there is a delay on the candidate's end, then it will delay all the timeline. So there should be like, for example, there are five things to do or five documents to submit before the visa application, then there'll be deadlines. And then if we don't meet the deadline, then you, as a candidate or the new staff, have to really rush to make sure that the deadlines are met. And for the employer side, you also need to constantly communicate, okay, even if there's no update on the work pass application, you need to let candidates know as a HR, you're following up on something, your work permit is still in progress. It's really important for every two, three days to keep updating the candidate or the new staff. Because in my previous organization, where it takes about three, four months for a work permit to be approved, so you don't just go silent for the three, four months that you're waiting for the work pass because it just increases the staff anxiety, right? I want to know like what's happening with my work pass, why is my HR is not reaching out. So it's really important for you as a HR to give updates what's happening with the application, uh, why is it delaying? This is what we are expecting. So really managing expectations of uh the candidates or the new staff is really important.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

It it's it's important to be proactive from a HR perspective to prevent any misunderstandings and minimize that anxiety, as you mentioned. How do you deal with deal with potential situations or situations you may have experienced where incoming staff are dissatisfied with HR, with the process, feel a sense of it's not as clear as it could be, or perhaps challenge the things that you've shared? How would you deal with that as a head of HR?

SPEAKER_02 7:58

That's when the human connection comes to play. It's important because sometimes emails, text messages, it can mean a lot of things. And the tone of emails and through messages, different people could interpret it differently. So a call that would, in my experience, that would instantly assure the other party that, okay, hey, she's on top of it. She's telling me what's the delay is about. You know, a phone call or a team's a face-to-face meeting when that person is overseas or out of the country that you're in, what I would do is set a teams meeting just to let you know like what has been delayed and what we have been working on. Because there are different countries, they have different times to complete different steps. For example, in Australia, you need 14 days to complete a background check, but then in Malaysia, for example, you need only seven days to complete for background checks. So you need to make them understand that different countries they have different regulations, different service level of agreement.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Let's fast forward. So the staff member has arrived, they've landed in country, the visa's gone through, everything's successful, and you've got a new expatriate teacher in the country. What's your next step then?

SPEAKER_02 9:12

Now, as a head of HR, you should know when do the new staff land. So, for example, we have 10 staff and then they have 10 different dates of landing in Singapore, for example. So one or two days before they land, and the WhatsApp messages say is everything okay? List of the documents that you need to prepare upon arriving at the immigrations, to just make sure that we avoid all the delays or whatever things that is needed at the immigration. We need to know that we, as HR, we are there for you, even though you know they arrive at 12 midnight or 3 a.m. They know that, you know, okay, my HR has given me the checklist or the things that I need before landing, and I don't feel fearful or anxious that, okay, the immigration officer is going to stop me because of missing documents or whatsoever. Because my HR has gone through the checklist, like, okay, you need three documents to be ready at immigrations, and then usually there should be no worry that uh would be an issue at the immigration. So when they arrive the next day, and then we would send a note like, have you arrived okay? And all these small little acts, it gives the new staff the feeling of the organization is looking up for me. The organization or the school really cares for me. It really does make a difference.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Flip that slightly. What would you say is the biggest misconception staff have about HR?

SPEAKER_02 10:48

In general, I think staff would think that HR is not out there to protect them, employees. They feel that HR is there to always on the organization side or on the school side or the employer side. So sometimes they feel that, oh, no point going to HR talking about what my concerns are. But that is so inaccurate.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

How do you overcome that? How do you change that perception yourself?

SPEAKER_02 11:15

It's about building trust, and trust is not always sharing everything. As a HR, you constantly need to be sitting in the middle of people and organization, right? Having the transparency of sharing to stuff how the information or how your concern is going to be handled within the school. You can't promise when an employee comes through your door and says that, right, I want to share a concern. Instantly, as a HR, you need to handle that concern and you need to think about what is fair for the employee, right? And what is fair for the employer. You can't just whatever the employee said to you, you can't straight away share it with the leadership team. Then you're not a HR, then you're a messenger, right? So you need to constantly think about what exactly you are going to share to the leadership team and share with the staff. I can see that you have this concern. This is what I'm going to share. Are you okay with that? So that is transparency, that builds trust. The HR is there to be the bridge between the people and the organizations and ensure that, you know, the organizations thrive. You know, when employees thrive, the organizations thrive, and vice versa, when the organizations thrive, the employees thrive. So for me, in my role, to see that the people are being successful, being promoted, you know, in five years' time, they take on a leadership role. It's really, for me as a HR in my role, it's really satisfying for me to see how this person grows from point A to point B. And that is actually the work of staff themselves, the line manager, and being aligned with the school's values.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

One thing you you wish every member of staff understood about working with HR.

SPEAKER_02 13:05

HR wants to be there for you throughout your career journey within the organization. So that HR partner with you on how you want to grow in the organization, how you want to succeed, right? So if you allow HR to work with you and your line manager or leadership team on how you want to achieve your targets, how where you want to be in two, three years' time, because all of that it depends on what your goals are in the organization. And if you do not communicate them clearly, we do not know that in three years' time you want to take up a leadership role. If you don't tell us or you don't share with us, we would assume that you're okay or you're happy with where you are in the organization. So it's very important for you to communicate where you want to be in three years' time, in five years' time in an organization or even outside of the organization. And let us HR and your line manager help you to get there where you want to be.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

Expatriate and local hires are there differences with the approach from either yourself or those that you work closely with?

SPEAKER_02 14:07

No, we don't never differentiate if you're an expert staff. We use the same framework, the same conversations. You know, the thing about HR, the beauty of HR is we ensure that policies, practices are practiced consistently with all staff. For an expert staff, you look at this policy. If you are a local staff, you look at this policy. So HR policies of the employee handbook, for example, it applies to all staff consistently.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

How would you say that AI is impacting practically within international schools right now?

SPEAKER_02 14:41

I think we need to accept that AI is not going away, as number one. So we should see AI as being a partner, how AI can support you do better or improve in your role. So, for example, in HR, with AI automating a lot of HR processes like onboarding, screening CVs, for example, and all that, ensuring that there's efficiency, right, in HR processes to help to consistently provide that level of service to new staff, to candidates. That is one. So that part AI has taken out of HR. So as a HR, I feel that since that is taken off you, you are given the time to be more human, more caring, and have more time for meaningful conversations with your staff. You know, things like grievances handling, for example, a staff who's sharing with you something that happened in the morning, and for him or her to share what her feelings are, she felt, and how she wants to take the next steps. I should do this with my line manager. And AI doesn't do that, right? So with that, I would say AI is not taking away the HR job, but AI is allowing HR to be more human and it magnifies the importance of human connection between HR and employees because ultimately international education and schools, they're the most people-centered environment that you can work with. So AI is actually helping HR to be better at their jobs and or their roles.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Five years out. What does HR look like? More human or less?

SPEAKER_02 16:28

That's a very good question. So going to the point where AI is taking away all the automation of HR processes, I feel in future, in five years' time, um AI and HR are working hand in hand. Being HR front desks, for example, uh being that automated processes, and if there's any difficult conversations that you need to have, then you need to go to the HR human being.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Worked in Malaysia for a number of years and now Singapore within international education. What would you say would be the biggest challenges that expatriates face coming into either of those countries for the first time?

SPEAKER_02 17:09

Being able to accept and acknowledge how things are done differently in different countries. So, for example, you know, a particular country that I was um working in. It's not automated that when you move into an apartment, the electricity gets activated, the water gets activated. No, it doesn't. You need to go through a certain again checklist to ensure that, right, uh, I need to activate this, I need to activate that, I need to activate um my electricity, and these takes time, right? It takes, I would say, three to five days for an electricity to be activated in a in a certain country. But in another country, it gets automatically activated. There are certain things that you need to know and accept that it is done differently, right? So then I mean my role in HR is when you're in the host country, you need to let them know that look, you need to make sure these are the things that you need to activate before you arrive in a particular country.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

And finally, what would you say from anybody listening to this who is currently in their home country and considering moving internationally to working in an international education environment? What would be your biggest words of advice to ensure that their move is smooth and effective?

SPEAKER_02 18:29

Number one thing to do is to ask. Keep asking. Don't be shy, you know, don't be afraid or don't think that you're asking too many questions because you are, in fact, moving to another country. You're building a new life, and some of you would be with families. So it is important for you to be prepared and know what to expect in that new country. Talk to someone who are already in that country, be your HR or your social buddy or your academic buddy in that school, ask as many questions as possible because asking questions is about you being prepared.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Thank you very much, IZAN, for your inside knowledge from a HR perspective. It's been very interesting, and I'm sure that people will appreciate having an inside perspective on charm within international education. So that was IZN, head of human resources at an international school in Singapore. Thirteen years into HR, four of those in international education. And honestly, one of the most grounded conversations we've had so far. I want to take a minute to pull out what actually landed for me from that conversation. Because I think there's something in this episode for two very different groups of people. If you're an academic staff member who's never really thought about what HR does beyond onboarding paperwork, this one's for you. And if you're sat at home right now weighing up whether to make the leap internationally, this one's for you too. Let's start with the bit that made me sit up. Notice periods. Izzyan's point was simple, but it's what most of us skimped when we sign a contract. That clause cuts both ways. It's not just what you owe the school if you leave, it's what the school owes you if they end things. Know it. Understand it. Don't just re-past it because you're excited about the offer. And then the hidden costs. Attestations, medicals, police clearance, the stuff that sits in the gap between will help you with your visa and what actually lands in your bank account. Izzyan's advice was plunt. Ask. Ask before you sign, but not after. But honestly, what stayed with me the most wasn't the practical checklist, it was the why behind it. Izzyan talked about sharing her personal WhatsApp with incoming staff. About sending a message the night before someone lands, even if that's three in the morning, just to say, we've got you. Here's what you need at immigration. You're not walking into this alone. That's not a policy. That's a person choosing to make someone else's biggest life transition feel a little less frightening. And that's really where the heart of this conversation was. The misconception. Izzy I named it directly. Staff often think HR exists to protect the organization, not them. And in her words, that's simply inaccurate. HR, done well, sits in the middle, building trust through transparency, not through secrecy. Not a messenger, not a mouthpiece for leadership, but a genuine bridge. I think that's a message every academic leader, every teacher, every one of us needs to hear. Because how many of us have quietly avoided HR, thinking we'd be seen as difficult for asking questions? We also touched on AI, and I loved her framing here. AI isn't replacing HR. It's clearing the admin noise so HR can be more human, not less. More time for the conversations that actually matter. The grievances, the fears, the is this the right move for me conversations that no algorithm can hold. And her closing advice, for anyone considering the move abroad, ask. Keep asking. Every question you ask is a sign you're preparing properly, not a sign you're being difficult. So, here's the Anne. If you're listening back to this, thank you. Genuinely. You gave us honesty, you gave us practical wisdom, and you gave us a window into a side of this profession that so many of us, myself included, for years, didn't fully appreciate from the inside. To anyone out there weighing up an international move, or any colleague who's never quite understood what happens behind HR's closed doors, I hope this episode gave you something to hold on to. That's episode three of the common room. Thank you for listening. We'll see you next time.