From Music to Management
Discover Deanna’s accidental journey into HR and her game-changing advice for today’s leaders.
You don’t meet many HR consultants who started out in music education. But for Deanna Tung, founder of Tactevo Consulting, a career that began in the performing arts has evolved into something much broader—spanning curriculum development, higher education leadership, hotel HR operations, and now, full-spectrum business and HR consultancy.
Her story is one of adaptability and reinvention. And it mirrors the shifts happening in the HR landscape today—where old structures are being rethought, and people management requires more than policies and checklists.
In our conversation, Deanna shares what it’s like running outsourced HR departments, why employer branding matters more than ever, and the cost of overlooking retention. We also touch on management development, hiring for attitude, and the surprisingly subtle art of empowerment.
Rei: Thank you for joining us today, Deanna. To begin, could you share a bit about your background and how you transitioned into HR and consultancy?
Deanna: Of course. My academic background is actually not in human resources—I majored in Music and Music psychology. After returning from England, I started my career with Yamaha Music, where I was tasked with developing the curriculum for an advanced diploma program at their newly formed Academy of Arts and Music. From there, I headed the department and later moved to the International College of Music. An interesting chapter in my career was my involvement in a reality TV show called "Audition" for two seasons, where I was hired as a performance psychologist.
Afterwards, I joined a Hong Kong-based management consultancy, which marked my shift towards management roles. I spent about sixteen years in higher education, lecturing and conducting examinations. Following my time in Hong Kong, I led a college in Kuala Lumpur specializing in early childhood education—Dika College.
Later, I joined a property development group called Asian Global Business with their hotel and residences project in Penang, which is how I ended up there. In that role, I served as Group HR for four companies—overseeing HR for the hotel, training arm, college, and headquarters. That wide exposure eventually led me to start Tactevo Consulting, which provides business and HR consultancy, training, recruitment, and recently, a sales division.
Rei: That’s quite a diverse journey. On your website, I noticed you offer HR outsourcing services. Could you elaborate on how outsourcing HR benefits businesses, especially for leaders who are building or scaling their companies?
Deanna: Absolutely. HR encompasses many different facets, so companies outsource different functions for various reasons. Some outsource just payroll. Others focus on talent acquisition—currently a strong trend—where we handle recruitment end-to-end. There are also companies that outsource learning and development or compensation and benefits management.
Some clients, like one of our major clients in Kuala Lumpur, have outsourced their entire HR department to us. That means we manage everything: onboarding, employee engagement, payroll—the full spectrum of HR functions. This can be advantageous as it allows companies to focus on their core business while ensuring HR is handled professionally. However, it also means we are responsible for every HR issue that arises.
Rei: You mentioned hiring trends. What current or emerging trends do you see in HR outsourcing?
Deanna: Digital hiring has become the norm since COVID-19. Online interviews and screening processes are now standard practice and have proven to be efficient in saving both time and resources. Advertising is primarily digital—LinkedIn and social media platforms have replaced traditional newspaper ads.
Employer branding has also become crucial; potential employees will research a company before applying. So now it’s not only employers choosing employees—candidates are evaluating employers too. It’s very much an employee-driven market these days.
Rei: That’s interesting. With this shift to an employee market, do you think companies are paying enough attention to retention?
Deanna: In my experience, many companies still underestimate the importance of retention. There are significant costs involved in recruitment and training every time someone leaves. While some organizations invest in retention strategies, many view employees as replaceable without realizing the hidden costs—financial and otherwise—of frequent turnover.
Rei: Why do you think management often overlooks retention?
Deanna: While some companies do, it partly stems from a legacy mindset—when employers held all the power and employees stayed with one company for decades out of necessity or security. Now there are more options available to employees, and job-hopping is common. Management sometimes doesn’t see the benefit of investing in retention until high turnover becomes a measurable problem.
Rei: How can HR align with management to implement effective retention strategies?
Deanna: The first step is to analyze turnover rates and calculate the associated costs—recruitment, training, lost productivity. Presenting this data helps make the case for investing in retention. If the numbers show high turnover and significant cost per employee, it’s easier to justify putting resources into retention programs rather than continually absorbing those hidden costs.
Rei: That makes sense. I also noticed you offer management development programs. Can you tell us more about those?
It is said that employees don’t leave companies, they leave people. - Dale Carnegie
Deanna: Certainly. We provide leadership and management development programs designed to equip managers with essential skills—not just for managing people, but also for understanding business operations and finance. Our program consists of ten modules covering both HR-focused topics and broader managerial skills.
Managing people is one of the most challenging aspects of any manager’s job. Good management development leads to better staff retention—people often leave managers rather than organizations.
Rei: What are some common skill gaps you notice among new managers?
Deanna: Empowerment is a big one. Many new managers tend to micromanage rather than delegate or trust their teams. Setting clear expectations and timelines is key to empowerment—otherwise managers end up monitoring every detail instead of focusing on results.
It’s also important to shift toward outcome-based management rather than hours-based oversight. As long as deliverables are met by agreed deadlines, when or how employees complete the work should be secondary.
Rei: Do you have any advice on fostering empowerment and reducing micromanagement?
Deanna: Set clear KPIs and project timelines upfront so both manager and team know what’s expected and by when. This allows managers to step back and trust their teams to deliver results. Over time, as results are consistently achieved, trust grows and empowerment becomes more natural.
Rei: How do you identify employees with management potential?
Deanna: Interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence (EQ) are critical traits we look for. Increasingly, we hire for attitude rather than just skills or knowledge—those can be trained more easily than attitude.
To identify these traits, we use personality assessments such as DISC profiles. These tools help us understand a person’s strengths and areas for improvement so we can tailor development opportunities accordingly.
Rei: Thank you very much for your insights today, Deanna.
Key Takeaways from Deanna Tung's HR Lens
HR outsourcing isn’t just a stopgap—it’s a strategic move that can free up bandwidth for growing companies.
The employee market is real: candidates are now assessing employers as much as the other way around.
Retention is still underrated. But if companies tracked its hidden costs, they'd probably rethink their approach.
Empowerment isn’t about hands-off leadership—it’s about clarity, accountability, and trust.
Attitude and EQ are rising to the top of the hiring criteria, even above technical skills.
Deanna’s journey is a reminder that HR isn’t just about compliance—it’s about designing workplaces where people can grow, stay, and perform. If you’ve experienced something similar (or wildly different), we’d love to hear your story.
About Tactevo Consulting
Tactevo Consulting exists to solve issues facing businesses, both large and small. They provide a broad range of services and solutions to help organisations facilitate change, achieve their vision and optimise performance and productivity.