Talent Crunch In Asia To Deepen In Next 3-5 Years

Asia's workforce is becoming more individual-focused, with employees changing jobs more frequently and constantly searching for better opportunities, a study has found.

This shifting set of cultural norms and changing value of employees is expected to lead to "a significiant turnover rate" in critical talent roles, especially at the managerial and entry levels in the next three to five years, said the study commissioned by the Ministry of Manpower.

The study, carried out by Hewitt Associates, also showed that organisations have replaced seniority-based employment, with an emphasis on results and performance and identified three critical talent challenges that organisations in the region need to overcome.

The study found that the relatively small talent pool in Asia has resulted in a leadership crisis in many organisations, which may impede its future growth.

The greater emphasis on performance and customer orientation also means that employers will have to provide their staff with greater independence, empowerment, flexibility and challenging work, if they want to attract, motivate and retain the best workers, said the study.

'We are now seeing a 'supercharging' of these issues - shortage of talent and lack of experienced leaders - in environments where companies are trying to grow 10 to 50 per cent," said Mr Andrew Bell, Hewitt Associates, Global Leader for Talent and Organisation Consulting.

"The rapid flow of capital from West to East, where more than a billion dollars a week, for instance, flows in to China to establish new businesses, continues to sustain these challenges.'

Commenting on the Hewitt study findings, Mr Leo Yip, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Manpower, said: 'Companies operating in Asia, the largest emerging market in the world, will face people challenges that are unique to the region.

"Adopting effective people strategies to address these challenges will be critical to leveraging the full potential of the region's workforce, and to sustained corporate competitiveness."

Underscoring the importance of effective people strategies for the growth and success of a company, Mr Ong Ye Kung, Chief Executive, of Singapore Workforce Development Agency, said: 'Many companies have realised that HR work no longer comprise traditional functions like payroll processing and staff welfare. It is much more than that - including talent development, organisational excellence, and moulding the culture of the organisation.

"This also means that HR work is no longer the job of just HR executives, but the job of everyone in the company, especially the bosses.'

The findings of the study will be presented and discussed at the upcoming inaugural Singapore Human Capital Summit (SHCS) on 'People Strategies for Asia', to be held From 22 to 24 Oct.

The summit will bring together global and regional industry and thought leaders, as well as government leaders from the region, to share and deliberate on leading ideas and practices in human capital management, and their application to businesses and organisations operating in Asia.

Source The Straits Times.
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