More than 60% of employers experience difficulty attracting and retaining top talent.
As the world of work undergoes a digital transformation, employers in Asia Pacific are grappling with challenges in attracting and retaining top talent, according to two major surveys The 2016 Global Talent Management Survey and Rewards Survey by Willis Towers Watson. It revealed the labour market activity increasing. Nearly half of organisations in Asia Pacific report that hiring has increased over the last year.
This could be surprising in a year where many businesses have remained cautious and have taken a wait-and-see approach regarding recent economic and political developments. However, at the same time, rapid technology developments have deconstructed and dispersed work across a virtual workspace and caused organisations to shift their focus to be more flexible and open to digital change.
Many of today’s most sought-after specialities, such as cloud computing and mobile app design, did not exist a decade ago. Maggy Fang, Managing Director, Talent and Rewards — Asia Pacific, Willis Towers Watson commented, “This disruption is causing a skilled worker deficit in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and a surplus of low-skilled workers in others, such as administration and manufacturing.”
As a result, employers in both mature and emerging economies in Asia Pacific are continuing to experience talent attraction and retention challenges. More than 60% of employers are experiencing difficulty attracting critical-skill employees, top performers and high-potential employees. Six in 10 reported challenges in retaining high-potential employees, top performers and critical-skill employees.
The employer/employee disconnect
As digitisation disrupts the workforce, it’s more crucial than ever for employers to understand the factors that successfully attract, retain and engage their top talent. Lesley Brown, Regional Practice Leader, Employee Insights— Asia Pacific, Willis Towers Watson noted “We know from our research that employees are looking to work for organisations that offer fair pay, career advancement opportunities and job security. While Asian employers generally understand these priorities, their views diverge from those of employees in a few key areas.”
The survey revealed some disconnects between employer and employee views: when it comes to attracting employees, Asian employers understand the importance of pay. However, they overstate the importance of reputation of the organisation, or their mission and values, while employees place more value on more tangible factors, such as physical work environment and healthcare benefits.
On the retention side, physical work environment continues to be ranked highly by employees both in Asia and globally, yet employers do not rank it at all. The importance of the physical work environment for retention likely reflects the growing diversification of office arrangements in many organisations, more collaborative work spaces and supporting technologies. Understanding how to optimise employee work environments to provide a compelling experience is an emerging trend in the ongoing challenge to retain talent.
Room for improvement
The study findings show that just over one-third of employees in APAC are highly engaged. The survey identified supervision, which takes into account the effectiveness of immediate supervisors and managers, as the top driver of sustainable engagement, followed by communication and clear goals and objectives (varying by country).
Despite the fact that supervision is the top engagement factor in the region, only 65% of APAC employees said their immediate manager/supervisor treats them with respect. Furthermore, only 57% said their managers clearly communicate goals and assignments. Only six in 10 employees answered that their managers are effective at developing talent and leading change.
In addition to attracting and retaining talented employees, employers need to focus on engaging employees in order to achieve better business results. Fang continued, “Leadership, including the role played by supervisors, managers and senior executives, plays a critical role in driving engagement among their employees.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
