Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Lack of sufficient leadership talent is a top issue currently faced by 86% of human resource (HR) and business leaders, according to a survey by Deloitte.

“All respondents reported that leadership was at least somewhat important to their business. However, the majority of organisations are still struggling to develop a pipeline of leadership talent. This current struggle jeopardises future growth,” said Deloitte in a statement today.

The findings of the survey, compiled in its report Southeast Asia Human Capital Trends 2015: Leading in the New World of Work, were culled from 57 responses from the region.

The leadership gap, which was identified as the second most important issue in 2014, became even more critical for Southeast Asia (SEA) HR and business leaders this year.

But only 5% of SEA respondents rated themselves as “very ready” to address the leadership challenge through programmes such as leadership assessment and development, succession planning, and talent mobility, Deloitte noted.

“It’s imperative that organisations treat leadership development as a long-term investment, rather than a discretionary development spend item when times are favourable,” Deloitte Consulting’s executive director and leader of the SEA human capital practice Nicky Wakefield said.

Wakefield opined that it is time that HR functions invest in developing itself and its people to support critical talent and leadership issues in the future.

The report, however, revealed that although HR spending in 2015 has increased from 2014, there is a widening capability gap, which indicated that the spending is not translating into more effective HR programmes.

This may be because the majority of this spending has been in the area of HR technology to drive operational efficiency, according to Deloitte Consulting’s leader of HR transformation services for SEA Mark Maclean.

“Today, business leaders are asking HR professionals to take on more strategic roles. Future spending must be focused on upskilling HR to meet the challenge and to fund strategic HR and talent programmes which will help to address business needs,” he said.

The survey also found respondents recognised that a general lack of skilled talent is likely to impede business growth and cited workforce capability — an area with the largest capability gap — as the second most important issue.

Meanwhile, the capability gap for learning and development has more than doubled in 2015 compared to 2014’s SEA ratings, as respondents begin to realise that current approaches are not working.

Respondents, said Deloitte, are noticing difficulties in understanding the competencies required by their businesses today, and even less clarity on what competencies will be needed in the future.

“The rapid economic growth in SEA is driving an accelerating demand for highly qualified talent but we see a lack of such talent threatening continued growth,” Deloitte Consulting SEA human capital consulting director Daniel Russell observed.

“Despite intense spending on training programmes, organisations are quickly falling behind on developing the right skills across all levels,” he said.

Russell opined that it is critical that organisations re-evaluate their learning programmes and develop a better understanding of current and future capability requirements for job roles to optimise effectiveness in developing specific skills.

The third most important issue for HR and business leaders is culture and the capability gap for culture grew 23% this year from 2014.

“Strong leadership at all levels is needed to drive healthy corporate culture. Frequent measurement and nimble programmes are necessary to keep ahead and actively manage culture and employee engagement,” Russell recommended.

 

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