This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on January 9, 2023 - January 15, 2023

Nurturing and retaining top talent are key priorities for Malaysia as the country continues to move forward with its plan to become a high-income digitally powered nation. In the recent Budget 2023 announcement, an allocation of RM750 million was declared to provide additional learning and development opportunities for Malaysia’s workforce in a bid to increase worker contributions and income opportunities. This demonstrates the increased emphasis on investments in talent development to promote worker growth, productivity and well-being in Malaysia.

According to a Wellness at Work survey, 51% of Malaysians feel that the pandemic has negatively impacted their career progression and 67% are stressed about their financial well-being. The survey also found that an increasing number of Malaysians are looking for flexible work arrangements, opportunities to upskill and better incentives for mental well-being from their employers.

With employees looking to realign their priorities amid changing work dynamics, employers need to rethink their employees’ end-to-end experience, from their professional development and agility to their well-being. Employees also need access to the right insights and digital tools to make work easier and better.

Hybrid work environments have offered employees the flexibility to work remotely but reduced face time with managers, a lack of support and social isolation are some of the negative effects that have been seen in the past two years. According to the Oracle AI@Work 2021 study, 85% of people globally were not happy with their employer’s support for their careers and 87% believed their company should be taking more steps to listen to the needs of the workforce.

It is evident that the role of employers is changing and there is a need to invest in resources and ecosystems to ensure employees are seen, heard and understood. Their well-being at work needs to be prioritised and they must be given clear paths to achieve their professional goals and outcomes.

Talent management software and platforms allow processes like hiring the right talent, worker progression and agility, development and performance management to be done seamlessly on one platform thus increasing worker impact, the ability to contribute and add value. Digital tools also help employers use data to know how to effectively support their teams and provide people-first management and leadership. For instance, UEM Group Bhd uses Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (Oracle HCM) to integrate financial and human resource (HR) processes, freeing up time for talent managers to focus on people and talent development instead.

According to the Randstad Workmonitor Survey, 89% of Malaysians agree they need more training and development to stay relevant while 61% agree it has been a struggle to acquire new skills in their current role to adapt to the global pandemic.

By implementing a full-scale digital ecosystem where employee work, skills, experiences, interests and queries are all available in the same place, employers and managers can identify where the skill gaps are, how team members feel about their current roles, and devise subsequent growth and development strategies.

This could either be engaging them with new opportunities available in their organisation or directing them to new upskilling opportunities such as courses, career ambassadors, projects or “gigs” that are easily accessible. They can even recommend that they utilise the organisation’s talent management system.

By introducing tools that are seamless, accessible and easy to use, technology can play a big role by providing insights and value as well as ensuring positive, personalised and contextualised experiences for all — HR, managers, leaders and especially workers.

Leveraging platforms that combine multiple capabilities such as updated info on employee skills, artificial intelligence-powered skills advisers for personalised recommendations on jobs, gigs and learning, and a personalised employee portal that empowers employees to visualise their own growth and development in the organisation, leads to increased employee value, engagement and retention.

As hybrid work models become a mainstay, AI will play a key role in assisting HR and people managers to gain deeper insights into worker sentiment and performance as well as provide recommendations in real time.

Businesses will soon be leveraging AI-based prediction models to gauge the emergence of new roles and skill sets needed to develop or fill for future work. This will not only enable smart talent processes but also allow workers to foresee new roles or experiences for themselves and gain the necessary skills to guide or plan for their own progression and agility.

Personalised worker-centric talent systems that allow employees to take charge of their career growth regardless of job titles, hierarchies or even location will also become second nature as more and more employees turn to AI or digital tools for access to experiences, skill development and their career journeys.

AI and similar technological advancements will allow HR, managers and leaders to focus on the organisation’s stakeholder management and sustainability goals. HR leaders play a significant role in building their brand and culture and driving programmes that positively align with the company’s ESG initiatives. A recent Oracle survey, “No Planet B: How Can Businesses and Technology Help Save the World?” found that 83% of employees want to work for companies that act on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) plans. As technology will free HR professionals from transactional work and policies to more strategic leadership around work, the workforce and workplace issues, we will see a rise of more empathetic, people-focused managers who align their talent management practices to the organisation’s ESG goals, the benefits of which will span the entire enterprise.

Most importantly, we will see a mindset shift in the way work was once perceived as employees and employers work with more clarity and cohesion to attain their combined personal and professional goals.

Chris Havrilla is vice-president of product strategy and talent at Oracle

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