SINGAPORE: Leadership development is the most pressing issue facing organisations globally and in Southeast Asia, according to a Deloitte report released on Thursday (Sep 11). The report showed that 76 per cent of Southeast Asian respondents recognise that leadership development is of top importance in their organisations. This compares to 74 per cent of global respondents.
In particular, the report stated that companies face challenges in developing Millennials and bringing younger employees into leadership roles faster. To address this, industry analysts said human resource (HR) departments need to play a more strategic role in a company and understand the profile of new employees.
Mr Ian Grundy, head of marketing and communications (Asia) at Adecco Personnel, commented: “They want to have leaders who really motivate and inspire them rather than manage them on a daily basis. Overall, they want to have flexibility – they are not interested in the 9 to 5, they are interested in actually getting the job done.
“So I think organisations who are going to attract younger generations have got to be a lot more flexible in how they approach these individuals, and HR has a very important role to play in that.”
Respondents in Deloitte’s report, which surveyed 54 companies across Southeast Asia, also highlighted re-skilling HR officers as a high priority. However, only one-third of the respondents feel that their HR officers are ready to meet the challenges of today’s business environment.
Deloitte said HR departments need to adopt a more strategic focus to address these issues. Said Ms Nicky Wakefield, executive director of Deloitte Consulting: “A bigger focus on the HR function, helping it to move away from just tactically and operationally delivering to being a strategic player – that will help to drive transformation.”
news source & image credit: channelnewsasia.com
