IBM CHRO Study finds ASEAN CHROs more focused on growth and developing future leaders
Asia Pacific results indicates Companies in Fast-Growing Economies Plan to Hire in North America and Europe
The Social Network: Largely absent from companies but growing exponentially in ASEAN
Bangkok March 15, 2011 – According to results from a survey conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value, the 2010 IBM Global Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) study, titled “Working Beyond Borders,” reported insights from the ASEAN CHRO survey, where growth and developing future leaders, with greater investments being spent here in ASEAN, was key. An additional area of interest was the higher investments being made by ASEAN CHROs in the area of social networking, versus their global counterparts.
According to the findings of a major new IBM study of over 700 Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) and senior executives from 61 countries and 31 industries worldwide including about 50 CHROs in ASEAN, there is a dramatic shift of workforce investments, where growth market companies – largely from China and India -- are increasingly hiring in North America and Europe. The study concluded that as companies in fast-growing markets seek to expand globally, the ability to identify, develop and empower effective, agile leaders is a critical imperative for human resource leaders over the next three years.
MS. Parnsiree Amatayakul, Managing Director, IBM Thailand Co., Ltd. said “In ASEAN, it was noted that CHROs were more focused on growth over the next three years, closely followed by efficiency (49% versus 44%). This reveals that the ability to cultivate creative leaders, mobilize for speed and flexibility and capitalize on collective intelligence is paramount for their area of responsibility.”
ASEAN CHROs also appear better at developing future leaders as opposed to their global counterparts (40% more effective versus 31%). This is also supported by findings of a greater investment in ASEAN in developing future leaders. 63% of ASEAN companies reported increased investment to develop future leaders, versus 33% for mature markets. Although such investment spells the commitment of the Human Resource industry in talent development, the effectiveness of developing such leaders is critical. One means is through providing relevant learning courses that enable real learning and job performance challenges to help this group build their skills, connect and collaborate within their networks, and act with speed towards finding solutions for their customers faster.
In the global results, only one-third of HR leaders interviewed said their companies were adept at leadership development with the majority of executives struggling to effectively connect their workforce eg. 78 percent of HR leaders do not think their organizations are effective at fostering collaboration and social networking.
Companies better at rapidly developing skills were also found to be more likely to apply both traditional and progressive learning techniques and in ASEAN, it was found that Mentoring was more effective here (76% versus the global sample focused on classroom learning of 94%). This could possibly be attributed to the ingrained cultural foundation in Asia of learning from elders and the desire to adopt best-practices from experienced leaders.
An area of vital significance is the area of Social Networking, which was a new development first seen in the 2010 report, as opposed to the 2008 report. According to the study, ASEAN CHROs are investing more in this space (32% versus 21% for global) and it has been seen to be a source of competitive advantage, with financial outperformers 57% more likely to do this well. ASEAN CHROs also rate themselves to be more effective than their global counterparts at using collaboration tools. However the collaborative infrastructure needs to be better used to preserve critical knowledge and spread innovation, enable global teams to work more effectively and identify individuals with the right skill sets. This may be attributed to the fact that ASEAN was not impacted to the same extent as other markets, by the global financial crisis.
The use of predictive analytics appears to also be more effective in ASEAN by their CHROs . versus their global counterparts, but still only represents about a third of the companies, who are indicating that they can effectively do predictive work force analytics. This is fueled by the corporations’ knowledge that the ability to develop effective leadership, strategically build and deploy the workforce, and stimulate knowledge-sharing and collaboration frequently hinges upon the information available to make evidence-based decisions regarding the workforce, according to the study. However, recognition of its importance is there, though this level of insight continues to be elusive for all companies.
Said Parnsiree “These results from the CHRO Study shows that the shift toward growth isn't just about going to the region with the lowest costs, but about finding talent and resources that will make a company successful. Beyond the shift in hiring trends, companies are finding that employees with certain "soft" skills, such as social networking and collaboration, can benefit their bottom line, as the new glue in the complex organization is really collaboration and the way groups of people work together. Another area where businesses recognize a need for growth, is evidence-based decisionmaking, which is seeing rising importance here in the ASEAN region.”
Further Global and Asia Pacific CHRO Study Results
Although, the study found a traditional pattern of movement – in which companies in mature markets seek operational efficiency through headcount growth in emerging economies – workforce investment is now moving both ways. The study revealed that: 45% of companies in India plan to increase their headcount in North America and 44% in Western Europe; 33% of companies in China plan to increase headcount in North America and 14% in Western Europe.
In the area of Social Networking, only 21 percent have recently increased the amount they invest in the tools required to promote collaboration and networking. Even further, less than 20 percent are actively applying analytics to understand the impact of their efforts. Not only are companies not investing heavily in new collaboration and communication tools, many organizations fail to fully utilize the knowledge sharing resources they already possess. For example, only 19 percent of respondents regularly use collaborative technologies to identify individuals with relevant knowledge and skills, 23 percent to preserve critical knowledge and 27 percent to spread innovation more widely.
Additionally, study participants believe that opportunities to penetrate new markets and develop new offerings will drive future workforce investment, regardless of region. But companies struggle to both find and nurture effective future leaders and less than one in three executives we interviewed rated their companies as adept at leadership development – a surprisingly low number given its relative importance.
However, even during the height of the global recession, 33 percent of our respondents in mature markets and 43 percent in growth markets increased their investment in leadership development, significant numbers despite the cost containment initiatives many companies instigated at the time.
The ability to develop effective leadership, strategically build and deploy the workforce, and stimulate knowledge sharing and collaboration frequently hinges upon the information available to make evidence-based decisions regarding the workforce. However, for many organizations, this level of insight continues to be elusive. Only 7 percent of respondents say they are very effective at using analytics to make workforce decisions.
Many companies have the capability to use analytics to look backward to identify historical trends and practices within their organizations. Yet few are adept at using information to develop scenarios and predict future outcomes. Only in developing future leaders and business strategy did more than a quarter of the CHROs we interviewed use analytics for forward-looking analysis.
“To accomplish this goal, organizations will need to identify new partnerships and relationships that will allow them to gain access to needed skills and capabilities. They will be forced to gather information and share insights among a diverse group of employees around the globe,” commented Sharon Koster, Senior Managing Consultant & Organisation & People Leader
IBM Global Business Services, ASEAN.
About the Global CHRO Study
The 2010 IBM Global Chief Human Resource Officer study is the third edition of our Global Human Capital Study series, led jointly by the IBM Institute for Business Value and IBM Strategy & Transformation practice. Between November 2009 and April 2010, IBM surveyed 707 executives, almost 600 of whom we met face-to-face. The research was conducted with organizations of all sizes, in 61 different countries and was almost evenly split between executives in mature and growth markets.
For access to the full study report, including findings and case studies, please visit: ibm.com/chrostudy
To join the conversation about smarter leadership, please visit:
http://smarterleaders.tumblr.com/ # # #
