Managing Talent in Singapore

Singapore is a knowledge economy. Without natural resources to draw from, Singapore succeeds with resources above the ground. The country works to turn knowledge into productivity. Because Singapore depends so much on knowledge, managing talent is critical to industry and government success. Organizations with better talent are more likely to succeed than those with less. Talent matters in up and down business cycles. Talent enables other business outcomes (innovation, cost, service). Talent ensures future success.

We define talent as a systematic process to secure the general individual competencies and organizational capabilities that create sustainable value for multiple stakeholders. Because talent matters so much it is not enough for HR professionals to design and deliver talent programs. Throughout Singapore, line managers must take ownership, primary accountability, and responsibility for talent. But, HR professionals and line managers are easily overwhelmed with the thicket of ideas, frameworks, and tools that fall under the ‘talent’ umbrella. Almost daily, another invitation shows up with the latest talent gimmick that is the secret sauce for organizational success.

We have worked to synthesize and integrate the complex talent landscape into 11 key talent activities that general managers could pay attention to. Then, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore and in partnership with Ernst & Young, we studied business leaders throughout Asia to determine which of these 11 talent activities were the most important in helping drive business success. Managers may chose from each of these 11 talent insights which activities will best help them reach their business goals. And, for each of the 11 insights on this talent menu, we have suggested future opportunities to turn that insight into action. 

Insight 1: Talent matters inside a company … and outside

Often, improved talent helps things happen inside a company like productivity, strategy execution, and employee engagement. Talent inside a company also helps with results outside the company like increased customer value, investor confidence, and community reputation. 

Insight 2: Talent requires individual ability …. and teamwork

Individual talent is not enough. Talent without teamwork is insufficient and while it may lead to exceptional individual results, it generally does not lead to long-term, sustainable organization success. When individuals come together and share a common purpose, they accomplish more than when they work alone. 

Insight 3: Talent should align competencies with strategy inside …and stakeholders outside

Most talent work begins with competencies. Competencies represent the knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees. Recently, competencies have been aligned  not only with the strategy of a business and with the customer expectations in running the business.

Insight 4: Talent requires assessment both backward … and forward

Based on defined competencies, standards may be established whereby employees may be assessed on how well (or not well) they perform. Assessing behaviors of individuals should look backward and forward. Looking back, a focus can be on how well an individual has performed against standards. Looking forward, the focus may be on the individual ambition, ability, and agility which captures potential for growth.

Insight 5: Talent comes from thoughtful investments in talent improvement … that integrate and focus on customers

From current talent research we see six investments a company can make to upgrade global talent.  

• Buy: recruiting, sourcing, securing new talent into the organization
• Building: helping people grow through training, on the job, or life experiences
• Borrowing: bringing knowledge into the organization through outsourcing, advisors, or partners
• Bounding: promoting the right people into key jobs
• Bouncing: removing poor performers from their jobs and/or the organization
• Binding: retaining top talent

These six investments should be connected to each other and to customers. Customers may be involved in each of these so that the employer of choice becomes the employer of choice of employees customers would choose. 

Insight 6: Talent has to be mindful of, and gain the benefits from, individual differences (diversity) … and build unity

Diversity encourages organizations to engage in heterogeneous thinking and acting along a number of dimensions: race, generational shifts, gender, national culture, psychological orientation, career drivers, and global perspective. This diversity should be leveraged to build unity around common goals that generally begin with customer orientation. 

Insight 7: Talent should focus on the A players and match them to A positions … but also pay attention to B players

Top performers produce a disproportionate amount of results. Leaders have been encouraged to match “A” players to “A” positions. But since there are more “B” players, it is also important to help “B” players feel empowered and productive by sharing information, upgrading their skills, delegating authority, and sharing rewards.

Insight 8:  Talent requires not only competence and commitment … but also contribution

A simple formula for talent is competence * commitment * contribution. Competence means that individuals have the knowledge, skills, and values required for today’s and tomorrow’s jobs. Committed or engaged employees work hard; put in their time; and do what they are asked to do. Contribution occurs when employees feel that their personal needs are being met through their participation in their organization.  Increasingly, leaders are meaning makers who help their employees find personal meaning through the work they do (Ulrich & Ulrich, 2010).

Insight 9: Technology facilitates talent management processes … and connection among people

Technology has changed the way talent work is organized and delivered through information sharing, improved processes, redefinition of work, and social networks. Through technology, knowledge is an asset that does not have to be owned to be accessed. Technology also creates social networks that enable people to connect not just to share information, but to become part of a community without physical borders. 

Insight 10: Talent activities need to be measured … as do talent outcomes

Complete measures of talent include more than just hours of training and promotion rates. Talent measures should include: [a] the processes of what is done (this would capture much of the legendary Kirkpatrick measures) (Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick, 2006), [b] the individual outcomes that occur because of talent investments, [c] organization capability outcomes as a result of talent investments, and [d] the customer, investor, and community results due to talent investments. 

Insight 11: Talent efforts need to be owned by line managers … and architected by HR professionals

Four groups of stakeholders might be involved with building talent (Ulrich et al, 2009). Line managers own talent initiatives and ensure that they align to business goals. HR leaders architect talent initiatives. Consultants/advisors offer frameworks and insights from others and point out lessons learned. External customers and investors guide the relevance of talent work. 

Background of the study

We conducted an exploratory study in Asia to examine how well these 11 insights are practices and what affect these 11 insights have on business performance. Through hundreds of interviews from dozens of companies, we identified five to eight organization practices for each of the 11 insights. These practices formed a 70-item survey that tested the extent to which the respondents perceived how well their organization currently performs on each practice. In addition, we asked each respondent to offer a score on business performance. We received about 400 complete responses from China, Singapore, India and Hong Kong, giving us 1,674 total data points.

Singapore findings and implications

Table 1 compares the average scores for the 11 dimensions of Singapore with Greater Asia. As is evident from the table, respondents from Singapore generally score their companies lower than respondents across Asia. This may be a response bias in Singapore where respondents respond with a sense of humility. It also may indicate that while talent management matters in Singapore, the efforts to define and deliver talent are under developed. Singapore’s highest scores are in using technology and teamwork, while the lowest scores are around the partnership between HR and line managers.  

In Table 2, we see the relative impact of these 11 talent dimension on business performance. This table indicates that these 11 talent dimensions have a slightly lower impact on business performance in Singapore than in the other Asian markets (19% vs. 23%).   These data also suggest that line managers and HR professionals who invest in talent need to spend time building the business case, ensuring teamwork, and investing in talent initiatives. Less relevant is the use of technology.   

Conclusion:

Understanding and managing talent will continue to be an important factor in business performance, especially in a knowledge economy such as Singapore’s. By understanding business needs, line managers and executives can leverage the 11 talent dimensions to improve the bottom line of their business and deliver results.