HR in Asia: what’s next?

In this celebration of the 100th issue of HRM, let me congratulate the publishing staff, editors, authors, and readers. HR is increasingly a major part of business success. HR practices around talent, performance, communication, and organisational design turn business aspirations into realities. Likewise, HR departments have become an important setting to turn knowledge into productivity. HR professionals who shape strategic thinking, organisation capabilities, and employee engagement become valued partners in their businesses. HRM has played a significant role in providing timely and insightful articles that guide the HR work in Singapore. Singapore is quickly becoming a center of HR expertise, not only for Asia, but the world. As Asia becomes the gateway to the next generation of global opportunity, HR professionals will be able to model what has to happen for future business success.

In that context, I often get asked “what’s next” in HR? I am torn how to respond. While people want some innovative, new, and fancy insight, some things are the same:

»        HR must deliver value and be measured by outcomes more than activities

»        HR improves individual abilities (talent)

»        HR develops stronger organisation capabilities (culture)

»        HR increases the quality of leadership

These four principles are not necessarily new, but there are new insights associated with each one.

HR must deliver value

Recently people have advocated for “HR analytics”, which is a great move. But, the real question about HR analytics is not how to measure, but what to measure. It is easy and has been popular to measure HR activities (for example, the number of days of training, or the percentage of employees with flexible benefits). But it is increasingly important to measure the outcomes of those activities by the value both inside the company (employee productivity and ability of company to deliver strategy) and outside (customer share, investor confidence, and community reputation). When HR analytics focus on the results both inside and outside the company, HR invests in the right activities.

HR improves individual abilities

Talent is another “hot” topic. We have simplified the myriad of talent ideas into a three step formula: competence, commitment and contribution. HR should ensure competence, which is the right person in the right job at the right time with the right skills. Increasingly competence models are initiated with customer expectations and match people and positions. Commitment means that employees are willing to give their discretionary energy through the employee value proposition. What we see as an emerging and critical next step in talent is contribution. This focuses on meaning and purpose. Employees who find meaning in their work (what is sometimes termed “emotional commitment”) will be more productive. In The Why of Work (published by McGraw Hill), Wendy Ulrich and I laid out seven questions leaders can address to build abundant organisations where employees translate meaning into customer value. Meaning-making makes sense (and cents) and is a critical responsibility and opportunity for leaders and HR professionals. Asian leaders we have talked with quickly relate to their role as meaning-makers since Asian business is often built on relationships and connections.

HR develops stronger organisational capabilities

Individual talent is not enough. High-performing teams generally outperform individual talent. We have written extensively about how to define an organisation by its capabilities (what it is known for and good at doing) more than its structure. Organisation capabilities become the outcomes of HR, the expectations of customers, intangibles for investors, and the reputation for the community. In today’s business world, we see emerging capabilities of innovation (the ability to do something new and different), service (the ability to identify and meet customer needs), risk management (the ability to renew and mitigate risky choices), agility (the ability to adapt and change quickly), and having a global mindset (the ability to adapt to global conditions). HR professionals who track and measure these capabilities will build a sustainable culture. As Asian organisations grow from small and medium sized enterprises into global ventures, these capabilities become increasingly critical. Large state-owned enterprises need to become more customer-centric and agile. Privately-held organisations need to develop managerial discipline for the next generation. Multinational corporations from Asia need to operate on global standards and those doing business in Asia need to adapt to local conditions.

HR increases the quality of leadership

No one doubts that leadership matters. Today, leadership requires the right motions and actions. We have documented the leadership code, or basic requirements of all leaders (setting strategy, executing for results, managing talent, developing talent, and having personal proficiency) and we have shown that leadership brand moves leaders to align their actions to customer expectations. But, in recent months, we have seen that leaders need to go from motion to emotion, from action to meaning. The economic recession has created an emotional recession. As companies recover financially, they also need to recover from leadership, organisation, and employee fatigue. Leaders who are meaning makers create energy, shape a future, and full engage employees. We have done work with the Singapore Ministry of Manpower to identity the skills and requirements for future Asian leaders as seen in the table beside.

HRM will continue to address these and other issues that HR professionals deliver value.

Dave Ulrich is a Professor with the Ross School of Business, and a partner with The RBL Group.
For more information, see www.daveulrich.com

Bits:

Employees who find MEANING in their work are often more productive

HR departments are turning knowledge into Productivity