Aslam Sardar, CEO of Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP), shares how HR can support an organisation’s strategic business needs in a changing workplace
Invest in your most important asset: People
With the pace of technological advancements and the speed of business cycles increasing, the life term of knowledge and skills have also significantly shortened.
A whopping eighty-four per cent of Singapore employers report problems with finding the right talent, one of the highest ratios in the world, according to the Talent Shortage 2022 report by ManpowerGroup. The report, which is based on a survey of 40,000 companies across 40 selected economies, also noted that global talent shortages have reached a 16-year-high. That basically means even if you wanted to, it’s tough to employ candidates with your ideal suite of skills. No pressure then.
“With the current talent crunch, organisations need to invest in their people and build capabilities from within,” says Aslam Sardar, Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP). “Doing so will help them discover and uncover talents, as well as uplift skills and competencies in their workplace.”
Aslam emphasises that employees are the most important asset of an organisation, and human resource (HR) is intrinsically linked to business outcomes. “HR professionals are uniquely placed to advise business leaders on people matters, such as the critical competencies and talent development interventions required for the company to remain competitive,” he says. It is imperative that HR professionals themselves have the relevant cross-disciplinary skill sets – they need to be able to understand business needs and identify the appropriate HR strategies to address these needs.
Bridging business transformation outcomes and talents
Based on the Skills Demand for the Future Economy Report 2022 published by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), Human Resource Advisory is one of the hottest skills in the care economy, which also has a high level of transferability.
An example of a role in which this skill set is valuable is that of a learning and organisation development manager, who engages employees to come up with change interventions that address both business needs and employees’ concerns.
Aslam adds, “To improve the quality of the advisory provided to businesses, HR professionals can leverage new technology solutions such as data analytics and artificial intelligence. These will help them better predict, understand, and manage attrition rates with valuable insights into the reasons behind staff turnover. From there, they can come up with initiatives to enhance employee engagement – this can in turn boost worker productivity and drive better business outcomes.” In short, HR officers in your company could be bona-fide citizen data scientists. If you ever imagined them as mostly managing general staff policies and internal communications, think again.
What this means is that in order to support the organisation’s business transformation, HR professionals too have to upskill themselves. Aslam says, “At the same time, businesses need to understand the importance of investing in the upskilling and development of the HR function.”
He shares that IHRP supports the national initiative to uplift the human capital capabilities in Singapore through multiple initiatives. “We offer products that help HR professionals to demonstrate and validate their competencies.”
For example, the IHRP certification is a nationally-endorsed HR certification that assesses the professional’s understanding of the latest labour legislation, tripartite guidelines (such as Flexible Work Arrangements), and the application of HR competencies at the workplace. Meanwhile, micro-credentials like the IHRP skills badge can help HR professionals to expand their career opportunities through training programmes to authenticate their skill sets in emerging HR topics.
Developing Critical Core Skills within the workplace
As the business environment continues to transform and companies make the hybrid work model a norm, there is increasing employer demand for Critical Core Skills (CCS). According to Skills Demand for Future Economy Report 2022, CCS are a combination of digital, cognitive, and social emotional skills that are transferable, and they represent a person’s emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) and social intelligence.
In the extremely competitive labour market of today, individuals who demonstrate a combination of technical and soft skills are seen as talents in demand. The report also noted that the top three most important CCS used at work are Self Management, Influence, and Creative Thinking.
Aslam explains that these skills are manifested as behaviours that can be observed and measured. HR can incorporate CCS-focused assessments in the hiring process. “For example, HR could provide a business case for the applicant to present possible solutions; and the assessment panel can evaluate the candidate’s decision making, problem solving, and communication skills through interviews and role-play activities.”
Beyond hiring, organisations need to develop CCS through workplace learning and encourage employees to constantly upgrade themselves in this area. As such, HR professionals have to keep themselves up-to-date on the required skill sets that the organisation needs. “This way, they’ll be able to develop and deliver a robust learning and development roadmap that can facilitate employees’ learning, help them to grow their career in meaningful ways, and ultimately bring positive impacts to the business.”
Unlock business growth with skills-based hiring and development
In recent years, as part of a global trend, well-known companies including tech giants have moved away from an emphasis on paper qualifications. “Traditional academic qualifications obtained in the past may not be fully relevant for today’s business context. What’s more, new skills are emerging faster than what higher educational institutes can adapt in their academic programmes,” Aslam elaborates. “Hence, an individual’s academic qualification may not always accurately reflect their current skill sets.”
This is not mildly depressing news that it appears to be – the fact is that in the longer run, playing fields are more level since everyone has to go through constant upskilling.
However, it does call for a drastic overhaul in the way HR professionals assess suitable candidates. “Assessing current skill sets would require them to evaluate sources other than traditional paper qualifications. Some of these include technical skills tests or professional certificates that validate whether an individual has the required skills to meet the job requirements,” Aslam says.
They now need the know-how to assess these emerging technical skills tests and professional certs. These include understanding how technical skills tests are benchmarked, how to identify training programmes on the market that has the necessary rigour, as well as the level of in-depth expertise a particular job role requires and its prerequisite certifications.
Amid challenging market conditions, it is essential that business leaders recognise the important roles that HR professionals play to support the strategic business direction. “By investing in the skills development of HR employees, organisations can reap positive impacts in talent attraction and retention, which in turn helps to drive business innovation,” Aslam advises.