Emphasising workforce development has a clear correlation with improved financial results, according to findings in Workforce 2020, a global study by SAP SE and Oxford Economics.
The study examined high- and low-performing companies worldwide, including in Australia, India, Japan and Malaysia.
It found that higher-growth companies were better at attracting quality talent, with 64 per cent of high-performing Asia-Pacific firms saying they were satisfied with the quality of job candidates, compared with 56 per cent of companies with below-average profit margin.
“Key to managing human resources well is finding, supporting and driving the right talent. Technology can help HR managers monitor and identify areas of opportunity to strengthen a company’s most valuable assets that ultimately lead to better business performance,” said Jairo Fernandez, senior vice president, human resources, SAP Asia Pacific Japan.
The study also found that high-performing Asia Pac companies are increasingly utilising contingent and consultant employees, and that they prioritise workforce issues at a much higher level.
Seventy-seven per cent of executives at high-revenue growth companies in Asia Pacific say workforce issues are already driving strategy at the board level, compared with 64 per cent among low-performers. However, more than a third of executives at high-performing companies in the region said HR will have no voice in decision-making in three years.
Perhaps surprisingly, only 23 per cent of high-performing companies said they have ample budget and resources for developing talent, compared with 40 per cent of low-performing companies. Low-performing companies are also more likely to recruit internally when a person with key skills leaves the organisation (35 per cent compared with 23 per cent of high-performers).
High-revenue growth companies were also more likely to see technology skills well represented in their organisation, compared with low growth companies, in key areas such as analytics (62 per cent versus 55 per cent), office productivity software (58 per cent versus 49 per cent), and digital media (36 per cent versus 27 per cent).
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