Companies are relying on their top leaders to fight fires on so many fronts; staying profitable through the pandemic, leading the charge to move into this new digital era, tackling an ever-growing talent crunch and keeping staff motivated and caring for their mental wellness.
As a global mobility leader, what should you be focusing your energy on first? Here are some of the top workforce trends in Asia that may help leaders to better navigate today’s cross-border market.
Introduction
Australia is in the midst of a significant transformation – one which will help shape the workplace and workforce of the future.
The impacts of COVID-19 will see a massive transformation to the future – cross-border strategies will need to be revised, business and cashflow plans stress tested, supply chains revisited, business will enter a period of policy co-design with government, as well as many other challenges.
Rapid digitisation, increasing and changing demand for services, evolving community and government expectations, access to information and broader labour market disruption are forcing organisations to rethink their strategy.
Navigating the transition to the future of work can be a complex challenge for businesses which deploy a global workforce. Balancing the plethora of information and transformation opportunities presented to business leaders can be overwhelming, particularly at a time of unprecedented workforce change and geopolitical uncertainties.
Understandably, the focus for many human resource professionals at present is to help their workforce talent return to business-as-usual as international borders reopen. However, the disruption to the workplace and workforce translates to a perfect opportunity for global mobility to transform their talent attraction, retention and incentivization strategies – now is the ideal time to seize the opportunities to transform to the future.
Here are three critical factors in the reimagined workforce:
1. Rethink Employee Connection
COVID-19 has fast-tracked unprecedented workplace and workforce change. The days when the vast majority of an employer’s workforce attended the office 9am to 5pm 5 days a week are probably gone forever. Talent now works in a variety of ways for their business including work-from-home, hybrid work arrangements, as well as virtual work.
This new type of workforce requires a rethink of the traditional models to connect with the wider team. This involves more than merely offering video conference facilities. Building a high performing collaborative team culture requires leaders to think differently ensuring that organisational values underpin an environment of open communication, measurable goals are set for the team, and importantly team stability is maintained.
2. Revisit the Organisational Culture
During a time of great upheaval in people’s personal and professional lives, it’s easy to forget the important role which organisational culture plays in helping workforce talent to feel bonded to their employer. Numerous studies have shown that one of the pivotal factors which influence where talent chooses to work is the organisational culture they are joining. COVID-19 has not changed the importance of organisational culture – in fact it has increased its importance to talent.
Now is therefore a good time to conduct a pulse check with your workforce to sense check how effective the organisational culture has been in supporting talent during the past two years. Where adjustments do need to be made, or some key cultural messaging refined, steps should be taken immediately, as failure to do so will make the “great resignation” more painful than it needs to be.
3. Rethink the Value of your Data
The urgency to remain compliant with remote employees will be even higher. During the past 2 years, companies of all sizes across multiple industry sectors have invested heavily in managing and mitigating risk of breaches to their data from external agents. However, a much smaller number of companies have given thought to the internal data risk to their business posed by the evolving nature of their workforce.
A recent survey of HR professionals identified nearly 20% of companies with 25 to 99 employees say they are facing challenges with compliance and regulatory issues. Accurate and up-to-date data will be key in helping organisations tackle compliancy and subsequent decision-making.
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