In 2014 we witnessed an unexpected surge in the
number of multinational companies seeking senior
level interim human resources business partners.
“In the past, such HR project leaders were
transferred from their global HQs to work in Asia
to perform crucial transformation work within a
fixed period, often enjoying generous expatriate
packages. The fact that organisations are now
more inclined to seek talent from within the region
to manage major programmes shows the extent
to which skills have developed here,” says Iryani
Kamal, Senior Consultant, HR at Morgan McKinley
Singapore. “Nevertheless, we are still not in a
position where there is sufficient local talent
to meet all demand,” she adds.
Organisational change is the main driver
of that demand, with organisations seeking
strategic HR planning, organisational development
and change management, and talent acquisition
specialists in particular. With the economic
outlook generally rather better than a year
ago, HR departments have been ramping
up on recruitment in recent months, albeit
rather cautiously. “There is strong demand
for effective HR business partners at
leadership and assistant manager levels,”
says Kamal.
Performance and reward and learning and
development specialists may be in higher demand
as we progress through 2015, especially if the
economic upturn is sustained. “The focus of 2013
and 2014 was on talent acquisition. Therefore,
we are more likely to see staff retention becoming
a greater issue as top performers consider
exploring opportunities elsewhere. So the focus
will turn to compensation and benefits and talent
management,” says Kamal.
Some organisations are shrinking their HR teams
in Singapore, but if so it is usually because they are
outsourcing and offshoring administrative functions.
In other cases multinationals have recruitment
freezes in place but there is still strong latent
demand that may translate into actual demand
later in the year. Moreover, the contract market
has developed recently to meet the needs of global
restructurings and regional transformation projects.
In this climate we expect to see HR professionals
getting even more proactive in seeking new
employers in 2015. “Singapore is in any case a
vibrant and dynamic market. HR professionals are
usually open to having exploratory conversations
with potential employers, even if they are satisfied
in their current role. They are mindful that a once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity might be just around
the corner.
“People who are currently midway through their
careers and who are looking to achieve director
level need to demonstrate consistency and stability.
Evidence of effective stakeholder management will
make a candidate stand out as business leaders
usually seek an HR director who speaks their
language, who can be relied on and who will add
value to the organisation,” Kamal advises.
Generally speaking the HR talent pool is, from a
technical and point of view, very well qualified.
“The key problem here is bilingual fluency.
More and more companies will only recruit HR
professionals who have excellent language skills in
English and in an Asian language such as Mandarin
or Bahasa,” says Kamal.