In a business world fraught with disruptions and ever-evolving employee preferences, having benchmarking reports that cut through the noise and provide deep insights on what HR leaders should be on the lookout for proves to be beneficial. From driving organisational agility to delivering a better employee experience, leveraging the potential of HR tech today can help drive success. But only if the deployment is strategically aligned with business objectives while enabling employees to develop and grow. 

With People Matters and Darwinbox’s latest research study, HR Evolution Perspectives 2023: Empower and Evolve, HR leaders across Singapore and APAC get an in-depth understanding of the challenges and opportunities that await them.

The study, one of the largest of its kind—through responses gathered from over 2,000 HR practitioners and 1200+ employees— the trends and insights from the report paint an in-depth picture of what companies and employees demand today. 

Strong growth sentiment

Presenting the report, Vikrant Khanna, Global Head - Value Management, Advisory & Solutions, Dawinbox noted that "the growth sentiment in Asia is likely stronger than it has ever been.  An overwhelming 81% of our participants express a likelihood to enhance profitability or significantly improve profitability, barring a few high-cost locations and sectors like Telecom, media and technology.” 

The report finds that HR leaders today face the crucial task of balancing the need to contribute to business profitability while raising employee productivity and reducing workforce count. This reflects the sentiment across Asia to see rapid growth across all possible business parameters over the coming 2-3 years​. 

However, HR leaders are also wary of their ability to build strategically relevant skills in their workforce, identifying it as an area with the greatest gap between its perceived risk and current readiness.

"Less than 1/4th of the CXOs are ready to meet capability and change challenges to deliver on growth aspirations," Vikrant noted. 

The adoption of digital means to drive growth remains another significant challenge. The report notes that while companies across Singapore and Asia are raising the bar in terms of being more agile, Digital Adoption, Integrated Programs and Governance are the Achilles heel for Agility.

It is not surprising, therefore, that while priorities for HR are evolving, the role of digitisation/automation remains a top priority across​ Asia. Some organisations are outliers, and the Study looked at what they are doing differently.

Outlier organisations

"Organisations endowed with clarity and confidence in their people operating models demonstrate remarkable outperformance across various metrics," said Ester Martinez, CEO and Editor in Chief, People Matters.

"They are nearly twice as likely to adjust to market fluctuations adeptly, 2.3 times more likely to surpass shareholder value expectations and returns, 3.2 times more assured about the quality of services and experiences they deliver within their organisation, two times more likely to retain and engage top talent, and four times more confident that their technological investments will yield the projected outcomes," she added

"When considering the outlier organisations that Ester highlighted, of those who have effectively addressed their transformation needs, several key themes emerge," Vikrant noted.

"The focal point of their strategy is becoming increasingly centred on enhancing the employee experience, empowering frontline staff and managers to lead, emphasising a robust knowledge base, and witnessing a substantial surge in the integration of technology. This shift signifies that the new narrative is firmly rooted in an "outside-in" approach."

With a detailed look at the market sentiment on growth, future talent demands and critical digital HR interventions, HR Evolution Perspectives 2023 presents the new talent equations for success. From the rising demand for work-life balance and empathetic leadership to the need for HR tech to drive transparency and trust, the report enables HR leaders across the board to identify trends that are going to reshape the way they drive outcomes. In addition, it finds that accelerating agility and EX are strongly linked to driving business results.