Hamilton argues that a lack of visibility and data on what kind of workers they have across the business is a barrier to Asia-Pacific firms improving their workforces’ agility. “Most multinationals in Asia have permanent workers and contingent workers of all kinds, many employed in different ways by different parts of the organization. Often, the rates of these workers have been negotiated individually, and nobody within the organization has one accurate source of information about that.” This can make it difficult to develop a comprehensive workforce strategy that identifies, firstly, where talent is most needed and, secondly, the best route to sourcing such talent (for example, reskilling, permanent hires, or contingent workers).
Hamilton advises that the first step companies should take is to audit their workforces to understand the functions they fulfill, the nature of their work, and how long they have been working there. The next priority should be to design a methodology to predict needs in the medium term, which provides a baseline against which to measure actual developments.
“We recognize that the shift to remote working is going to drive a competitive advantage for us,” says Heidi Gerhard, Head of Talent Strategy at multinational chemical company, BASF. “Not being confined to a particular geographic area for recruitment and not requiring talent to be on site every single day creates an opportunity for us to access new talent, new perspectives and, ultimately, innovation.”
