While the business is getting more challenging, business leaders are struggling with the talent shortage. The majority of C-suite leaders in the Asia Pacific region have identified that talent shortage is an impediment to the growth of their businesses. And in Singapore, this percentage is as high as 75%. 

The report also suggests that only 53% businesses engage HR throughout the business strategy development stages – clearly shows that there is only a minority of leaders who trust their HR departments on this talent challenge. 

One of the major concerns of C-suite leaders in the APAC region is their ability to acquire the right talent. It is here that the HR is expected to play a more pivotal role in supporting business strategies and driving results. However, only 37% of the respondents feel that their HR department is fully equipped with strategic workforce insights to contribute to their business planning. 

The key obstacle hindering the ability of the businesses to attract talent is lack of available talent (50%). 

From India’s perspective let us take a look at the major difficulties faced by organisations in attracting talent (as reported in ET):

• Lack of available talent: (52%)
• Lack of a holistic and diversified strategy: (57%)
• Lack of engagement on digital media: (52%) 
• Lack of employer branding: (41%) 

Interestingly, in India 54% of C-suite members feel less strain of a negative impact due to talent shortage. 

In addition to this, more than half of respondents in India admit that their HR team is engaged right at the business strategy development stage. Thus, reflecting the value that HR teams bring to the table when it comes to human resource planning.

The other two key findings highlighted in the report were: 

1. Contingent workforce is thriving in APAC: 88% of respondents expect to maintain or increase their number of contingent workers as they enable cost efficiency and provide access to specialist skills. 

2. Outsourcing considered crucial to increase productivity and profitability: While IT support remains the predominantly outsourced business function 61%, companies have started to partner with external consultancies to outsource other functions as well. When asked about the currently outsourced function to manage the talent, 60% of the respondents chose Talent Advisory and Consulting. 

“C-suite leaders understand that more needs to be done to ensure workforce planning is addressed when developing business strategies. In today’s challenging business environment, some leaders are already working towards ensuring that they have a nimble workforce. To adapt during times of uncertainty, they are becoming increasingly dependent on contingent workers,” said Francis Padamadan, Country Director, KellyOCG.

The study determines workforce agility in an organization which reflects the ability to swiftly scale its workforce in highly uncertain economic times and remain resilient despite emerging disruptions. To determine businesses’ current state of workforce agility in the region, KellyOCG asked C-suite leaders about their talent acquisition practices, how they see their talent needs transforming, and their plans for their companies’ future.

The study was conducted amongst 210 C-suite level executives across India, Singapore, Australia, and Malaysia from industries such as banking and financial services, life sciences, healthcare and medical services, and manufacturing.