Talent strategies for innovation: Japan

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A report from the Economist Intelligence UnitSupported by the Government of Ontario, Canada

Talent strategies for innovation: Japan

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Cover_final.pdf 8/31/2010 10:37:37 AMCover_final.pdf 8/31/2010 10:37:37 AM

Talent Strategies for Innovation: Japan

© Economist Intelligence Unit 2010 1

Contents

Preface 3

Executive summary 4

Introduction 5

C-Level responsibility 7

Case study 1: Canon 8

The Japanese way 9

Case study 2: Dentsu 11

Characteristics of innovative talent 12

Case study 3: Namco Bandai 13

An evolving concept 14

Conclusion 16

Appendix: survey results 17


2 © Economist Intelligence Unit 2010

© 2010 The Economist Intelligence Unit. All rights reserved. All information in this report is verified to the best of the author’s and the publisher’s ability. However, the Economist Intelligence Unit does not accept responsibility for any loss arising from reliance on it. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Economist Intelligence Unit.



Preface

Talent strategies for innovation: Japan is an Economist Intelligence Unit research paper, supported by the Government of Ontario, Canada. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s editorial team conducted the interviews, executed the survey and wrote the report. The views and opinions expressed in the report are those of the Economist Intelligence Unit alone.

Gavin Blair was the author of the report and David Line was the editor. Gaddi Tam was responsible for layout and design. Our thanks go to all survey respondents and interviewees for their time and insights.

September 2010



Executive summary

Talent strategies for innovation: Japan examines how Japanese companies face the challenge of recruiting, nurturing and retaining talented people to ensure their organisations remain innovative. Following on from a global survey of 179 senior executives on the same topic conducted in mid-2009, this paper analyses the results of a new survey of 50 senior executives from Japanese companies, comparing and contrasting them with the results of the earlier research. In doing so it reveals several aspects of talent-management strategy that are unique to Japanese companies—and suggests ways in which the pressures of competition and globalisation are forcing them to evolve these strategies. Its key findings include:

• Japanese companies place less emphasis on the importance of talent management in their organisation’s ability to innovate, and consequently delegate responsibility for it lower down the chain of seniority. In the survey 56% of Japanese respondents rate talent management for innovation as “very important”, compared to 75% globally. Consequently just 38% of Japanese companies report that C-level executives have responsibility for the formulation of talent-management strategy, compared to 65% in the global results. But they think this is changing: 51% of respondents in the Japanese survey expect C-suite executives will be more involved in defining strategy in five years’ time, compared to 38% of global companies.

• Japanese companies are more likely to employ structured, long-term talent-management strategies, and rely on internal development. Employee loyalty and a lack of labour mobility mean many Japanese companies place a greater emphasis on graduate schemes to attract talent, and internal training schemes to develop it. But these characteristics are changing with the demands of global competition: although 78% of respondents in Japan say training internal staff to fill key positions is a major part of their talent-management strategy now, only 24% expect this to be the case in five years’ time.

• Japanese companies tend to value technical knowledge and learning ability over creativity and entrepreneurship. The surveys uphold the common perception that Japanese companies value different attributes in their search for talent than those elsewhere in the world: the most highly-valued attributes are the ability to learn quickly (picked by 78% of respondents) and a high degree of technical knowledge (60%), while the global results placed a higher value on creativity and collaboration. However, many Japanese firms, although emphasising the importance of a unified corporate culture, recognise the need to broaden their search for talented staff to remain innovative.

• The pressures of globalisation and competition mean Japanese companies will have to look farther afield for talent. Japanese companies are certainly aware of the need to attract employees from a broader pool of talent: 82% of Japanese companies think the availability of talent is a vital external factor for innovation strategy, far higher than the 55% of global companies that think so. Increasingly this means they will have to go where the talent is: 48% think their companies will “locate innovation centres where there is an abundance of talent” in five years’ time, versus 39% of firms in the global survey.



Introduction

“Talent management is the single most important factor for Japanese companies to continue to operate successfully on the global stage.” So says Michihiro Homma, senior general manager of

the Human Resources Development Centre at Canon, a camera and office equipment manufacturer and one of Japan’s most successful international brands.

That Canon thinks this way is testimony to the evolution of the Japanese corporation. Many of the Japanese companies that were at the forefront of the post-war “economic miracle” have seen their once seemingly unassailable competitive edges eroded by both lower-cost manufacturing rivals from Asia, and innovative competitors in technology and software from the West. However, even as international competition has become tougher, faced with a shrinking domestic marketplace, many Japanese companies beyond the established electronics and automobiles exporters are seeking to expand their operations overseas.

With the global marketplace evolving at an ever faster pace, the need to innovate more quickly has never been greater. Companies that don’t acquire and nurture the best talent available simply won’t be able to innovate effectively enough to compete. Research conducted globally by the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2009 showed that 98% of companies regard talent management as either “important” or “very important” to their ability to innovate.

That research, entitled Talent Strategies for

Innovation (also produced with support from the government of Ontario, Canada) took an in-depth look at the relationship between talent management and innovation. This paper, Talent Strategies for Innovation: Japan, based on interviews and a survey of 50 Japanese companies, looks at the particular challenges facing Japanese corporations in nurturing innovative workforces. It also examines the differences in attitudes and approaches to talent management between Japanese companies and those surveyed in the previous global paper, and whether there are differences between domestic-focused and export-oriented firms in Japan.

Chart 1Respondents by job title(% respondents)

Board member

CEO/President/Managing director

CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller

2

12

4

CIO/Technology director

Other C-level executive

SVP/VP/Director

Head of department

Manager20

2

4

54

2

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit



About the survey

A total of 50 executives from Japanese companies with annual sales of between US$250m and US$10bn took part in the online survey. Some 72% of respondents were C-level executives and the remainder were senior vice-presidents, vice-presidents, directors or managers

(see Chart 1). Some 40% of respondents are in the HR department. • Respondents represented a range of industries, with 32% coming from the manufacturing sector, 22% from retailing and 16% from consumer goods. • Survey totals may not add to 100 either due to rounding or because respondents could pick multiple answers.



C-Level responsibility

The value of talent management is being increasingly recognised in Japanese companies, with 100% of survey respondents regarding it as either “important” or “very important” to their

organisation’s ability to innovate. However, companies worldwide place a slightly greater emphasis on this, with 75% in the 2009 survey citing it as “very important”, whereas just 56% in Japan rate it the same way (see Chart 2).

Reflecting this, the responsibility for talent management is still being delegated lower down the corporate ladder in Japan relative to global practice. At the very top, just 38% of Japanese companies report that C-level executives have responsibility for the formulation of talent-management strategy, compared to 65% in the global results.

Slightly lower down the chain of command the story is the same: at only 20% of Japanese companies are senior vice-president, vice-president and director level executives in charge of formulating talent-management strategy, whereas at firms globally the figure is 49%. For the execution of these strategies, only 18% of Japanese companies say senior vice-president, vice-president and director level execs are responsible, compared to 46% globally. (Respondents in both surveys were able to choose more than one level of executive.)

Although the surveys show that on average Japanese companies are placing less emphasis on talent management than their global counterparts, with fewer senior executives taking charge of it, many of the nation’s most forward-looking organisations are placing it at the heart of their business strategy.

Canon, which has been an early adopter in the field, began implementing a formal talent management strategy in 2000, and involvement goes all the way to the top. “Our CEO, [Fujio] Mitarai, is fully committed to talent management and puts a lot of effort into its development,” says Mr Homma.

It is not only Japan’s technology powerhouses that have taken the importance of talent management on board. “Our way of innovation is not the technology innovation that Japan is famous for, but creating innovation in terms of ideas and ways of working, and developing talent that can do that,” says Yotaro Okuda, deputy director of the Corporate Strategy Division at Dentsu, which controls over 20% of the Japanese advertising market.

At Namco Bandai, a maker of toys and electronic games with sales in the financial year 2009-10 of ¥378.5bn (US$4.2bn), innovation is also essential to the success of the company.

Not at all important

Somewhat important

1

0

4423

75

Don’t know/Not applicable0

1

Very important56

Japan Global

Chart 2How important is good talent management to yourorganisation’s ability to innovate?(% respondents)




“Because of the nature of our business, making games and toys, if we don’t develop good talent and they don’t enjoy their working environment and create innovative products, we can’t survive as a company,” says Norifumi Hayashi, general manager of human resources. “So the organization is important, but individual development is the most important thing we have.”

Case study 1: Canon

With less than half of its 194,000 worldwide workforce based in Japan, and just over a fifth of its US$37bn sales in calendar 2009 coming from the domestic market, Canon has for decades looked at business through a global perspective. The company has also seen the core activity of its operations, optical imaging, become almost entirely digitised in a relatively short space of time. “In recent years technological advancement is so fast that the challenge is to do business at that speed,” says Michihiro Homma, senior general manager of the Human Resources Development Centre at Canon.

The company’s comprehensive talent management system covers employees from new recruits through to senior executives, and includes three levels of Canon Innovative Leader courses for managers, which are held at different locations worldwide. In addition, there is a Canon Corporate Executive Development

Program which was created with the IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland. This course, for around 20 people per year, is designed for senior foreign managers and Japanese managers who work overseas, so is all conducted in English. For senior executives a Keiei Juku, or intensive management course, focuses on management training and personal development. “At present [this course] is only designed for Japanese executives, but in the future is likely to be taken by foreign executives too,” Mr Homma says.

Canon was one of the few major manufacturers not to post losses during the global slowdown, though Mr Homma is reluctant to credit the company’s talent strategies. “It’s true we didn’t go into the red, and the managers responsible were brought through by Canon,” he says, “but we couldn’t say it’s due to our talent management policies. The program started formally from 2000 so the results should be visible from here on in.”



The Japanese way

Japanese corporate culture is often characterized as being different to that in the rest of the business world, and although its uniqueness may sometimes be overstated, there are factors that

distinguish it from elsewhere. One of these differences is employee loyalty to the company, and a central tenet of that is not moving from one organisation to another every few years—something that is “still regarded as kind of immoral in the Japanese business world”, says Izumi Miyajima, deputy director at the HR Development Department of Dentsu.

Although there is more mobility than there once was in the Japanese labour market, at big corporations in particular, joining the company on April 1st straight after graduation and remaining there for decades is still far from unusual. In line with this, a “fast-track scheme for able graduates” is cited as the most highly-rated strategy for recruiting talented staff by 58% of Japanese companies, versus 34% globally. Similarly, the survey results found that a far smaller proportion of Japanese companies than global companies regard the “desire of employees to switch jobs frequently” as a major challenge to keeping talented staff (20% compared to 43%; Chart 3). “We don’t have a lot of staff who leave the company,” says Mr Miyajima.

Although the lack of mobility between companies undoubtedly makes it more difficult to procure talent from outside, it does allow organisations to create long-term talent management programmes that span employees’ working lifetimes. According to the survey, more companies in Japan (66%) regard internal development as the most effective method for talent management than do global companies (46%; Chart 4).

According to Ichiro Hara, general manager of Canon’s HR Management Division, the company does have staff join mid-career, “but their numbers are pretty low”. With this in mind, Canon has created a comprehensive, company-wide “HR Development System” that implements talent management for its workforce—from new recruits right through to senior management.

Dentsu too has a very structured career and training path for employees to follow through their working lives at the company. “Our basic HR system is different to Western companies because employees don’t change careers often, and usually stay with us for 20 or 30 years,” says Mr Miyajima. “So our development and career plans are based around that fact.”

Lack of skilled graduates for entry-level jobs

Older employees retiring36

3436

2043

2045

1616

411

27

42

Desire of employees to switch jobs frequently

Greater comptition from global marketplace

Restrictive labour regulations

Restrictive immigration laws

Increasing labour costs44

Japan Global

Chart 3Which of the following challenges does your organisation currently face in recruiting and retaining talented staff? Please select all that apply.(% respondents)




Internal development

Very effective 1Japan: 2 Not at all effective 3

Open competition

42866 234946 2

185422 7

215619 3

184336 5

205220 7

42 1244 2

Referrals through formal networks (eg, associations)5337 10

Referrals through informal networks265220 2

Recruiting from competitors5818 222

Don’t know/Not applicable

Very effective 1Global: 2 Not at all effective 3 Don’t know/Not applicable

Chart 4Which methods are most effective for your organisation in recruiting talent for innovation? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 3 where 1=Very effective and 3=Not at all effective.(% respondents)


Chart 5Which of the following statements are true about your organisation’s talent-management strategy now, and which will be true in the next five years? Please select those with which you agree. My organisation:(% respondents, select answers)

Looks outside country borders for talent

Trains and develops staff internally to fill key positions

4240

7824

Moves staff between countries to address talent gaps40

38

Locates innovation centres where there is an abundance of talent

Does not consider availability of talent in defining overall strategy

3848

4836

Today In five years




The least traditionally Japanese of the three case study companies in this report, Namco Bandai, takes a more flexible approach to career planning. “We have no age-based promotions at all; people who produce results get rewarded,” says Mr Hayashi. Most staff training programmes are negotiated between the company and individual employees, who are “rarely forced to go on courses”, Mr Hayashi says. Employees joining mid-career is also fairly common at Namco Bandai, reports Mr Hayashi, who himself had stints in human resources at a number of other companies before his present position.

Despite Japan’s relatively strict immigration laws, only 4% of Japanese companies surveyed regard them as a major challenge in recruiting and retaining talented staff, below the 11% that hold that opinion globally. Dentsu’s Mr Miyajima concedes that while Japanese companies are “behind in terms of diversity, particularly with regard to gender equality and foreign employees”, he believes the situation is improving.

The current norm of training internal staff to fill key positions looks set to change dramatically, according to the survey results. Although 78% of respondents say this is true of their talent-management strategy now, only 24% expect this to be the case in five years’ time (Chart 5). However, only 40% of respondents believe Japanese companies will look outside the country’s borders for talent in five years’ time, compared to 42% today, suggesting slow progress on the lack of diversity Mr Miyajima highlights.

Case study 2: Dentsu

Dominating its domestic advertising market to the extent that it is the envy of agencies worldwide, Dentsu has a history that goes back over a century. Even in the perfect storm that devastated the media and advertising industries through 2009, the group managed to pull in sales of ¥1.678trn (US$19.3bn) and return to the black.

Although in many ways Dentsu is a traditional Japanese company with many employees who stay with the organisation for their whole working lives, its need for creative innovation and overseas expansion have meant it places a great deal of emphasis on talent-management strategy. Dentsu created a training course jointly with Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brandcenter that started in

2006. These off-site courses were initially run by lecturers from the US advertising world, but they have been gradually replaced with Dentsu employees who have taken the courses themselves.

In April this year, Dentsu launched two new talent initiatives: the Dentsu Management Institute—a one year course with Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy in Tokyo—and Dentsu Management Juku (cram school), a three-month course. There are two main reasons for implementing these now, according to Yotaro Okuda, deputy director of the Corporate Strategy Division: “Firstly, the digital media environment that Dentsu and our clients are operating in has become extremely complex. [Secondly,] we also need to understand the way our clients’ businesses work and their management strategies in order to respond to their needs.”



Characteristics of innovative talent

At Japanese companies, the most highly-valued attributes for innovation in employees are the ability to learn quickly (picked by 78% of respondents) and a high degree of technical knowledge

(60%)—both selected by more than twice the percentage of Japanese firms than their global counterparts. Creativity, however, is less highly prized by Japanese firms (34%, compared to 51% globally). Entrepreneurial skills too are lower down the list of attributes necessary for successful innovation, picked by only 4% of Japanese companies, compared to 22% in the global survey (Chart 6).

While these findings may be in line with the general perception of a Japanese corporate world that regards technical knowledge and corporate conformity as more important than creative thinking, this does not necessarily reflect the approaches of Japan’s more forward-looking companies. And while this traditional characterisation emphasises group responsibility and collaboration over individual enterprise,

Chart 6What do you regard as the most important skills required for successful innovation in your organisation?(% respondents)

Ability to learn quickly

High degree of technical knowledge

7836

60

4040

34

23

Ability to collaborate

Creativity

51

34Ability to solve problems

Self-motivation

R&D management skills

Entrepreneurial skills

Knowledge transfer skills

Networking skills

Ability to work across functions

30

625

47

422

Japan Global

217

211

223




in the survey, ”ability to collaborate” was rated highly by exactly the same percentage of companies (40%) in both the Japanese and global surveys.

Canon, Dentsu and Namco Bandai all report that on-the-job training and job rotation are crucial to nurturing an innovative workforce that understands the needs of the entire organisation. “Having employees experience various aspects of our business develops the best talent, but it’s difficult to do well—it’s our biggest challenge regarding talent management,” says Canon’s Mr Hara. This view is echoed by Namco Bandai’s Mr Hayashi, who says that “managers not wanting to let their most capable staff move to other divisions” is one of the biggest barriers to effective talent management in the organisation.

Another problem encountered at Dentsu is that “sections are often so busy that there is not enough time to dedicate to on-the-job training, or send staff away on training courses,” reports Mr Miyajima. Dentsu’s solution is the implementation of short-term intensive training programmes.

Both Canon and Dentsu have a clearly defined company ”way”, and educating employees in this is integral to their talent-management strategies. Canon’s “San-ji”, or ”three selfs”, are pillars of its corporate philosophy: self-motivation, self-management and self-awareness. Meanwhile, Yoji Ando, senior manager at Dentsu’s Recruiting & Talent Development Department, describes the overarching goal of the company’s training programmes as: “to create value, increase the capabilities of employees and pass on the ‘Dentsu Way’ to the next generation”. Whereas Namco Bandai “doesn’t have a strict group ‘way’ like some companies”, says Mr Hayashi. “We have policies but don’t dictate exactly how things should be done at ground level.”

Case study 3: Namco Bandai

While the number of C-suite executive titles seems to be perpetually expanding, the Bandai division of Namco Bandai must certainly be the only company with a CGO, a Chief Gundam Officer, who manages the brand of video games, toys and model figures based around the company’s iconic, and highly profitable, “robot-suit” franchise. As befits a creator of fantastical games and toys, the company has an unorthodox approach to talent management. This doesn’t mean it takes the issue lightly, just that it operates in a world of unconventional creativity and adjusts its strategies accordingly.

Nor has it been insulated from the global slowdown. Despite the oft-touted recession-proof nature of the entertainment industries, it did suffer a fall in sales last year that resulted in it posting a record loss. In response, this year it launched a “Group

Restart Plan”, with one of the main pillars being to “transform into a speedy group”. According to Norifumi Hayashi, general manager of human resources, “This means we make decisions fast, develop fast and bring new products to market fast—the product cycle in our business is very quick. Young people are more suited to this way of working so we give them a lot of responsibility early on. So before they make big mistakes, they are allowed to make small ones.”

Namco Bandai also brings in more staff mid-career than most Japanese companies because “any corporate mono-culture has its limits, so stimulation from outside is essential for innovation and development,” according to Mr Hayashi. It is also less concerned about staff leaving. “We don’t spend money on retention, on bonuses and the like. Even if an employee is exceptional, if their heart is not in the job, we don’t need them,” he adds. “I think the best way is to try and create a company where employees want to work.”



An evolving concept

The awareness of, and focus on, talent-management strategy at Japanese companies looks set to increase. While 56% of Japanese companies currently think that a lack of involvement from C-suite

executives in shaping talent strategy is a major internal barrier to innovation, compared to 31% of global firms, some 51% of respondents in the Japanese survey expect C-suite executives will be more involved in defining strategy in five years’ time, compared to 39% of global companies (see Chart 7).

Dentsu’s Mr Miyajima believes that the top executives in his company “will be more involved in talent management for innovation in five years, and that will make it easier for our [HR] work too”.

Today

More involvedJapan: The same Less involved

In five years

64638 1064151 3

124439 539 451 6


More involvedGlobal: The same Less involved Don’t know/Not applicable

Chart 7aAre C-level executives in your organisation more or less involved in defining talent strategy now than they were five years ago?How involved will they be in five years?(% respondents)


Like companies everywhere, the biggest challenges facing Japanese organisations are related to globalisation. These range from the fact that “business opportunities are appearing in places where they didn’t previously occur,” as Dentsu’s Mr Miyajima puts it, through to “how to work effectively with foreign board members, or a future number one or number two at the company”, says Namco Bandai’s Mr Hayashi.

The challenges of working with foreign staff and managing overseas subsidiaries are recurring themes for Japanese companies planning talent-management strategies to train their staff for business in an increasingly globalised future. “Taking over foreign companies and having employees that are able to run them is one of the biggest challenges facing Canon,” says Mr Hara.

Even Dentsu, often seen as a traditional domestic Japanese firm, already has more staff overseas than the 6,500 who work at its huge Tokyo headquarters. This figure is set to grow, notes Mr Okuda, as Dentsu is “expanding as a group, often through M&A—and if we are taking over companies, then of course we have to nurture talent that can manage them.”

Already 82% of Japanese companies think the availability of talent is a vital external factor for innovation strategy, considerably higher than the 55% of global companies that think so—though it

31

C-suite executives are not involved enough in shaping talent strategy56

Japan Global

Chart 7bWhat are the main internal barriers to successful talent management for innovation in your organisation?(% respondents)




was the top answer in both surveys (Chart 8). Similarly, 48% of Japanese respondents think their companies will “locate innovation centres where there is an abundance of talent” in five years’ time, versus 39% of firms in the global survey (Chart 5).

38

30

Availability of talent

Access to people with flexibility with regard to work demands (eg, hours, mobility, relocation)

Business environment (eg, tolerance of risk)

Cluster of companies/institutions in the same industry

82

Japan

41

29

Availability of talent


55

Global

Chart 8In developing a strategy for innovation, what external factors are most important for your organisation? (Top 3 only)(% respondents)




Conclusion

While parts of the Japanese corporate world may have begun to adopt formal talent management programmes slower than their overseas counterparts, many of its leading and forward-looking

companies have long been aiming for global best practices in the discipline. But even these acknowledge that there is still a way to go.

Even Canon, which has operated successfully worldwide for decades, acknowledges that it can’t rest on its laurels. “The other big challenge for us is creating a fully global talent management system, which isn’t in place yet,” says the company’s Mr Homma. “We have to create one that can respond to the emerging markets of Asia and other developing countries, and it’s not easy to predict what will happen in those areas.”

As the shrinking population in Japan continues to squeeze the domestic market, the numbers of Japanese companies seeking to expand operations overseas is set to grow. With that, as the survey and case studies illustrate, there will be a growing emphasis on the importance of talent management for innovation.

AppendixSurvey results



Appendix: survey results

1. How important is good talent management to your organisation’s ability to innovate? (% respondents)Very important

Somewhat important

56

44

24

Manager

Head of business unit

SVP/VP/Director

1612

10

30

2018

28

Head of department22

30

C-level executive38

Formulate Execute

2. Who is (are) the most senior executive(s) with responsibility to formulate and execute your organisation’s talent strategy? Please select all that apply. (% respondents)

TodayMore involved The same Less involved

In five years

46 638 10

39 451 6


3. Are C-level executives in your organisation more or less involved in defining talent strategy now than they were five years ago? How involved will they be in five years? (% respondents)

Policies to attract and retain qualified professionalsVery important 1 2 Not important 3

Location within a cluster (geographic concentrations of companies and institutions operating in a particular field)

2870 2

42 1733 8

Investment in research and development3353 14

Strong channels of communication with customers84 16

Strong relationships with suppliers74 224


4. In your opinion, how important are the following for innovation? Please rate where 1=Very important and 3=Not important. (% respondents)

In which country are you personally located?(% respondents)Japan

100

In which country is your company headquartered?(% respondents)Japan

100




5. What do you regard as the most important skills required for successful innovation in your organisation? Please select up to three. (% respondents)Ability to learn quickly

High degree of technical knowledge

Ability to collaborate

78

60

40

Creativity34

Ability to solve problems34

Self-motivation6

R&D management skills4

Entrepreneurial skills4

Knowledge transfer skills2

2

2

2

Networking skills

Ability to work across functions

Other, please specify

6. In developing a strategy for innovation, what external factors are most important for your organisation? Please select up to three. (% respondents)Availability of talent


Cluster of companies/institutions in the same industry

82

38

30

Financial and/or fiscal incentives26

Cost/availability of capital26

Protection of intellectual property rights14

Quality of education system14

Proximity to universities and other sources of fundamental research4

Business environment (eg, tolerance of risk)4

4

2

Diversity of available talent

Liberal labour laws (eg, easy to hire and fire)




Internal developmentVery effective 1 2 Not at all effective 3

Open competition

42866 2

42 1244 2

Referrals through formal networks (eg, associations)5337 10

Referrals through informal networks265220 2

Recruiting from competitors5818 222


7. In your opinion, which methods are most effective for your organisation in recruiting talent for innovation? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 3 where 1=Very effective and 3=Not at all effective. (% respondents)

8. What are the main internal barriers to successful talent management for innovation in your organisation? Please select all that apply. (% respondents)C-suite executives are not involved enough in shaping talent strategy

Talent strategy not effectively aligned with business strategy

Not enough collaboration and resource-sharing among different parts of the organisation

56

56

48

Reluctance to look outside the organisation for talent28

Lack of relevant training opportunities for people within the organisation26

Lack of resources in our community for developing workforce skills24

Lack of labour pool with appropriate skills22

Other, please specify2

9. Which of the following challenges does your organisation currently face in recruiting and retaining talented staff? Please select all that apply. (% respondents)Increasing labour costs

Older employees retiring

Lack of skilled graduates for entry-level jobs

44

36

34

Desire of employees to switch jobs frequently20

Greater competition from global marketplace20

Restrictive labour regulations16

Restrictive immigration laws4

Other, please specify2




10. What strategies does your organisation use for attracting and retaining the most talented staff? Please select all that apply. (% respondents)Fast-track scheme for able graduates

Individual coaching and mentoring

Opportunity to train for industry qualifications

58

52

44

Flexible working opportunities24

Rewards and incentive schemes for achievements24

Employee perquisites such as health club membership22

Bonus offered when new hire joins from a rival firm (eg, golden hellos)20

Opportunity to move between countries

On-site child care

Rewards for loyalty

Other, please specify

18

10

10

2

11. Which of the following statements are true about your organisation’s talent-management strategy now, and which will be true in the next five years? Please select those with which you agree. My organisation: (% respondents)

Looks outside country borders for talent

Trains and develops staff internally to fill key positions

4240

7824

2674

Gives the C-suite main responsibility for talent management

Moves staff between countries to address talent gaps40

38

Locates innovation centres where there is an abundance of talent

Seeks to create an environment that is conducive to innovation

Does not consider availability of talent in defining overall strategy

3848

5446

4836

Today In five years




12. What is your primary industry? (% respondents)Manufacturing

Retailing

Consumer goods

32

22

16

Construction and real estate

Entertainment, media and publishing

IT and technology

Logistics and distribution

Telecommunications

Chemicals

Energy and natural resources

Financial services

Professional services

Transportation, travel and tourism

4

4

4

4

4

2

2

2

2

2

13. What are your main functional roles? Please choose no more than three functions. (% respondents)Human resources

General management

Customer service

40

32

16

Finance

Information and research

Legal

Marketing and sales

Risk

Strategy and business development

IT

Other

8

8

8

8

10

2

2

4

14. Which of the following best describes your title? (% respondents)Board member

CEO/President/Managing director

CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller

2

12

4

CIO/Technology director

Other C-level executive

SVP/VP/Director

Head of department

Manager20

2

4

54

2

15. What are your organisation's global annual revenues in US dollars? (% respondents)$250m to $500m

$500m to $1bn

$1bn to $5bn

54

28

14

$5bn to $10bn4

Whilst every effort has been taken to verify the accuracy of this information, neither The Economist Intelligence Unit Ltd. nor the Government of Ontario, Canada can accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this report or any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out herein.

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An Economist Intelligence Unit research paperSponsored by the Government of Ontario

Talent strategies for innovation: Japan

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