Making a Business Case for Workforce Transformation

“(Employers) tend to have a plug-and-play approach, where they hire workers previously trained by a competitor,

rather than train the workers in their own companies,”— Josephine Teo, Minister of Manpower, speaking at the

World Economic Forum Davos Agenda 2021 on January 28, 2021

Mayank ParekhCEO, Institute for Human Resources Professionals

Introduction

Many companies appreciate the importance of developing their employees. But learning & development of employees is often not a priority and consequently are one of the first casualties in budget cuts. Many perceive participation in training taking place at the expense of everyday job responsibilities and tasks. Even employees themselves may question whether learning is worth the effort in the short run, even if they think it could deliver longer-term gains.

In a VUCA world, companies must build capabilities for workforce/business transformation. It is an ongoing journey and critical for to survive, sustain and seize new opportunities in the long run. Building a relevant and skilled workforce will in turn strengthen the employability of the PMEs that they employ. This chapter attempts to make the business case for building in-house talents and share some best practices to drive home the idea that retraining and equipping employees with new skills is an investment, rather than a cost to employers.

What is Driving Workforce Transformation?

With reference to Figure X below, the main drivers of workforce transformation both internal and external are digital technologies. The

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COVID-19 crisis has particularly highlighted the importance of digitization for companies. McKinsey & Company1 states that the digital technologies that companies are rapidly adopting during the pandemic process, will also be essential in the recovery phase. The only thing sure in all the uncertainty that COVID-19 brings is that the future requires more digital adaptations. The National Business Survey conducted late 2020 from a total of 1,075 companies reported 84% of businesses accelerated their digital transformation by an average of 2 years2. In the post COVID-19 world, all technology-based sectors will be prominent. No sector will survive without digital transformation. The smart applications will be used in every sector to the extent that they have not been used before. Emerging sectors include agriculture-tech, biotechnology, food-technology, sustainability/green technology, education-technology, and everything digital (which requires AI specialists, data engineer/scientist, dev-op/cloud-engineer, autonomous technology, full stack developers, etc).

Figure X – Workforce Transformation Drivers 3

1 https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-covid-19-recovery-will-be-digital-a-plan-for-the-first-90-days#2 https://www.sbf.org.sg/business-advocacy/sbf-research-reports#NBS3 People Power: A Catalyst for Transformation, Global Workforce Transformation Trends Study 2019 by Lee Lecht Harrison2

Our changing demographics and consumer behaviour will also drive demand for jobs requiring non-technical skills such as community managers, welfare and counselling specialists, allied health-care professionals too.

Internally in companies, greater flexibility in working arrangements will see an increasing need for new skillsets on shaping an organisational practice and the employee experience towards a purpose-driven and sustainable and integrated work-life culture.

The current pandemic-led disruption is perhaps an opportunity to take a calibrated approach to develop this talent pool from scratch.

The Case for Building your Talents

As companies transforms, they will need to build a talent pipeline for future needs. However, there is a gap in readily available skill locally and the skills needed for growth areas to thrive. Companies facing talent challenges may be tempted to attract talent from the outside, rather than look inwards. In most cases, hiring from outside will cost more as well as is time-consuming. There is no guarantee that a new hire will perform to expectations or fit into your company culture. Studies show that the cost of bad hire can reach up to 30% of the employee’s first-year earnings or more4.

Instead, companies can use training to equip their internal talents with the competencies and expertise required to excel on the job — not only today but also in the future, as business conditions change.

Research5 shows that it typically takes two years for the performance reviews of an external hire to reach the same level as those of an internal hire. Giving employees opportunities to continually advance their proficiencies is a company’s most precious resource for staying ahead of the competition.

4 https://www.business.com/articles/cost-of-a-bad-hire/5 Paying more to get less specific skills: incomplete information and the effects of external hiring versus internal mobility by Matthew Bidwell, Administration Science Quarterly, January 2011

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Other reasons include retention of vital institutional knowledge that is often critical to delivering business outcomes, preservation of institutional culture and values, and collaboration/synergies from cross-domain transfers.

Research also shows that developing your own talents helps in recruiting — employees want to work for companies that support their professional growth and career progression. It also builds greater employee engagement by satisfying their need to learn and take on new challenges. Finally, internal development can help organizations avoid the high cost of attrition.

The Singapore Government through the SkillsFuture movement bridges the development of new skills to meet evolving business challenges. Schemes such as the Professional Conversion Programme helps people to change careers or jobs through training schemes that are tailored to different job roles. There are also significant subsidies for in-company training programmes. Together, they aim to support Singaporeans in their skills acquisition and career pathways, to be better prepared for current challenges and to embrace new opportunities.6

Good Practices in Developing Internal Talents

Due to the rapid pace of technology evolution and changes in the environment, the lifespan of skills has shortened as individuals continuously have the need to upskill and reskill to fit within the evolving landscape. More and more companies are redesigning jobs to better fit their evolving business needs, hence highlighting the importance of having skills which are updated and relevant. With the rise in the number of online courses and the increasing need of individuals to learn new skills, the demand and supply within Learning & Development (“L&D”) functions are coming together seamlessly — where individuals have an abundance of options to opt for when upskilling themselves.

The Human Resource (“HR”) L&D manager today has a range of approaches to employee learning and upskilling depending on the workforce needs and business objectives. For example, a structured

6 https://www.skillsfuture.gov.sg/AboutSkillsFuture4

reskilling roadmap is useful to efficiently equip an existing base of employees with new skills, up to the proficiency level that the business requires. These structured programmes could also be bundled with immersions in hands-on projects and assignments which targets to develop the individual and map his future within the organisation. Other approaches are less structured to cope with technology’s changing impact on jobs and skills. Ultimately, the new landscape promotes the importance of flexibility, as opposed to rigid practices.

Therefore, employee training needs to be just in time and personalised as part of employee experience. For instance, the younger workers are constantly looking for opportunities to learn and develop themselves in the areas which they are interested in. By personalising and aligning employee training with the employee’s interests and skills, employees are more likely to stay with the organisation and develop skills in areas where they could best contribute to the organisation.

Equally, the metrics used to evaluate the effectiveness of L&D strategies should be widened. While there is a place for tracking course completions or satisfaction scores on post-course evaluations measures that relate to hygiene factors, L&D professionals should also measure Kirkpatrick levels 2 and 3 metrics such as participants’ ability to help create measurable forms of new value for the business. Another opportunity they have is to capitalise on the new opportunities brought about by advances in technology to garner data-driven insights on learning behaviour.

To help managers and employees put learning at the top of their strategic priority lists, companies can tie developmental opportunities directly to employees’ goals and preferred learning approaches. Tools and platforms are available to enable employees to search for learning activities either in the company’s learning management system or open-based on whether an activity requires them to watch, read, listen to or interact with a piece of learning content (such as taking part in a simulation activity). They can therefore seek activities that match how they learn best. Using the same platform, employees can review the skills requirements for their current job, and can identify and select one or more jobs they are interested in exploring. They can also assess how well their

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current skills match the requirements for the new jobs and determine which developmental experiences can best help them close skill gaps.

Companies can also make it easy for employees to learn at any point in their day, on the job. When learning is readily accessible, employees are more likely to seize opportunities to master new skills and acquire new knowledge. For example, an Intranet with single-sign-on functionality that employees regularly visit to find answers as they encounter challenges and as they make decisions in the course of their work.

Content channels such as YouTube have primed people for learning in bite-sized chunks as they go about their day. To enable micro-learning on-demand for employees, deliver learning in curated, bite-sized formats, much like what employees are accustomed to in their consumer lives. And help them apply what they have learned by delivering timely, topically relevant content that addresses challenges on the job. The sharp increase in the availability of learning content, in the form of Massive Open Online Courses (“MOOCs”) has been a boon for many organisations particularly during the pandemic. As physical courses could no longer be held, learning institutions and providers have brought their courses online, resulting in an abundance of learning content now readily available. Examples of such MOOCs can be found on platforms such as Coursera, which allow individuals to access learning materials with just an Internet connection. COVID-19 has therefore become an accelerator in driving personal training as individuals are able to go for online courses on their own, without waiting for their companies to schedule for any.

This plethora of content is a double-edged sword: It gives employees a huge degree of choice — but it can also prove overwhelming. Technology can be a powerful ally in guiding learners through this complex landscape. In particular, the right learning management system can help organizations take the guesswork out of professional development for employees. The system can also enable organizations to deliver learning content that is credible and relevant for employees, allowing them to extract the most practical insights.

Employees want control over their own careers and professional development. Self-directed learning, valued particularly by millennials,

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differs from the process currently in use in many organizations, whereby HR directs training out to employees in a prescriptive way. To support self-directed learning, make it easy for employees to see what skills and knowledge they must build to close performance gaps in their current job. Give them feedback on how they are doing as they advance toward their goals. Equally important, help them identify what is next along their career path — what kinds of work they want to do next and what they must do to get there. Additionally, give them access to tools they can use to manage their own learning. For instance, if they take a course, determine whether they are interested in learning more, then guide them to relevant new learning content. HR’s role thus becomes more about helping employees to identify what training they should take to attain their goals and to understand how they can benefit by completing the training. For instance, Singtel launched in 2019 a Netflix-style digitized learning experience for their employees #CURIOUS that puts learning at employees’ fingertips and personalises for individuals.

The Institute for Human Resource Professionals (“IHRP”) continuing professional development (“CPD”) application, IHRP Connect, provides guidance on emerging HR areas based on its Body of Competencies (“BoC”) through extensive research and consultations on the competencies needed to achieve success as defined by various stakeholders such as employers, unions and government. Examples include the skills needed to align HR to new business goals and strategies, embarking on digital transformational change and even minimising specific forms of corporate risk related to labour relations.

IHRP Connect also leverages on the wealth of potential learning content available through peer-to-peer sharing. When IHRP Professionals access learning content and training residing either within or outside of IHRP, their learning is accounted for and recognised in the CPD system. These practices foster accountability for progress on the part of learners, by enabling them to see where they are in their learning plan. Such practices can also motivate learners to seek out future opportunities for growth. To incentivise users to embrace these learning opportunities, IHRP Connect has developed gamified experiences, such as badge notifications or points for completion. It provides an easy way to collaborate and to share knowledge and insights gained from developmental experiences and rewards those who share the most.

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Finally, tracking and monitoring the Return on Investment (“ROI”) for training using job performance against the right metrics. For example, suppose an organization defines a strategy centred on improving sales performance the company can define quantitative metrics (such as percentage of sales that have come from up-selling) and qualitative metrics (for instance, customer satisfaction levels) for assessing how well employees who have completed training are deploying the identified skills. If ROI in such training is shown to deliver business results that support specific strategic objectives, the company will be more likely to continue investing in such training.

A Call to Action

Finding and attracting the best talent from outside is not always the best strategy. The post-COVID realities will bring about more challenging hiring scenarios for critical talent than currently faced. Organizations that excel at internal talent development will stand the best chance of equipping their workforce with the skills and expertise they need to achieve — and sustain — success. But to score successes, organizations must overcome two hurdles: (1) making learning a strategic priority throughout their workforce; and (2) aligning every L&D initiative behind clearly articulated business objectives. The best practices described above can help — as can smart use of innovative learning and talent management technologies paired with the highest-quality learning content.

PMETs can and should take full advantage of a company’s in-house talent needs by firstly, learning and upskilling in areas that are strategic to company’s long term business objectives. Next, deliver results from their L&D programmes that directly support the achievement of business goals defined by top management.

Impact on the Competencies of L&D Professionals

With an evolving landscape and constant changes in the workforce, it is more important than ever for L&D Professionals managers to be aware of the trends in employee learning and development. They need to execute suitable L&D roadmaps within their organisations for employees.

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L&D managers should have a certain level of flexibility in meeting company directions that evolve in accordance with the environment. As the gatekeepers of connecting employees with quality training opportunities, L&D managers will also need to have the ability to form partnerships with training providers.

In addition, L&D managers need to be capable of providing personalised learning opportunities for employees to develop them while meeting the needs of the organisation. They could leverage on technology to identify skills gaps and push relevant content that could help employees bridge those gaps. It is important for L&D managers to achieve a balance between satisfying employees’ interests, bridging skills gaps and meeting organisational needs.

In 2020, IHRP has refreshed the BoC for HR. The refreshed BoC highlights the evolved skills and competences required of HR professionals in Singapore, such that they would continue to deliver value for their organisations. This would help them step up to play a more strategic role in supporting both their organisations and their fellow colleagues. The following Table X shows comparison between the previous and new BoC on L&D competencies, highlighting the differences on how L&D competencies have evolved to serve current needs.

L&D Competencies Emerging L&D Competencies Description: Construct learning and development programmes to equip people with the right capabilities and prepare them well for the work they are assigned to perform.

IHRP Certified ProfessionalsConduct learning needs analysis to assess their current capabilities and areas of development required to deliver against the organisation’s strategy, business restructuring and future plans.

Develop customised learning and

Curate a culture of continuous learning

Identify gaps to deliver against both current and future business objectives.

Include competencies for current,

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development strategies, plans and curricula to improve overall workforce capabilities for current and future roles, and to promote lifelong learning.

Recommend and implement innovative and creative learning and development channels and technology to engage learners and increase the effectiveness of learning and development interventions.

Equip supervisors and line managers with the skills and tools to mentor, train and provide job coaching.

IHRP Senior Professionals

Engage with business leaders to seek clarity on business strategy and develop organisational learning and development strategies based on organisation’s current and future business and skill requirements.

Develop financial budget for learning and development and prioritise spending to invest on strategic organisational capabilities to enable current and future business strategy and objectives.

Monitor and assess the business impact of learning and development strategy and programmes in developing organisation capabilities to meet current and future business needs.

redesigned or future roles, and promote self-directed and lifelong learning.

Technology which delivers a seamless end-user experience, enhance learning accessibility, effectiveness and drives learner accountability.

Coach and support line managers to inculcate learning accountability across the organisation.

Champion lifelong and continuous learning across the organisation by inculcating values of curiosity, learning, sharing, agility and discipline into the organisational culture.

Establish a culture of learning accountability across the organisation, empowering business leaders to become advocates for learner ownership.

Lead refinements to learning and development strategies and programmes to ensure continuous improvement and a future-focused learning agenda across the organisation.

Table X : Learning & Development Competencies in IHRP’s BoC

The Role of HR

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Strengthening the employability of PMEs at the scale required for Industry 4.0 requires the support and partnership of government, unions and employers. To thrive in the new normal, effective workforce transformation needs government as a data provider, catalyst and policy maker to create value and mitigate risks. Policymakers can identify which industries are likely to grow and decline, and the necessary occupational transitions necessary to host growth industries. Employers can be encouraged to retain and build capabilities for workforce/business transformations and economic recovery. Unions have an important role to play in changing employee mindset, driving individuals to continuous learning and reskilling themselves to enhance their employability.

The HR function is able to influence and help individuals manage changes by nudging them in the right direction. It is important for HR to highlight to employees changes and trends within the company, sector and industry. In addition, promote the need for them to keep up with the changes by equipping themselves with relevant skills. HR also has a responsibility to articulate for the employees the value proposition of training, skills transformation, and change. Ultimately, it is important for HR to establish a change management process to guide employees in understanding the changes required and accepting the steps to take to manage these changes.

Conclusion

Companies that strengthen in-house talent will reaping organisation-wide rewards by maximising workforce productivity, engagement, and retention. Companies will be more likely to execute their strategies while employees are given the opportunity to grow their capabilities and build satisfying careers that present ongoing avenues for further professional development.

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