{"id":29290,"date":"2017-08-03T18:18:49","date_gmt":"2017-08-03T10:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=29290"},"modified":"2017-08-08T17:52:52","modified_gmt":"2017-08-08T09:52:52","slug":"opinion-have-asias-smes-got-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2017\/08\/03\/opinion-have-asias-smes-got-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"OPINION | Have Asia\u2019s SMEs got talent?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span lang=\"EN-US\">By Ryan Poggi<br \/>\n<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">Country Managing Director, SAP Philippines<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong><span lang=\"EN-US\">What do \u201cAsia\u2019s Got Talent\u201d, \u201cAsian Idol\u201d, and \u201cThe Voice\u201d all have in common? \u2026The ability to attract amazing talent who participate in these competitions to kick start their careers.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many companies who are seeking to attract global talent in the workforce.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">In fact, according to ManpowerGroup&#8217;s 11th-annual\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\"><a href=\"http:\/\/manpowergroup.com\/talent-shortage-2016\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial;\">Talent Shortage Survey<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">, the global talent shortage is at its highest since 2007 \u2013 some 40 percent of employers globally report that they are experiencing difficulty filling jobs.\u00a0Coupled with the challenge of an aging population, it is of little wonder that 46 percent of employers in Asia Pacific \u2013 the highest globally \u2013 reported difficulty filling jobs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"yiv3810985097m_5686386544795480640m_-4669102477667213980m_-7745909492324464084m_-8504711443249956913m_-5664536226042453568m_8957722210523235959m_2408224329516025377m_-4998623882727519587m_1961766519855331762m_-640381352705427619m_-7753519401033349444m_-1209621223943309994m_-1976276931363027724m_8471944946325831197m_-9068601371809430817m_7003643390776028197m_4601683955674329796m_-1789615795034080638m_-685445183808575886m_-4647405077781378362img717037\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/dl-mail.ymail.com\/ws\/download\/mailboxes\/@.id==VjJ-aCbUujP9WRIFkzC-HPKo0Fv-Ac3s9ATu5xHRcoLMIR8hxYX2v1pB-fkkgd3FPDoQUWhjIv2uHVC2R0Wv8Q9VgQ\/messages\/@.id==AK-q1QoAHfu7WYAZGgkAsO2V-CM\/content\/parts\/@.id==1.5\/raw?appid=YMailNorrin&amp;ymreqid=a8021fb6-8929-d6a4-1c9d-c100a2018900&amp;token=zitEzqOML3j84e6ealFTT5U7-km5qEQF52lp7AcCuBYn9lcFcVqfuGL6BYNQjidsTYaX7Nl3tVkDYdrY-6XbQ2rHnE483xOpkwFWSI9IQYYXdC46dMquEQsPd2h_UWUQ\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/dl-mail.ymail.com\/ws\/download\/mailboxes\/@.id==VjJ-aCbUujP9WRIFkzC-HPKo0Fv-Ac3s9ATu5xHRcoLMIR8hxYX2v1pB-fkkgd3FPDoQUWhjIv2uHVC2R0Wv8Q9VgQ\/messages\/@.id==AK-q1QoAHfu7WYAZGgkAsO2V-CM\/content\/parts\/@.id==1.4\/raw?appid=YMailNorrin&amp;ymreqid=a8021fb6-8929-d6a4-1c9d-c100a2018900&amp;token=zitEzqOML3j84e6ealFTT5U7-km5qEQF52lp7AcCuBYn9lcFcVqfuGL6BYNQjidsTYaX7Nl3tVkDYdrY-6XbQ2rHnE483xOpkwFWSI9IQYYXdC46dMquEQsPd2h_UWUQ\" alt=\"Inline image 1\" width=\"432\" height=\"337\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">In the war for talent, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have traditionally come across as the poorer cousins of multi-national corporations (MNCs) given their budgets. In fact, Asian Development Bank (ADB) noted in a recent\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.adb.org\/publications\/integrating-smes-global-value-chains\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial;\">study<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">\u00a0* that access to financing remains a challenge for SMEs in developing countries. In fact, Philippine SME loans (equivalent to 3.1 percent of GDP) is the second lowest in Southeast Asia, next to Myanmar\u2019s 0.1 percent, lagging well behind their neighbors in terms of SME loans to a total of 10.3 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">This issue, combined with the lack of resources to identify, train, and retain top workers often lead to a struggle in the battle of talent acquisition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">However, today, with the help of technology, that is slowly changing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">The economic backbone of most economies across Asia Pacific, many SMEs are looking to leverage tools and solutions to overcome barriers in human resource to win in today\u2019s digital economy \u2013 from efficiently managing and growing teams, to attracting new talent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span lang=\"EN-US\">Auditioning \u2018rock star\u2019 new talent<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Hiring the right person, with the right skill and one that will fit into the organizational culture is always a challenge, but the right person can have a measurable impact on business performance of the company. Recruitment today is complicated with a multitude of sourcing avenues \u2013 from employee recommendations, student applications to cold calls from around the globe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Online talent platforms are a valuable source for people to identify opportunities that closely align with their skills and help overcome the talent shortage. These platforms can not only help build talent pipelines, but enable effective engagement with active and passive candidates. It can also shorten the time and cost it takes to hire. Furthermore, there is an opportunity to gather data and insights into the demand for specific skills to enable recruiters to make decisions about training, upskill existing employees and also make strategic decisions about future growth requirements.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Millennials \u2013 those born between 1979 and 2000 \u2013 have become the largest generation in the workforce today. With very different expectations. Cloud-based talent management platforms not only help identify and recruit these candidates, it helps motivate them, improve their productivity and identify new skills to learn once they start work. According to McKinsey research, these platforms could help\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/global-themes\/employment-and-growth\/connecting-talent-with-opportunity-in-the-digital-age\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial;\">boost global GDP by $2.7 trillion<\/span><\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">\u00a0by 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span lang=\"EN-US\">Retaining and managing existing talent<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-GB\">The cost of a bad hire is higher for SMEs. This leads to a potentially more feasible option being to train and reskill the existing workforce, and help<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">\u00a0employees improve and succeed with ongoing feedback and coaching.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Effectively managing employee performance has never been more critical. SMEs need a workforce that clearly understands strategic business objectives to grow, expand and quickly adjust course as business needs evolve. It is not just about creating SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely) goals, but a continuous ongoing dialogue between manager and employee about performance. This not only enables organizations to identify top talent, but also aide in their continued motivation, growth and success, which ultimately leads to organizational success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-GB\">A transformative approach to HR puts people first and provides employees with an overall experience that is both engaging and motivating. The strategic use of technology can help identify talent gaps in the organisation and better manage existing talent. By doing so, it gives SMEs the foundation to sing loud and proud on a global stage and enable SME business owners to be the overall winner in the competition for talent.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The global talent shortage is at its highest since 2007 \u2013 some 40 percent of employers globally report that they are experiencing difficulty filling jobs.\u00a0Coupled with the challenge of an aging population, it is of little wonder that 46 percent of employers in Asia Pacific \u2013 the highest globally \u2013 reported difficulty filling jobs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":29291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2316,5409,2770,5408,5410],"class_list":["post-29290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions","tag-it","tag-it-skill","tag-sap-philippines","tag-talent","tag-workforce"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}