Sharpen the talent of future management team
21 Nov 2008

Under the current economic downturn, companies face increasing challenges in improving business performance while retaining high staff morale. Organised by A-Performers, the “Sharpen the Talent of Future Management Team” seminar on 21 November 2008 attracted over 100 HR professionals to re-visit the HR strategy today.

Under the current economic downturn, companies face increasing challenges in improving business performance while retaining high staff morale. Organised by A-Performers, the “Sharpen the Talent of Future Management Team” seminar on 21 November 2008 attracted over 100 HR professionals to re-visit the HR strategy today.

According to Ellis Ku, Training Manager at LMI Academy, staff engagement is the secret to sustain business competitiveness. Data from ISR Research indicates that companies with high staff engagement achieved 19.2% increase in operating income, while businesses with low staff engagement dropped 32.7% in operating income within the same timeframe.

"Alignment, relationship and value are the key factors to drive successful staff engagement," said Ku. "Companies need to clearly communicate and align with the staff on the business goals. It is also important to build trust with each other, and help the staff to develop new skills to handle new changes. Staff would feel more motivated if their value is appreciated."

Ku cited Southwest Airline’s success to illustrate the best practice. After the 911 attack in 2001, the aviation industry sank low as a direct result of worldwide fear. To improve the staff morale, Southwest assured employees that the company had sufficient operating fund and no layoff plan would be carried out. Meanwhile, the company proactively invested US$3 million to increase the budget on staff training. With trainer’s role changing from a “talking head” to a “tour guide”, the company could better understand the employees’ specific challenges and helped them develop practical problem solving skills through customised training programs.

Mandy Chai, Master Trainer from Informatics Professional Development Centre believes that self-leadership is able to empower personal and organisational excellence. “Self-leadership is a sense of who we are, what we can do, where we are going and the ability to manage our communication and emotions,” she explained. People create “meaning” to the world and things we perceive and experience, which in turn shapes the attitude and mood of how we respond to the environment.

An employee’s mindset would drive him to perform differently at work. If employees develop a positive “meaning” about the works they do and the workplace they stay, the driving force inside themselves can lead and motivate them to achieve excellence.

Patrick Yun, representative of Raffles International College concluded the seminar with the tips on topgrading strategy. He stressed the importance of hiring the top performer right at the beginning and the need to provide continuous coaching to keep the talent.

"Talent is an investment, not a cost," said Yun. “It is also a good time to topgrade during economic downturn since more talent is available at lower costs while under-performers are expected to be let go. Companies could start topgrading from the crucial areas, such as sales department, to improve business revenue.”

The speakers all agree that people are instrumental in business success. Finding and engaging the right people, providing trainings and growth opportunities, keeping staff morale and maintaining talents are critical in helping enterprises to survive the economic storm.