HR Functions Get More Complex Amid Slowdown

Business Times - 11 Aug 2009

Raising staff morale, cost-effective use of talent become more important: Kelly CEO

THE role of human resource practitioners has increased thanks to the worldwide economic slowdown, as they have to juggle more on their plate in terms of raising staff morale and helping to restructure the human capital of the company to meet business goals.

So says Carl Camden, chief executive officer of human resource firm Kelly Services, who adds that in challenging times, companies have to re-examine their required leadership skills and figure out how best to tap their talent pipelines in a cost-effective manner. Mr Camden told BT that when the chips are down, companies are even more compelled to become more aggressive about quality.

US-based Kelly Services is a Fortune 500 company that offers services such as temporary staffing, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time placement.

'Other functions of HR like performance management, planning and evaluation become more important. Learning and development programmes become significant,' he said.

'Compensation and retention activities become priority and that requires more strategic services of HR.'

When it comes to conducting layoffs, which have hit record levels in Singapore in recent months, Mr Camden said that retrenchment exercises 'are painful' experiences for employees, and those in HR need to be proactive in coming up with effective solutions and programmes on how to treat people the right way when they exit the company.

The global HR industry will continue to be affected by the financial crisis over the next 12 months, he added. 'Unemployment is seen as a lagging economic indicator and hence is not expected to peak before 2010.'

However, while he believes a recovery will eventually come, the focus at present is striking a delicate balance that can properly manage resources and maintain the agility of companies.

Even as all signs seem to point towards an upturn sometime at year's end or early 2010, Mr Camden said that given the recent unemployment figure of about 9.5 per cent in the US, many companies worldwide are bracing for a considerable decrease in hiring activity for the rest of 2009, compared to a year ago.

In Singapore, Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong recently announced that the local job market would remain soft for at least the rest of 2009.

Commenting on this, Mr Camden said: 'As employment figures usually lag economic recovery, the overall employment figures could remain weak right into 2010.

'While it is hard to pinpoint exactly when employment and the hiring market will see a marked improvement, we believe that there will always be sectors of growth that will bring positive news to job seekers.

'Companies should also take advantage of opportunities to consolidate their resources and build the right talent to position themselves well to take advantage of the upturn that will surely come.'

Amid the recession, Mr Camden said, his company has seen a trend of how more business leaders - even those in the most insular countries - are being forced to acknowledge the connectivity of the global marketplace.

'Globalisation of economies, work, workers and information flow are challenging companies operating in a global environment to re-examine required leadership skills and how they build their talent pipelines.

'Companies are fighting over the same small talent pool, and this will intensify as the economy recovers.'

 

_{Source: Singapore Press Holdings, Business Times}