Second Look
PricewaterhouseCoopers International (PWC) released its 15th Annual Global CEO Survey for 2012 earlier this year. One nugget of information obtained from the report is that the interviewed CEOs expressed confidence that their companies will continue to thrive amidst the generally bleak economic outlook. A big step that is being taken to ensure such is diversification into emerging economies.
Success in diversifying into emerging economies can be directly attributed to the quality of talent available. One of the biggest obstacles to the execution of strategic initiatives is the inadequacy of talent, and the fact that the majority of the CEOs interviewed in the PWC survey pointed to managing talent pipeline as a key issue to address in 2012 is indicative of its seriousness.
The increasing supply of skilled people, which is one of the strengths of the Philippines, can turn into a weakness if it is not properly managed. Acute concerns, especially in the service and information technology sectors, are job matching and job creation. With emerging industries come a need to recruit better-trained professionals to sustain growth, and successful recruitment is a function of, one, the training that happens in school and within the company, and, two, the salary that the company wishes to pay its skilled people.
Failing to accomplish the former can result in job mismatches and a surplus in the workforce, and a failure in the latter can mean that our best professionals will instead seek employment abroad.
In searching for a possible course of action, we can look at another structural shift that is happening alongside the rise of emerging economies. The shift in question is the changing composition of the workforce, since the millennial generation will make up the majority of it for the decades to come.
Understanding the dynamics of the millennials is important for both the government and the private firms if they are to come up with solutions for managing the talent pipeline. Both have a hand in managing the talent supply in the country. Consequently, actions made in the interest of one party will affect the other, and vice versa.
One benefit the government can obtain from this is that it can put itself in a better position to match the skills of the millennials to the demands of the industry through pursuing refinements to the educational system. On the other hand, an advantage firms can enjoy is that they will be able to tailor work arrangements, benefits, training programs and other processes to maximize output from the millennials.
Recognizing and harnessing the unique personality of the budding generation of millennials is key to the success of any organization moving forward. Similar to the rise of emerging economies, the reshaping of the workforce is part of a future that cannot be avoided. Organizations must be ready to integrate millennials into their future strategic endeavors.
