JobStreet hosts HR Leaders’ Huddle, promotes goal of HR professionals as strategic business partners
The
human resources industry is experiencing a major sea change, brought about by
the various challenges and needs of a growing pool of younger, higher-skilled
workers, as well as new business trends. For HR to create value, it must
respond to this change as a strategic partner for their companies, informing
and influencing long-term business decision-making.
To
help HR professionals get into this strategic mindset, recently at the New
World Hotel Makati, JobStreet.com Philippines in collaboration with the
Asian Institute of Management, hosted the HR Leaders’ Huddle, which sought to
outline how HR divisions can evolve into business partners and drive better
organizational performance. JobStreet brought together HR professionals in an
environment that allowed them networking opportunities, as well as the chance
to learn about this budding trend in the HR world.
The
HR Leaders’ Huddle was headlined by the presentation of a paper by Ms. Dynah A.
Basuil, PhD, Professor at the Leadership and People Management Department of
the Asian Institute of Management. Entitled “On the Right Track? Human Capital
Management in the Philippines,” Ms. Basuil’s presentation highlighted the
changing landscape of the workforce and how it affects HR as a whole.
Ms.
Basuil noted that in the last ten years, the workforce of the Philippines has
increased by 20.7% or almost 7 million, and the composition of this workforce
has experienced a major shift towards high-skill workers, with 63% more
higher-skilled workers in 2017 than in the last decade. She also underscored
that much of the new
workforce
is represented by Millennials as well as Generation Z youth, who have unique
needs and attributes compared to the previous.
According
to Ms. Basuil, this creates a need for HR to change their practices in how they
deal with younger workers, who want to be more engaged, and be assigned work
that is customized to their talents so that they can better apply themselves to
their jobs.
She
also shares that there is a measurable change in HR function, with a decrease
in record-keeping and providing of HR services, and an increase in strategic
partnering, developing HR systems, auditing, and controlling.
What
does being a strategic business partner look like, then, for HR professionals?
These and other questions were explored in a panel discussion that talked about
Ms. Basuil’s work, which was composed of Mr. Robin Bradshaw, Country Manager of
Cathay Pacific; Mr. Ritchelle Cordero, Group Head for HR and Admin at Century
Properties Group, Inc; and Ms. Joanne Hizon, VP for Human Resources at SM
Investments Corp.
These
seasoned HR professionals agreed that being part of their company’s initiatives
from the very beginning, rather than just being an afterthought, is the key for
HR professionals to be strategic partners.
JobStreet
Sales Director Noelle Gonzales said that the paper and HR Huddle are only the
first step in their goal to help partner companies and jobseekers participate
in a new strategy-centric Human Resources landscape, in which HR is a strategic
business partner. “You heard our panelists talking about the importance of data
for HR professional, and that’s where we’re going to be focusing our efforts to
help serve the industry. We’ve disseminated a lot of information, mined from
JobStreet’s treasure trove of raw data, and we aim to share that with our
partner companies’ HR people, providing whatever helps them whether short-term
or in the long run. Through our data analytics product, launching very soon, we
can provide everything from data in particular demographics, to perhaps hiring
requirements for the next couple of years.”
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