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Learn how successful companies are changing their talent strategies by focusing on skills, an approach that helps build adaptable teams and boosts business performance.
This article is brought to you by SkillsFuture Singapore.
The focus on skills by employers is becoming increasingly important not just as an HR strategy, but a business one as well. Regardless of industry, businesses today are impacted by economic volatility, disruptions, digitalisation and discerning customer behaviour, prompting a change in business models and hence, talent.
The Future of Jobs Report 2020 by World Economic Forum revealed a critical challenge facing businesses today: more than half of employers surveyed identified skills gaps in the local labour market as a key barrier to adopting new technologies, while two in five reported challenges in attracting the right talent as another significant obstacle.
Identifying ways for employers to imbibe a skills-first viewpoint in their human capital processes is the need of the hour.
Let us get to the heart of this talent management issue through case studies of real-world skills transformation initiatives from three global employers.
Case study 1: Hyatt's agile learning culture empowers employee-driven skill development
At one of the world’s best-known hospitality brands, a skills-first approach to talent management is one that focuses on identifying, nurturing, and leveraging the diverse skills within the team.
Clara Tang, RVP Learning and Development Asia Pacific, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, says: “Our 'Hyatt Ways of Working' framework plays a critical role in this. It encourages colleagues to make faster, more effective decisions, emphasising outcome-focused work and powered by a 'test and learn' philosophy.”
Tang and her team have gone beyond traditional L&D boundaries to create a culture of continuous learning, offering training anytime, anywhere.
Everyone is responsible for their own development, and collective experiences drive knowledge sharing. Colleagues are encouraged to create their own ‘Individual Development Plan’ that outlines steps to grow professionally in their knowledge, skills, and behaviours. This plan is then reviewed and discussed with their manager for support and guidance. To aid this process, Hyatt provides self-assessment competency tools to help them identify skills development opportunities.
This empowered learning approach at Hyatt has taken inspiration from agile methodologies.
Tang explains: “By taking this mindset across the organisation, we've learned to move with speed, embrace real-time cross-functional engagement over siloed work, and measure results that truly matter. The result is a stronger focus on business impact.”
Case study 2: Mastercard enhances talent mobility with digital tools
Mastercard’s ambition is to reshape the digital economy so everyone can realise their ambitions – this vision starts with its own people.
Gautam Duggal, Director Global Talent Management & Learning, Mastercard, is leading this transformation towards a skills-first approach in talent management.
As part of its L&D process revamp, Mastercard partnered with Gloat to shift focus from traditional training methods to a more dynamic, skills-first approach. The implementation of an AI-powered talent marketplace has enabled employees to discover opportunities for growth within the organisation, aligning their learning paths with strategic business needs.
Employees are able to take on short-term projects, mentorships, and stretch assignments that enhance their skills in real-time.
For employers struggling to create buy-in from both management and employees for these new practices, Duggal shares his top three tips:
1. Understand stakeholder motivations: Craft a compelling vision that aligns the initiatives with organisational success, engaging key influencers to champion change.
2. Time initiatives strategically: Consider the maturity of your audience when introducing new practices.
3. Start small and build momentum: Begin in receptive areas and then use success stories to build credibility while fostering inclusivity through feedback and stakeholder ownership.
He affirms: “By strategically aligning these practices with the goals and aspirations of both management and employees, I have seen resistance turn into enthusiastic support, ensuring smooth and effective integration of innovative methodologies.”
Case study 3: TiNDLE Foods builds a transparent framework for skills-based growth
A pioneer of plant-based food tech startup, TiNDLE Foods is scaling rapidly, emerging from a period of growth & expansion.
Helming the people aspect of this journey is Eveliene Witjes, Global Head of Human Resources, TiNDLE Foods, who emphasises the importance of creating a talent framework for better visibility into the company’s talent pool.
She shares: “We are at a place now where we have started to build a solid talent framework, through which we define each of our employees' skills and competencies, and these can be modified throughout their career journey with us.”
She adds: “This approach connects our company goals with employees’ individual goals.”
Witjes also stresses the importance of clear communication and transparency, especially during challenging times. As such, she advises employers, regardless of size, to prepare staff for leaner, and cross functional work in addition to their individual goals.
She affirms: “Having your talent being prepared for change and adaptability is key.”
Conclusion: Revamping L&D processes to align with impactful business outcomes for employers
As evident from these case studies, revamping L&D processes to align with business outcomes is essential for maintaining competitiveness and adaptability in a rapidly changing landscape.
SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG)’s Director for Enterprise Engagement Division, Xu Wenshan shares: "Employers first need to understand the skills needs of their workforce, and then identify corresponding training courses, based on their business growth.”
She explains: “Employers can consider how existing tasks or jobs can be enhanced or redesigned to allow workers to apply the skills in their work and recognise workers for their skills sets.
“This maximises the utility of training to the individual and provides workers with confidence on the skills that they need to acquire.”
Specific initiatives in support of skills-based development
Employers in Singapore can also benefit from the resources and funding provided by SSG in order to support employees' skills training needs. A good starting point is to think about your business goals – whether you are looking to expand your top line or optimise your bottom line, or if you want to strengthen your managerial capabilities or enable the workforce to transform the business with you.
Assess these goals and determine your skills needs based on the job function. SMEs in particular, can leverage Skills Profiling for SMEs, a platform that enables them to assess employees’ skills, identify their strengths, and pinpoint skills gaps to receive recommendations on training courses that are personalised to their skills needs.
SMEs can also tap into the Enhanced Training Support for SMEs (ETSS) which offers additional support in the form of higher course fee subsidies. SMEs can receive SkillsFuture funding, of up to 90% of the course fees when they sponsor their employees to attend SSG supported courses.
Finally, supported by SSG, the National Centre of Excellence for Workplace Learning (NACE) aims to help companies build and develop their workplace learning capabilities, solutions and systems through training and consultancy projects. By 2025, more than 1,200 companies are expected to be able to avail of NACE’s workplace learning and work-study capabilities.
SkillsFuture has a range of offerings that can help employers to upskill their workers, depending on the needs of each organisation. For more information on how SkillsFuture can help companies, please visit SkillsFuture Singapore.
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