Redefining Hong Kong’s workforce for the future
Mercer’s ‘Global Talent Trends 2024’ survey uncovers four trends shaping a people strategy that can help companies gain a competitive advantage
Every generation brings distinct qualities to the workplace. Baby boomers are known for their driving ambition and strong work ethic; Generation X is famed for its self-sufficiency and adaptability, and millennials are recognised for their technical savvy and team spirit. Gen Z, which strongly emphasises flexible work hours, physical and mental well-being, and jobs with a high degree of technological engagement, is poised to impact the future of the corporate workplace significantly.
In response to generational socio-economic change, companies in Asia are evolving to build more sustainable, more inspiring and less exhausting workplace models. To navigate the challenges and opportunities of 2024 and beyond, business leaders and human resource (HR) professionals can help foster a work environment that aligns with employees’ values – with particular attention to the influence of Gen Z, which is expected to be the largest generation in the workforce by 2035 – thereby improving workplace solidarity, productivity and job satisfaction.
For employers, understanding generational trends is critical to managing talent attraction and retention. Mercer’s “Global Talent Trends 2024” survey shines a light on what leaders are focusing on and what matters to their talent.
Gary Chin, head of career consulting at Mercer (Hong Kong and Macau), says the use of robust data can be vital when benchmarking people policies and practices to attract and retain talent.
“How do you differentiate yourself from your competitors?” he asks. “Benchmarking is a must. Mercer has a rich database which helps to ensure that companies get the baseline right so they can maintain competitiveness in the market. But each organisation is unique and should create a total rewards strategy that fits their particular goals and objectives,” he adds, referring to more nuanced, personalised people programmes that consider the preferences of a diverse, multigenerational workforce.
“This is something employers need to think more deeply about,” Chin continues. “Beyond benchmarking, leading companies should leverage strategic total rewards and talent programmes to support the creation of a unique employee value proposition that helps drive talent attraction and retention.”
To learn what companies are doing to best position themselves in shaping the people agenda in 2024, Mercer surveyed 3,600 business executives, HR leaders, employees and investors across Asia. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the report revealed that employers in Hong Kong face complex people risks amid a tech-driven environment.
Forty-nine per cent of employees surveyed in Hong Kong believe their employer is not meeting their needs. At the same time, 62 per cent of organisations are adopting new technology without actually transforming the way that their employees work, while one in three employees plan to leave their job in the next 12 months.
To help ensure that employees’ critical experience and knowledge are not lost to competitors, the survey offers critical insights into how organisations can navigate the convergence of technology and people challenges by focusing on four priorities: driving human-centric productivity, anchoring to trust and equity, boosting the corporate immune system and cultivating a digital-first culture.
The survey shows that while improving productivity is at the top of executives’ minds, employees report that “too much busy work with no value” depletes productivity. Mercer says companies can successfully unlock productivity with talent intelligence, by better matching work to individuals’ skills and motivations, fuelling agile flow-to-work models and improving the accuracy of strategic workforce planning.
Meanwhile, employees’ trust in their organisations to do the right thing on their behalf has dropped from 80 per cent in 2022 to 65 per cent in 2024 due to “broken promises, such as not delivering on promotions, raises and career opportunities”.
Organisations need to communicate a clear and consistent set of corporate values externally and internally to restore trust. However, Chin says raising trust and equity has to be about more than “just promoting your brand with jargon”.
“Once an employee steps inside your door, it’s essential to ask how can you live up to the promises you’ve given them during the job interview. That is very important, because successful talent attraction is only the beginning. It’s about the whole employment journey with the focus on cultivating a rewarding employee experience,” he says, adding that for employees to thrive, it is necessary to instil a sense of belonging and empower workers to make value-based decisions aligned to the company’s belief system.
Another of the survey’s key findings is that the resilience of every organisation depends on the health of its people. That said, with 83 per cent of employees in Asia reporting burnout, mainly as a result of financial strain and exhaustion, employers need to boost the corporate immune system. They should prioritise employee safety and well-being, foster a culture of risk management, contribute to workers’ financial security and leverage AI tools to predict and mitigate risks before they happen.
Lastly, the report advises companies to build a digital-first culture and adopt new technologies to “retrain and redeploy people into new roles effectively”.
Chin says many companies are embarking on a digital journey, aiming to align talent and technology to add value. However, having AI is only one side of the equation; on the other side, you have to assess its impact on people and the way they work. “AI can help provide efficiencies, but leaders and HR teams need to think about redesigning the work of their employees so that time saved can be put into other kinds of productive work to help them drive business.”
As Mercer’s “Global Talent Trends 2024” survey highlights, the world of work is in full metamorphosis. Unlocking the potential of this new world means prioritising employees’ health, trust and productivity. Doing so will boost a company’s growth, improve talent retention, attract new talent and allow businesses to stay competitive.
“[It’s] about cultivating and engaging with the workforce,” Chin says. “It’s about understanding your employees and being open and honest. Today, employees have different demands, and they want more from their employers. Mercer conducts a large number of engagement studies which can help employers ensure their employees feel heard, understood and supported. By allowing staff to express their problems and concerns, employers and employees can work together to meet challenges and find solutions.”