Singapore’s defence and labour minister emphasises HR’s need for digital transformation to meet the rapidly growing demands of organisations.
COVID-19’s has had far-reaching impact on businesses and six months since the pandemic it has severely disrupted lives and work.
The Singapore Government recognised the in the hardest-hit industries, such as aviation, businesses have needed to take significant cost-saving measures, including taking painful decisions to retrench workers, to stay afloat, even with substantial support from the Government.
On the other hand, in other sectors, new opportunities have arisen for businesses, brought on by new needs and demands in response to the pandemic.
For these businesses, they need to pivot and, in doing so, reskill and redeploy their workforce. In both instances, HR was thrust into the spotlight to provide strategic leadership on workforce matters, whether it was to implement responsible cost-saving measures and retrenchments, to plan and execute the reskilling and redeployment of employees to new job functions, or to ensure that employees stayed safe and continued performing optimally, both onsite and at home.
During a speech at the HR Tech Festival Asia 2020 virtual conference, Zaqy Mohamad, Senior Minister of State at Ministry of Defence of Singapore and Ministry of Manpower said it was important to equally prepare for recovery to emerge stronger post-COVID, as it is to fight continued community transmission.
“At this event last year, I announced the formation of the HR Industry Transformation Advisory Panel (HRTAP) to develop recommendations for a stronger HR sector that could drive business and workforce transformation,” he said. “COVID-19 has accelerated this timeline and businesses have had to reset and rethink their modus operandi.”
Minister Mohamad said some need to pivot to new areas of growth, while others need to transform their workplaces or processes to be more resilient and agile in face of future disruptions.
Businesses must also establish a system of safe management measures even as restrictions ease — all these require both HR and employees to adapt and learn new skills.
The HRTAP recommendations are timely. The two key thrusts of these recommendations will guide the next bound of HR transformation:
- The first key thrust is strengthening HR capabilities in organisations to support business and workforce transformation
- Secondly, equipping HR professionals with emerging skills to be better prepared for tech transformation
HR Technology adoption is a key focus for HR capability building. In a study by Willis Towers Watson that was commissioned by MOM and IHRP, HR Technology was identified as a key enabler for HR to deliver more seamless and cutting-edge employee-centric services and experiences, as well as higher strategic value to the business, the Minister noted.
“I am pleased that IHRP is leading on this front. They have recently signed an MOU with the Institute of Systems Science of the National University of Singapore to develop a Digital Competencies Roadmap for HR,” he said. “Under this partnership, IHRP and NUS will develop training courses for enterprises to acquire the skills necessary to embark on digital transformation.
The flagship programme, the Professional Diploma in Digital Human Capital Leadership, will enable HR professionals to lead and execute business transformation projects.”
According to the Minister for HR professionals in roles identified to be at higher risk of displacement by technology, they can be reassured that there will be upskilling opportunities available across the HR ecosystem to develop new skills and competencies such as HR Ops and Tech and Employee Experience Design.
“Through upskilling and supporting business and workforce transformation, we will continue to elevate the HR professionals into strategic business partners and leaders. In turn, this also means better jobs in HR,” he said.
Tags: HRZaqy Mohamad
