Technology in Human Capital Management – Further Accelerating Asia

“Asia is one of the most exciting regions in the world made up of diverse countries with entirely different human capital maturity levels.” These were the words of Oracle’s John Hansen, Vice President, HCM Product Management JAPAC. And Hansen would know it well, having worked with companies in North America and every APAC country to develop their human capital management processes.

More often than not, Hansen’s work with these companies has involved the introduction of Oracle’s technology and human capital management tools, and here he spoke with HQ Asia’s Perez Loh about his belief about the crucial role technology plays in Asia’s human capital development.

A Common Language for a Diverse Region

A topic commonly explored in HQ Asia’s articles is the diversity in the region, and the potential contained in the likes of the economies of Indonesia, China and India. Hansen confirms this, but also brings to attention the differing human capital concerns faced by some of Asia’s less developed nations and organisations. “Some countries are just trying to get a handle on the concept of talent management, while local companies are still grappling with rudimentary concerns of their business,” he said. “This does not compare to some MNCs from Japan, China or India which are looking increasingly to adopt sophisticated tools.”

Yet, technology can become a bridge for the many differing human capital needs in the region. Hansen quotes the example of Herbalife, which has operations in many different locations in Asia. The need to expand rapidly in different countries had led to a lack of synchronisation between the company’s HR processes in different countries – more often than not a result of differing labour regulations in the countries. The introduction of Oracle’s human capital management technology allowed the HR data from these different countries to be collated and interpreted on a common platform, facilitating the movement and development of Herbalife’s talent in the region. For a company founded and headquartered in the US, Hansen shared that technology has helped create a common HR platform and language in the region.

Streamlining HR in the World’s Speediest Region

The usefulness of technology extends beyond just the big players, though. India’s Kalpataru Limited, a real estate development conglomerate with 1200 employees, also worked with Hansen’s team to introduce technology into their human capital management processes.

India’s huge land mass and differing levels of transport and technological infrastructure between states are obstacles local businesses have learnt to work around, and Kalpataru similarly found ways to manage and develop its talent in spite of these challenges. HR data is now available online, and in real-time, while training courses have also been converted into E-resources, allowing employees to be equipped with new skills remotely. This integration of technology with HR processes has also allowed Kalpataru to streamline its hiring and promotion cycles, essential in a nation where turnover rates are alarmingly high.

The streamlining of HR processes has also reaped tremendous benefits for another real estate company in the region: Singapore’s CapitaLand uses Oracle’s technology as a channel to coordinate human capital management for its country operations in the region, and reaped annual cost savings to the tune of USD 2.3 million. Steven Tan, CapitaLand’s Vice President of HR shared that “having one single source of HR information has reduced work duplication and slashed data error by 70%.”

Social Networks – The New Essence of Speed

Beyond just human capital management systems, technology is also influencing HR in other profound ways – the advent of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn might just be on the verge of revolutionising companies’ recruitment and hiring processes. “It is now possible to post a job opening on LinkedIn during morning tea break, and have one of your employees tweet about it, alerting a friend who will then have sent in a CV by lunch. Talent that you never knew existed that morning could have secured an interview with you three hours later”, Hansen shared.

Expounding on the possibilities of utilising the social networks of employees, Hansen further explained, “If you have 100 employees, and they each have 100 unique friends, that’s 10,000 possible talents… and these are people who your employees already know, and would have been able to assess whether they are a good fit for the role and the organisation.” A database of 10,000 different possible hires, complete with character referrals and potential support systems within the organisation – these are the mouthwatering possibilities social networks could offer for HR.

A New Dawn, A New Type of Leader?

Technology is indeed playing a crucial role in speeding up and catalysing human capital development in the world’s most exciting region, and it is up to the people – business and HR leaders operating in Asia – to evolve and catch up. “The current buzzword in the region is productivity, but I think that has its limits. You can only become more productive to a certain extent. Yet, I believe people have no limits in their ability to innovate and evolve,” Hansen opined.

Throwing down the gauntlet, Hansen expressed that technology is creating the need for a different type of leaders, “leaders (that) now need to manage virtually, and have less face-to-face time with their employees. You need to now be a much better time manager and task prioritiser, because your team will not always be located beside you.”

Thankfully, technology is keeping up its side of the bargain for leaders too, as Hansen explained from personal experience, “we now have apps to help you manage your virtual presence, allowing you to check in and notify your colleagues whenever you are in town and in the local office. This is a shout-out to say ‘I’m available for a coffee chat if you need me.’”

In a technology-driven world, technology-savvy leaders will increasingly take centre-stage.