1 in 2 employers in Singapore unhappy with current top management team

Measly 8% of employers surveyed rated their leaders as excellent.

In Singapore’s future workplaces, individuals with strong leadership qualities will be in significantly higher demand than those with traditional white collar skills such as problem solving and analytical skills, according to Randstad’s World of Work Report 2012/2013 released today.

This year’s report gathered the feedback and opinions of 1315 people (including 625 business leaders) in Singapore. The research is part of Randstad’s annual Asia Pacific study of more than 9800 people to understand and address the human capital challenges shaping workplaces today – and into the future.

When it comes to maintaining competitiveness in the next five years, respondents rank leadership (41%), creative/innovative (19%), and sales/business development skills (18%) as most critical to their organisation. Analytical (6%) and technical skills (4%) are seen as far less important.

Randstad Director – Professionals, Richard Farmer, says: “Respondents across the region agree the ability to motivate and inspire others and create an engaging vision for the future is the most important attribute of a successful leader.”

Looking to the future Singapore workplace, employers stressed the need for inspirational leadership with the ability to adapt to changing and competing business demands. But, interestingly, only 45% of Singapore employers rate their current leadership capabilities as good, with just 8% rating their leaders as excellent. 67% of employers also felt concerned about their senior management pipeline, indicating some succession issues in the years ahead.

Mr Farmer continues: “This certainly highlights the need for Singapore employers to up their investment in talent management models and future leaders programs. Over the next few years, we will see an evolved work environment where skilled knowledge workers are motivated, empowered and rewarded to lead people, projects and change. This shift to a collaborative and transformational approach is what we call ‘leadership without title’ – and we expect to see it develop even further in the near future.”

The report found that in the next five years, business leaders expect the majority (79%) of their workforce to be engaged in skilled knowledge work, such as project managers, business analysts, engineers, IT specialists, and R&D and innovation experts.

As for jobs that are expected to be in demand over the next five years, topping the list are digital engagement professionals to evolve eBusiness models, sustainability specialists, knowledge managers, regulatory consultants, customer coaches to drive customer engagement, and middle managers across the board to lead change and improve workforce productivity.

Half (52%) of those surveyed are confident the Singapore education sector will deliver the required skills, contrasting with other Asian nations (Hong Kong – 46%, China – 39%, Malaysia – 34%) where confidence is lower.

Mr Farmer concludes: “The next generation of leaders are coming into the workforce as a shift takes place in the way we view business leadership. Traditionally managers have risen through the ranks, purely based on logical progression from one level to the next, rather than their qualities and skills as potential leaders. Today, as employers recognise growing gaps in leadership talent, this is no longer the case.”