‘Workplaces should adapt to keep up with the digital age’
MORE than two in five Malaysian employees feel their jobs are at risk due to an increasingly digital economy.
This is based on a survey conducted by Workday, a provider of cloud applications for finance and human resources and market intelligence firm, IDC.
Titled “The Drive for the Digitally-enabled Workforce”, Workday regional sales director Jasie Fon ( pic) says the study further revealed that employees who feel a company is not ready to embark on digitisation may choose to go with companies that are more modernised and equipped to embrace technology.
“At least a third or 37% surveyed feel they do not have the right skills to compete in an increasingly digital economy.
“This could be because some companies are still using old methods (of management.
“Today’s workforce comprise mostly of millennials, therefore it’s a question of how you engage with them.
“Companies that adopt more modern approaches get to enjoy the fruits of their talent.”
To tackle digital disruption, the most important aspect, Fon says, is to re-skill the workforce.
Interestingly, the study also showed that despite high digitisation awareness, 44% of Malaysian employees feel their managers are not proactively engaging with them to futureproof their careers.
Fon feels this is because many Malaysian employers are “old school practitioners”.
“This needs to change as more companies start adopting cloud-based human resource systems where they leverage on the system’s capabilities to engage with employees.”
To build an effective working environment, Fon says an “anytime feedback” approach is critical.
“Employees want to engage by giving feedback to their employers. However, more often than not, this only happens during the yearly performance appraisal.
“By then it would be too late because when the following year’s appraisal approaches, the employee would probably already be thinking of leaving,” she shares.
Based on a survey with over 1,400 employees in eight countries across the region namely Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and South Korea, the study further revealed that Malaysia has among the highest turnover rates in the region, with 38% of employees surveyed saying they are likely to switch jobs within 12 months.
Fon says this is an area employers should pay attention to.
“Companies should be able to identify trends and implement the right strategies to retain talent or lose out to other companies dipping into the same resources pool.
“There are a lot of changes happening in our current economy and one of it is an evolving workforce.
“The nature of work has changed; technology is changing the way people work and how employees engage with companies.
“Diversity and inclusion is also becoming an important trend, something many companies are aware of but aren’t sure how to manage it,” she adds.