Regional firms indicate hiring, compensation plans for 2014

MOST companies in the Asian region plan to offer one to three months’ worth of salary as bonuses, and increase their senior executives’ base salary by 5 to 10 percent.

Last year, 50 percent of all companies also intend to increase their headcount by 5 to 10 percent in 2014.

These were the highlights of a regional client survey conducted by Bó Lè Associates, involving more than 980 top-level decision makers across industries and regions.

The respondents have management roles in their respective companies, and 71 percent hold top management and board-level positions, 83 percent are from companies with more than 5,000 employees, 42 percent are multinational companies (MNCs) and 41 percent, local conglomerates.

Performance and profits

Employees’ overall performance in 2013-2014 is expected to largely mirror that of 2012, with some 37 percent of employers in the financial services and insurance industries indicating that they will give out three to six months worth of salary as bonuses.

Meanwhile, 18 percent of employers in the information technology industry expect to give out six to nine months worth of salary as bonuses, and 5 percent of employers in the healthcare industry plan to give out nine to twelve months’ worth of salary as bonuses.

In 2014, 10 percent of employers in the industrial sector plan to increase their employees’ base salary by no more than 5 percent, while 23 percent of companies in the IT industry plan to increase their employees’ base salary by 15 to 20 percent.

Nine percent of employers in the architecture, construction and property industries indicated that they plan to increase their employees’ base salary by more than 20 percent.

More than half of employers in the IT industry intend to increase their mid-senior level executives’ base salary by more than 10 percent, while 8 percent of employers in the professional services industry indicate that they plan to increase their senior executives’ base salary by more than 20 percent. In the consumer industry, however, 14 percent of companies do not plan on offering any increase in the base salary for their top executives.

Finding the talent

Promoting internal candidates and outsourcing the process to executive search firms are still the top two methods companies use to fill executive roles. Social media, on the other hand, is still most extensively used by companies in marketing their products or services, or for announcing news and events.

In terms of headcount adjustments, 31 percent of employers in the IT&T industry and 25 percent in the financial services and insurance industry plan to increase their staff by 10 to 20 percent.

Thirteen percent of respondents from the professional services industry also indicated that they intend to increase their staff by 20 to 30 percent. On the other hand, 14 percent of employers in the consumer industry will encounter a hiring freeze, and 29 percent of respondents from the natural resources and energy industry have indicated that they will face a headcount freeze in 2014.

Companies across all industries think that mid to C-suite level positions are the most difficult to place, while 33 percent of respondents from the electronics and electronic equipment industry think hiring mid-level positions are themost difficult.

Some 32 percent of respondents from the industrial sector think senior level positions are the most difficult to place, and 29 percent of respondents from the natural resources and energy industry think that placing C-suite positions is themost difficult.

Socialmedia benefits

Even though 69 percent of companies across industries regard social media as effective, all industries rated social media as the least important channel for executive level hiring, and only 13 percent of companies in the manufacturing industry depend on employee referral programs to fill executive level roles.

Although social media is not a primary tool for hiring top executives, it is still regarded as an effective instrument to achieve other purposes. Approximately 35 percent of employers in the financial services and insurance industries use social media to build their brands.

In order to maximize efficiency, different industries have chosen to focus their social media efforts on various channels: 27 percent of respondents from the IT industry principally use forums, while 13 percent of respondents from the food and beverage industry mainly use blogging sites.

The majority of companies consulted have expressed their view that social media is effective and, as a result, efforts will be channeled into social media to increase brand exposure and companies’ presence in the market, as well as a means to acquire new customers.

(The author is a director of Bó Lè Manila. Bó Lè Associates is the biggest executive search firm in Asia, with a network of 16 wholly owned offices worldwide. It is ranked No. 1 in China and Indonesia, and is in the top three in Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of RGF, the world's fifth largest and Japan’s largest HR service provider.)