Business

Wednesday October 21, 2009

Accenture partner lines up 5 strategies to boost performance

By DANNY YAP


KUALA LUMPUR: Corporations preparing for high performance when the economy picks up must embrace five strategies, says Accenture partner Low Choy Huat.

First, reposition the workforce, he said, quoting a white paper co-authored by Peter Cheese and Yaarit Silverstone.

Cheese is managing director of Accenture Talent & Organisation Performance, while Silverstone is managing director of the practice’s Organisational Effectiveness Group.

... ‘Corporations need a comprehensive workforce planning.’

“They (corporations) need a comprehensive workforce planning that includes analysis of human resource capabilites; what they need versus what they have, skills retooling and allowing employees the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge to work with the next wave of technology, products and services,” he said.

Low cited Australia’s Telstra Networks and Services as an example whereby it kept ahead of the technology race by providing the right training to its workforce which resulted in a 50% increase in productivity of its technicians.

He said the second strategy was to create a more collaborative and innovative culture in the workforce.

“The silos that too often exist in large, global companies become exaggerated as executives and managers try to protect their turf. Talent, ideas, markets and customers are not adequately shared, so business synergies are lost,” Low noted.

He said if companies were going to be at full strength for the economic upturn, it was critical they had mechanisms in place to connect people with ideas.

“Collaboration through knowledge sharing and teaming helps generate higher levels of performance and are vital to being able to innovate and adapt,” Low said.

The third strategy is to develop a new generation of crisis-tested leadership. Low said the economic crisis had put executives to the test under exceedingly stressful conditions.

“The good news is that this generation of leaders and those in the next generation may never have better conditions under which to test and improve their leadership skills and savvy,” he said.

He said some leading companies were explicitly using challenging business environments to develop more effective leaders.

The fourth strategy is to strengthern talent management processes and systems. Low said building a more agile workforce in any organisation required integrated talent management processes and systems.

“Companies need a highly efficient human resource organisation and well-embedded processes that can develop employees from recruitment to exit and then optimise their performance through learning, performance management and aligned incentives,” he said.

Low said without such capabilities, companies would not have the right people with the right skills, especially when they want to seize new markets and opportunities.

He cited the case of South Korea’s SK Group which adopted this practice and became a dominant player in the Korean market with 75% of revenue generated via local sales, despite the global economic crisis.

Low said the final strategy was to create a more engaging workforce and management team.

He said this would entail building a culture of trust and respect for individuals, creating meaningful work and career opportunities, and supporting employees with work as well as work/life balance.

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