More needed to create businesses that promote the 'human experience'

Even as business leaders recognise the increasing importance of building a company that brings meaning back to the workplace and human identity back to the worker, only 15 per cent of leaders in South-east Asia said they are up for the task.

While technology is helping organisations gain competitive advantage, if not managed appropriately, it can simultaneously mean that workers lose their identity in the workplace. This has resulted in a call to action for organisations to reinvent their approach to human capital with the worker in mind to create opportunities for continuous learning, accelerated development, and professional and personal growth according to Deloitte's 2019 Global Human Capital Trends report.

Organisations in South-east Asia seem to be heading in the right direction. More than 9 in 10 leaders in South-east Asia (94 per cent) cited reinventing the way people learn as important or very important versus 86 per cent globally. That being said, only 12 per cent said they organisations are "very ready" to address this topic, versus 10 per cent globally.

More needs to be done as organisations are challenged to up their game when it comes to the employee experience. Of the nearly 10,000 business and human resource leaders from 119 countries interviewed, less than half (49 per cent) said they believed that their organisations' workers were satisfied or very satisfied with their job design. Leaders in South-east Asia were more pessimistic - only 38 per cent believed workers are satisfied or very satisfied.

In terms of day-to-day work practices, 38 per cent in South-east Asia thought that workers were satisfied or very satisfied versus 42 per cent globally.

In a similar vein, while organisations look to provide technology to support employees' work, only 32 per cent in South-east Asia (versus 38 per cent globally) said that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the current work-related tools and technology available.

Finally, only 25 per cent in SEA (38 per cent globally) of respondents thought that they have enough autonomy within their jobs to make good decisions, providing further evidence that significant reinvention is required.

"Large regional companies including state owned entities and family-owned conglomerates are facing the pressure to respond to shifts around Industry 4.0 and Millennial/Gen Z workforce. The ones that are successful are those with an adaptable organisation," said Mark Maclean, human capital consulting leader, Deloitte Southeast Asia.

This approach extends to compensation structures. Today, only 12 per cent in South-east Asia (versus 11 per cent globally) said their rewards systems are highly aligned with their organisational goals. A further 34 per cent in South-east Asia said they do not feel they know what rewards their employees value.

"Organisations have to support the workforce of the future by enabling shifts to team-based working and connect employees' aspirations with the impact they create at work," said Mr Maclean.

This, he said, is critical to elevate the concept of 'employee experience' to one that focuses on the 'human experience'.

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