A more creative, flexible and engaged workforce will be the deciding factor to compete in the market for companies, not only in the current global environment of volatility and uncertainty left by the financial crisis but also by the time economies reach the long-awaited stability and subsequent growth. The urgent need to develop leaders and nurture talent while implementing measures to get workers engaged and middle management taking on more responsibilities was the core of a presentation by FHRD CEO Joe Gerada during the PFK Regenerating Entrepreneurship conference on 6 July in Malta.

“It appears that it is no longer feasible, even if it worked in the past, to conceive a strategy in the board room and expect the workforce to implement it, as given”, said Mr Gerada. In this regard, he highlighted that “innovation and growth today require so much creativity and engagement by employees at all levels that the commitment of the workforce and their trust in the organisation have become a determining factor to keep ahead of competition. Products are imitated, technology can be bought, but people make the difference”, he emphasised.

These remarks were in line with the findings of a survey conducted in 2010 by the Association for Personnel Management and the BCG, for which FHRD was the local coordinator.

Mr Gerada pointed out the four HR issues that stand out as most critical are managing talent, leadership development, employee engagement and strategic workforce planning. He said that while talent management continues to be the most important future HR topic, improving leadership has topped the list of the most important current topics. He described leaders as individuals who go beyond managing and who have credibility, not only because of their competence and the results that they obtain, but also because of the integrity and the right intent that they have, which inspires people to follow them. This level of leadership seems lacking and, in fact, only 32 per cent of respondents said that they have programmes in place that prepare managers to take up a more senior role in the top positions.

Employee engagement and strategic workforce planning are new to the top of the table, signalling the importance of planning well to get the right people for the right jobs while ensuring that employees have a sense of commitment due to a policy of creating the space in which they can grow and contribute.

Mr Gerada said that, while the responses in Malta were consistent with the rest of the world regarding talent management and workforce planning, local industry rated work-life balance and change and cultural transformation as their major concerns for the future.

He said it appeared that work-life balance is still an unresolved issue in Malta, as opposed to other countries. He pointed out that the employment rate in Malta is low compared to other countries mainly due to the low participation rate of women in the labour market and called for a renewed effort to strengthen policy in this respect. Mr Gerada also touched on the issue of change and said that the report concluded that change and cultural transformation was not ranked high in importance across the world. The main reason for this is the fact that most of industry had already restructured by the time the crisis hit and was therefore able to focus their energies on survival, awaiting the upturn to take advantage. He said that the fact that local industry is claiming that change is still a major issue for the future is an eye opener and begs the question of whether Malta is in pro-active or re-active mode.

Nonetheless, identifying, attracting and retaining talent – managing talent – and the need to go beyond having managers with vision of the future and being worthy of trust and credibility – leadership development – are the top HR priorities, as reflected in the global data. In Malta in particular, “Managing talent continues to be the most important future HR topic because the island lacks certain competences, including HR management”, said Mr Gerada.

He highlighted certain contrasts in the report between high and low-performing companies. The area of performance and reward seems to be a topic that separates high-performing companies from the low. In fact, this topic jumped from ninth to fifth place in the order of current importance. Mr Gerada said that, following the recession, employees are no longer prepared to have reduced salaries and increased workloads but are looking for normality. In this respect, companies are actively looking into these issues and making the necessary changes in order to retain the best talent.

This survey provided Maltese entrepreneurs not only with a review and forecast for the years to come but also offered some challenges that Mr Gerada pointed out to the audience, namely how well was industry preparing the leaders of the future, to what extent was workforce-planning at national level effective and how are employees engaged with the organisations for which they work, especially considering the traditional high mobility of labour.

Ms Soriano is a Spanish journalist at the Foundation for Human Resources Development