3s8

Section

Developing Human Resources

+ Off-site

development mearls often include class:

room courses, seminars, and degrees, and outdoor

+ Management modeling,

experiences, sabbaticals, and leaves of absences.

+ Learning organization developmenr

efforrs

reflect knowledge-based means, such as corporate universities and centers and e-development

coaching, and mentoring are valuable parts of management dwelopment

effors.
Succession planning is the process that identifies
how key employees are ro be replaced and includes

many organizations, including supervisor devel-

whether to make or buy talent and electronic and

\7eb-based succession planning.
A number of different mistakes can occur in succession planning, including focusing only on

opment and leadership developrnent.

CEO and senior managemenr succession.

efforts.

+ Management development is a special focus in +

Discuss what talent management is and why it

is a consideration being addressed by a growing number of employers.
\X/hy is succession planning important in businesses

ofall

3.

Describe the broad range of talent management efforts that use software applications by
searching the Internet. Then give some examples of firms that have successfirlly used these

applications.

sizes today?

Technologyr Regulations SpurringSkills Upgrade in the Financial Sector

As improving technology and more regulation
stretch the demands of business; and as the push
for greater workforce efficienry gains pace, Singapore's financial sector will have ro develop more
specialists across most business r.grrr..rtr-&..,
though the sector has,already pulled ahead of the
pack in terms of productiviry gains over the lasr
two years.

The disruptive force is one that

bant<s are

watching closely, namely startups: in t}re financial indusuy that are changing the way banks and
fi-Lnd management 6rms can charge fees for dreir

portfolio without their bankers; and,+iew

digital

tra-il of transactions.

But

witl

the changes comes an understanding

that private bankers will have ro do more to justify their paychecks, including working wirh more
clienrs.

The concern that technology will rake away

bankers' jobs is mainly challenged, for now, by
strong data that shows wealrh in this parr of the
world will keep growing and take with it the

In response, banks have invested millions into

demand for privare bankers. But evenually, bankers must hold more specialisr skills ro be ahead of
the game.
l'The industry r:ecognizes rhat with evolv-

technology to boost their capabilities when servicing clients. In the wealrh managemenr business
for instance, private banks such as Credir Suisse
and DBS have turned ro technology to churn
out more invesrment ideas more quicklir for clients. Customers now can also access data on their

ing consumer demands and the increasing use

of, tecinology, jobs would similarly evolve,; said
Ong-Aag Ai Boon, direccor ar rtre Associarion of
g*L i,isi"gapore (ABS)This year saw the inrroducrion of SkillsFuture amid Singapore's condnued push ro boosr

servtces.

Chapter

1O

359

Talent Management and Development

prodr-rctivity. Also, Firiance Minister Tharman

Shanmugaratna,m has said that a tripartite cornmitree for the financial sector will be set up in
Septembes to be co-chaired by the NTUC and
the MonetaryAuthority of Singapore (MAS).
MAS said that its work under the SkillsFuture drive with ABS, the Instirure of Banking and
Finance, and unions, will be a "comprehensive
effort at every level-from che'rank and file to

The backdrop to this call is a shift to more

regulation, which in turn iras meant a surge in
demand for compliance staff This has led to the

senior professionals and spicialists".

financial services 8r compliance, at Robert

fu it is, with banls and financial institutions

embracing technology, the sector grew its productivitl, by 5'1 Pet cent in the fourth quarter of
291{-a clear conrrast to the falI of 1.5 per cent

ters Singapore.

in overall labor productiviry in the q,r"r1., th"t

also reptesented the third consecurive decline.
Over the last rwo years, the sector's productiviry
gains have also outpaced that of the resr of the
economy.

"The efficiency of the financial services industry could have been enhanced by the more Pervasive'adopiion of IT," a MAS spokeswoman said.
This also comes as "higher value-added activities"
such as fund manag..rr.rt boosted contibutions
over the last rwo years, she added.
The qualiry of labor in the financial sector has
also improved, MAS said. The share of PMETs
(professionals, managers, execudves and technicians) among residents employed in the financial
services sectot rose from77 Per cent in 2012 to 81
per cenr in2OI4. The number of employed residents wich diplomas, professional qualifications or
degrees in the sector has also increased, data from

the Ministry of Manpower showed.

This comes as the sector created more jobs in
2014 than a year ago, a q'elcome turnaround con-

sidering that the number of jobs created on a net

basis had been falling for three straight years since

20rt.
In a speech last year, Mr Tharman had flagged
wealier job gror,l"rh as a concern, and urged banks
to build specialists as technoiogy reinvenred the
industry. He also noted that there is demand for
specialists in areas such as structured trade finance
and risk managemenr.

legal and compliance space registering fie largest

jurnp in job advertising volumes in thb firsr quarter, a Robert \flalters Singapore study showed.
Compliance officers are, on average, expected

to earn 15 to 20 per cent more than what they

used to five years ago, said Orelia Chan, Elanager,

\fal-

"The main reason for this huge wage jump

is,

in essence, a demand and supply mismatch. There

are just very few qualified candidates to meet the
rising demand for current compliance positions,"
said Ms Chan.

And as banks work through regulatory hoops

linked to anti-money laundering, sanctions, and
anti-bribery corruption, they need to not just
hire compliance officers, but also ensure that all
employees-right down to the frondine staff-are
equipped with skilis to deal with greater regulatory scrutiny, said Joel Lange, managing director,
risk & compliance in DowJones.
UOBt head of talenr management and business human resources Catherine Chia noted that
the bank has reinvested money from the governmentt wage credit scheme into career and personal development pro grams.

"'We believe that a productive, skilled and

innovative work-force is an important ditFeren-

tiator and competirive edge in our progress as a

Smart Nation," she said.
Banks such as DBS have also set uP in-house
schools to host training programs on all subjects.
These include foreign ienders that have made
Singapore a base for regionai training centers for
its staff. French bank BNP Paribas opened its
regional training campus here last year.
Broadly, MAS rvants to develop more leaders in the field by encouraging oyerseas secondments. It rvill also launch an Asian Financial
Leaders Prograrrr rhis year For Singaporeans who
aspire to take on regional or global leadership
positions.

360

Section 3

Developing Human Resources

This complements existing inrernal

at baaks that allow staffto move to

kets and business segments.

progra_ms

diff.i.rri*"r-

A big obstacle to these efforts, howwer, is tle

reluctance of many Singaporeans to leave local
comforts for overseas postings, bankers said. One

The Business Times,

May i8, 20I5. @ Copyright

2015 Singapore Press Holdings Limited..:. :',..-

Questions
1_

senior banker at a foreign lender, for example,

told BT that finance graduates are asking questions about work-life balance in the industry_a
concept that, in his mind, does not exist.
\7ith the changing dynamics of the business
and the government's constant emphasis on productiviqr there is a growing ,.rrr. ahra such complacenry mu$ also be challenged in the years

2.

ahead.

Source: Jamie Lee, "Technology, Re'gulations

Spuring Skills Upgrade in the FinanciJSector,,,

1.

Based on interviews and information provided by Michael

6.

Sabbag, 2007, at Learn.com,

2.

uww.harn.com.
"2006 Talent Management
Survey Report,"
Res e arc h,

SHRII

T.

200 6, uww. s hrm-

Second

rer 2006, 1-11.

4.

8.

euar-

Molly Bernhart, "preparing

for a Skills Shonage, I7ork

Based on case orample details

from Learn.co m, 200/,

9.

Roben E. Lewis and Roberr

J. Heckman, "fhlent Management: A Critical Review,"

Intensifi cation," Eznp loy ee

Human

Bentft News, November 2006,

Reuiew,15

Res oarce

Managc-rnent

(200A,$9-

754.

Sandra O'Neal a.rrd Julie

Gebauer, "lhlent Management
in the 2lst Century: Attracting Retaining, and Engaging
Employees o{ Choice,' VorldatWorh Journa4, First

2006,

ww.ut.

barn.corn.

20_

5.

ZOO 6,

35.

"TlJent Managemenr Driver for

Organizational Success," SHRIUT

Q""rt"rb

2006,44.
"TalentManagement Software
Is Bundling Up," Vorffirce
Management, October 9,

NancyR Iockwood,

Research

*Iilent

Rafter,
Management Systems Make
Inroads with Employers," Workforce Management, Jamnry 30,

org.

3.

Michelle

Gt7.

euarter

10.

TakntMandgement: The Staa

of the Art Qiew York: Towers

Perin,2005).

11. Manhew

Gulteridge, Asmus B.

Komm, arrd Emily Lawson,

'The

People Problem in Talent

Management," The Mclfrnse1,

Qaarte r ly Second euarrer

0 6, uww. m c kins ey quarterQ.

20

com.

12. EdFrauenheim,

"Firms Valk
Fine Line with 'High-potentiai,
Programs," Workfo rce Management, September 25, 2006,
44.
13. Jaclyne Badal, "Career-path
Programs Help Retain \7orkers," Tlte Vall Street Journal,
July 24,2006, Bt.
14. Toddi Gutner, "Still \Torkirig

and Loving

It" BusinessVeeh,

October 16,2006, 108.

15. Lyle C. Bridgeford, "Educating \Torkers About Ddlyed
Retirement," Emp lolt e e B en ef t
l/azrg November 2006,
www. beneftneus.corn.

16.

Patrick Chang Boon Lee,

"Going Beyond Career
P lateaus," Jo urn a I of Man agemrnt Deue lopntent, 22 eOO3),

538-551.