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GLOBAL TREND REPORT HUMAN RESOURCES
2015 | OUTLOOK
ECONOMIC GROWTH & ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE CREATING NEW
OPPORTUNITIES By and large the market for human resources professionals has improved with the
economic upturn of the past year. It is also an evolving market place. In most of the
seven countries we reviewed at the start of 2015 HR is becoming more specialised, with
increased emphasis on professionals who can help organisations through change and
restructuring, and those who can help attract and retain top talent. In the Asia-Pacific
markets of Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan human resources has moved
from a back-room administrative function to be more intimately involved in business
operations. In these countries and in France there is strong demand for HR professionals
with foreign language (particularly English) skills. If the economic upswing continues,
we are likely to see further demand for compensation and benefits experts.
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MAINLAND CHINA................................ 2
FRANCE..................................................... 3
HONG KONG..........................................4
IRELAND................................................... 6
JAPAN........................................................ 8
SINGAPORE........................................... 10
UNITED KINGDOM.............................. 12
Many organisations are outsourcing certain HR functions and implementing HR systems.
• In Mainland China the market has developed rapidly and there is strong demand for HR business partners
• Japanese companies are adopting best practices in learning and development. There is a lack of suitably experienced bilingual candidates
• In France HR generalists are still in demand but we expect to see HR playing a more strategic role with a focus on talent development
• In Singapore the local talent pool has developed, reducing multinational companies’ need to bring in project leaders from overseas
• In Hong Kong overseas experience is highly valued and professionals in L&D, OD and talent management are especially sought after •
• Retaining top talent is becoming a priority for many companies in Ireland so there is growing demand for compensation and benefits experts
HR generalists are in demand in the UK, as are performance and reward and talent acquisition specialists. Contract professionals are often recruited to manage projects
1
On-the job experience counts
for more than formal training.
MAINLAND CHINA
A RAPIDLY MATURING MARKET
The HR environment is changing rapidly in
China, with more and more companies splitting
the function into business partnering, centres
of excellence and shared service centres.
Consequently ambitious HR professionals are
strongly advised to develop a specialisation.
“At the moment, HR generalists are not hot
candidates for multinational companies, nor even
for some small and medium sized enterprises,”
says Marlon Mai, Associate Director, Finance,
HR & Strategy at Morgan McKinley China.
Over the next year we anticipate that candidates
will become more active in seeking new roles.
This is also a sign of the times: traditionally,
HR candidates have been satisfied with a stable
career path within one or two organisations. Today,
there is greater incentive to move between roles.
In many organisations, HR recruitment budgets
have increased, despite the fears of an economic
slowdown, often because they need to get to
grips with organisational change and there is
still strong competition to attract and retain the
best talent. Strategic HR planning, learning and
career development and recruitment and talent
acquisition are strong growth areas, especially at
manager level. “While most candidates will need
a university degree, HND or HNC to move into
HR, on-the job experience counts for more than
formal training, as HR teams tend to have a rather
pragmatic orientation. Candidates with language
skills are very much in demand,” comments Mai.
SALARIES & BENEFITS
HR professionals can expect salary increases of on
average 8-10% in 2015, or 20-25% if moving to a
new role.
2
HR is becoming an increasingly
important function in leading organisations.
FRANCE
TALENT ACQUISITION & RETENTION A KEY FOCUS
We have seen little change in recruitment into
HR positions over the past year in France.
There is still a prevailing mood of economic
uncertainty and recruitment budgets are static
or even declining in many organisations,
while some multinational corporations are
globalising their HR function. Recruitment and
talent acquisition remains a growth area;
so too are organisational development and change
management. There is ongoing demand for HR
generalists and we expect to see demand increase
for learning and talent development specialists
over the next year. “There is certainly adequate
local talent supply, while many organisations
will recruit internally into senior positions,”
says Hubert Levesque, Managing Director of
Morgan McKinley France. “Most demand is for
career starters and junior roles,” he adds.
Candidates with an MA or MSc in Human
Resources and fluency in foreign languages will
be in the best position to secure a foothold on the
career ladder. More experienced candidates need
to focus on talent acquisition and development
competences, and they will need to get proactive in seeking their next role, for example by
networking via informal meetings. “Transformation
and development skills are really important
attributes for anyone seeking a more senior
position, as retaining top talent is a priority,”
says Levesque. “HR is becoming an increasingly
important function in leading organisations so,
while the market is a little quiet at the moment,
it will be a focus for Morgan McKinley in 2015”
he concludes.
SALARIES & BENEFITS
Those staying in their current roles can expect a
rise of around 5%. Those moving can expect on
average a salary increase in the order of 10-15%.
3
Candidates who combine overseas training
and experience with fluency in Chinese will go far.
HONG KONG
STRONG DEMAND FOR LEARNING & ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SPECIALISTS
We’ve seen no overall discernible change in the
HR recruitment market in Hong Kong. One reason
has been the political tension between China and
the special administrative region. “Businesses
view China as a core growth market with lots of
potential but are often uncertain about where to
allocate resources in the current climate,” says
Jenny Leung, Associate Director, Morgan McKinley
Hong Kong. Organisational change is driving a
high level of demand, especially in the areas of
learning and talent development, organisational
development, talent management and succession
planning, at all levels of seniority within HR.
But in all of these areas there is a lack of locally
based candidates for new positions. On the other
hand, process efficiencies and strong talent
programmes implemented over the past two years
have improved staff retention rates, allowing more
organisations to cover new positions through
internal movement.
Employers value candidates with an overseas
qualification, such as CIPD/CIPP and/or
relevant HR experience overseas. “A candidate
who combines these qualities with fluency in
Chinese languages will do well,” says Leung.
“The HR discipline continues to develop here
and is playing a more strategic role in the business,
but we are still some way behind western
best practices.”
methodology such as DDI and Lominger.
The contract market for HR professionals is also
under-developed in Hong Kong, and in fact we
have seen even greater emphasis on permanent
headcount in recent months. Contract hiring is
generally limited to providing maternity cover and
seasonal requirements.
“Retention, engagement and development
strategies will be the hot topics for 2015,”
concludes Leung.
There is growing interest in candidates who
are qualified in a learning and development
4
SALARIES & BENEFITS
Those staying in their current roles can expect a
rise of around 5%. Those moving can expect on
average a salary increase in the order of 10-15%.
5
IRELAND
A sideways move can help HR
professionals to get where they
would like to be in a few years.
AN EXCELLENT TIME TO EXPLORE NEW OPPORTUNITIES
With Ireland experiencing an economic upswing
multinational and Irish companies are currently
recruiting specialists in recruitment and talent
acquisition, organisational development and
change management, as well as learning and talent
development. We expect there to be a greater
focus on performance and reward, succession
planning and analytics as the year progresses.
“Companies cannot afford to lose talent through
lack of engagement, so they are spending more
time and resources to improve their understanding
of how best to retain employees as well as how
to cope should key individuals leave,” says Tanya
Thomas, National Manager, HR, at Morgan
McKinley Ireland. At the same time, virtually
all multinational companies are considering the
benefits of outsourcing certain elements of the
HR function or introducing new shared services.
in the HR market. Supply and demand issues are
creating this exciting momentum,” says Thomas. The contract market continues to be buoyant,
partly because HR staff profiles tend to be strongly
female in Ireland, and partly because the function
is very project-oriented.
HR Professionals should also take opportunities
in shared services seriously as this sector continues
to be in growth mode and skill sets gained in this
environment are in demand. The market will become more fluid in 2015 as HR
professionals, particularly at assistant manager
level, find there are more options and opportunities
for pay increases. “These opportunities exist both
in new sectors and in specialisations. We have also
started to see movement from the public sector,
for example the defence forces, to Irish companies.
During the recession these moves were unheard of
While CIPD/CPP is the standard qualification in
HR, professionals with an analytical frame of mind
would do well to consider training in disciplines
such as project and change and in HR software.
More and more companies are implementing
HR systems from vendors such as SAP, Oracle,
Core and PeopleSoft.
6
SALARIES & BENEFITS
Salaries in HR have started to rise across the
board although at a faster rate for specialist than
generalist roles. In 2015, for people on the move,
we would anticipate pay rises of between 2-5% for
generalists and 5-10% for specialists.
7
Any movement in the bilingual HR
market produces a significant ripple effect.
JAPAN
ADAPTING TO WESTERN HR BEST PRACTICES
The economic outlook has improved gradually
in Japan and there are signs that recruitment
budgets are increasing as companies look to
address organisational change, with a focus on
recruitment into learning and development and
change management functions. Globalisation
is a further key factor driving recruitment, as is
the implementation of new IT systems such as
SAP LSO and PeopleSoft. “Overall companies are
recruiting more actively than a year ago, both new
and replacement headcount, but offshoring and
outsourcing is a counter-trend,” comments James
Hiluk, Manager, HR at Morgan McKinley’s Tokyo
office. Moreover, hiring processes can be lengthy,
partly because it is often difficult to find the right
candidate locally.
We have also witnessed a growth in recruitment
process outsourcing (RPO), resulting in a shift
towards demand for contractors. One reason is
that a number of Japanese retailers are planning to
open new stores over the next couple of years and
have initiated time-delimited recruitment projects.
“Many of our clients are also seeking to hire staff
on initial contracts as a cautionary move before
confirming the need for permanent headcount,
or the suitability of an individual for a role,”
says Hiluk.
One very important factor in HR recruitment in
Japan is the limited size of the bilingual talent
pool. “Any movement in this market produces a
significant ripple effect,” says Hiluk.
Organisational change is also making a significant
impact on the HR recruitment market.
“Many foreign capital firms are currently going
through change management projects. As a
result, some staff are looking to move when new
senior management come in or new processes
are introduced. Employees sometimes find that
their new roles do not match expectations or that
they don’t like the new corporate culture, and
start looking for new opportunities,” comments
Hiluk. The HR market is thus becoming rather
more fluid. Hiluk advises candidates who want to
move forward to develop their English language
skills and their ability to bridge the cultural and
organisational divide between Japan and regional
and global counterparts.
The HR function in Japan is still evolving from a
traditional back office administrative function
to one that is more embedded as a partnering
function within business units. This calls for a new
skill-set. The strongest trend that we are seeing
is the growing demand for experienced leaders in
learning and development who can implement
practices that are well established in western
companies but new and challenging to Japanese
companies (as well as foreign firms that are
long-established in Japan and have therefore
adapted to traditional Japanese work cultures).
“Japan’s educational system generally does not
seem to develop the kind of problem-solving and
communications skills that many international
firms seek. However, graduates from Japan’s
leading academic institutions who go on to gain
international work or study experience tend to do
well,” says Hiluk. There are also many respected
courses that HR professionals can study locally,
such as the Human Resources Management
certificate programme at Temple University.
8
SALARIES & BENEFITS
Those staying in their current roles can expect a
rise of around 2-5%. Historically those moving
could expect on average a salary increase in the
order of 10%, although recent trends indicate less
certainty on increases. Whilst salary increases
of 10-15% are possible, expectations need to be
closely managed on both sides as budgets remain
tight and candidates are more frequently choosing
career moves for reasons unrelated to salary.
9
A once-in-a-lifetime career
opportunity might be just around the corner.
SINGAPORE
ORGANISATIONS MORE INCLINED TO SEEK LOCAL TALENT TO MANAGE BIG PROJECTS
In 2014 we witnessed an unexpected surge in the
number of multinational companies seeking senior
level interim human resources business partners.
“In the past, such HR project leaders were
transferred from their global HQs to work in Asia
to perform crucial transformation work within a
fixed period, often enjoying generous expatriate
packages. The fact that organisations are now
more inclined to seek talent from within the region
to manage major programmes shows the extent
to which skills have developed here,” says Iryani
Kamal, Senior Consultant, HR at Morgan McKinley
Singapore. “Nevertheless, we are still not in a
position where there is sufficient local talent
to meet all demand,” she adds.
Organisational change is the main driver
of that demand, with organisations seeking
strategic HR planning, organisational development
and change management, and talent acquisition
specialists in particular. With the economic
outlook generally rather better than a year
ago, HR departments have been ramping
up on recruitment in recent months, albeit
rather cautiously. “There is strong demand
for effective HR business partners at
leadership and assistant manager levels,”
says Kamal.
Performance and reward and learning and
development specialists may be in higher demand
as we progress through 2015, especially if the
economic upturn is sustained. “The focus of 2013
and 2014 was on talent acquisition. Therefore,
we are more likely to see staff retention becoming
a greater issue as top performers consider
exploring opportunities elsewhere. So the focus
will turn to compensation and benefits and talent
management,” says Kamal.
Some organisations are shrinking their HR teams
in Singapore, but if so it is usually because they are
outsourcing and offshoring administrative functions.
In other cases multinationals have recruitment
freezes in place but there is still strong latent
demand that may translate into actual demand
later in the year. Moreover, the contract market
has developed recently to meet the needs of global
restructurings and regional transformation projects.
In this climate we expect to see HR professionals
getting even more proactive in seeking new
employers in 2015. “Singapore is in any case a
vibrant and dynamic market. HR professionals are
usually open to having exploratory conversations
with potential employers, even if they are satisfied
in their current role. They are mindful that a once-ina-lifetime career opportunity might be just around
the corner.
“People who are currently midway through their
careers and who are looking to achieve director
level need to demonstrate consistency and stability.
Evidence of effective stakeholder management will
make a candidate stand out as business leaders
usually seek an HR director who speaks their
language, who can be relied on and who will add
value to the organisation,” Kamal advises.
Generally speaking the HR talent pool is, from a
technical and point of view, very well qualified.
“The key problem here is bilingual fluency.
More and more companies will only recruit HR
professionals who have excellent language skills in
English and in an Asian language such as Mandarin
or Bahasa,” says Kamal.
10
SALARIES & BENEFITS
HR professionals who stay in their current role
can probably expect salary increases in the order
of 3-7%. For those being promoted internally this
should rise to 9-13%. Those changing companies,
but remaining in similar jobs, can expect a modest
8-12% increment. However, if the move involves
a significant promotion, they can look forward
to a jump of 15-20%, dependent on the overall
portfolio and package. 11
UNITED
KINGDOM
HR generalists are
in greatest demand.
A BUOYANT CONTRACT MARKET
In the UK the contract market has continued to
be buoyant. Organisational change, such as the
review and restructuring of the business model,
together with compliance and regulatory changes
are driving demand for experienced project
professionals as well as generalists who are
required to back-fill for internal mobility in staffing
projects. “HR generalists are in greatest demand.
We have also seen companies seeking to recruit
performance and reward and talent acquisition
specialists, with particularly strong demand for
the latter within technology and consultancy,”
says Jon Carey, Associate Director at Morgan
McKinley’s London office.
SALARIES & BENEFITS
With some UK-based organisations consolidating
HR functions or offshoring/outsourcing,
the permanent market has been much more
focused on replacement headcount with a
noticeable increase in time-to-hire. Learning
and talent development specialists and succession
planning experts will be increasingly in demand
through 2015 as organisations intensify their
efforts to retain talent. In addition to a relevant
qualification such as CIPD/CPP, candidates are
increasingly expected to bring strong IT skills.
Contract: Candidates working in contracts and
on an interim basis in a generalist capacity
can expect a 2-10% rate increase and those in
specialist roles can expect 2-15%. The demand for
contractors continues due to the volume of change
in organisations. Permanent: HR professionals
who remain in their current roles in 2015 can
expect an increment of around 5%, whilst those
changing jobs can expect 5-10%. Benefits have
become a hot topic with all companies required to
implement auto-enrolment pensions in 2015;
the employer contribution can vary greatly
between organisations.
12
GLOBAL TREND REPORT HUMAN RESOURCES
A MORGAN McKINLEY GROUP COMPANY