Thursday 19 January 2012

Will 2012 be a Year of HR Complacency or a Year of Competitive Advantage?

At the start of each year, we simultaneously reflect on the past while making plans for the future. The past year suggests that we are in for a bumpy ride in 2012. There's no indication that the economic uncertainty and market volatility of 2011 will stabilise any time soon, and few executives are banking on a speedy recovery. Talent2's APAC Market Pulse Study found that as of November 2011, 91% of APAC business executives were concerned about an imminent recession. However, the fiscal-focused headlines may be distracting us from more important issues at hand. For Australian HR directors, 2012's biggest worry shouldn't be the state of global markets, but the outmoded operating models which they base their strategies upon.

Australia's HR industry must resolve to refresh its current practices if it wants to stay globally competitive. At present, market conditions are still relatively stable in Australia, a luxury few other countries are enjoying. Nevertheless, stability is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it means the severity and frequency of market pain points is minimised; on the other, it can breed complacency and the belief that a "business as usual" mindset is enough to stay competitive. Australian HR directors need to wake up to the fact that the game is slowly but inexorably changing, and that they'll need new strategies and models if they want to stay ahead of the pack. 2012 will see opportunities exist to take advantage of the relatively favourable market conditions in Australia, helping businesses establish a competitive advantage, as well as weatherproofing against future uncertainties. Yet businesses are not thinking differently and not realising the current potential. By failing to sufficiently protect their organisation's soft underbelly, this malaise could be costly come tougher times.

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