Asia-Pacific corporates are failing to invest in people

Many corporates in Asia-Pacific are failing to invest adequately in the employees and skills needed for future success.

Almost half (47%) of risk managers in the StrategicRISK Asia-Pacific Advisory Panel said their companies were investing in people for the future, but that it was not sufficient.

Just over one-third (35%) said the investment being made was sufficient to ensure they were not left behind in the digital revolution.

Worryingly, 12.5% of the respondents said their companies were making no investment in this area.

Not having the right people to execute a digital strategy is a key risk for Telstra, according to the group’s chief risk officer, Kate Hughes.

“How do you hang on to the core skills that you need to run the business that you’ve got today, while at the same time growing to another area with a very different set of skills?” she said. “We’ve got the world’s best telecommunication engineers but the skills and capabilities we need to be a global technology company look very different.

“Our ability to bring a risk lens to that has really informed the people capability controls and strategies that our HR team are putting in place as we transition to that global technology company.”

Cisco global head of market development, Internet of Things, Matthew Smith said all firms should, at a minimum, employ a chief digital officer who can help drive a group-wide strategy on the requirements needed for digital success. In the survey, only 45% of the respondents’ companies had such a role.

“This is someone who can sit on top of this massive disruption within the industry, have a Switzerland view of things, know where technology is going and manage the different silos within companies,” said Smith.