Only 38 Pct Singaporean Executives Confident In Organisations' Ability To Be Productive - Survey

KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 (Bernama) -- The 2024 Kelly Global Re:work Report has revealed that executives are least confident in improving productivity with only 38 per cent in Singapore expressed confidence in their organisations’ ability to become more productive, compared to 54 per cent globally.

According to the specialty talent solutions provider Kelly in a statement, other key findings in Singapore showed that creativity and innovation are two critical skills missing in the workforce as over one third (36 per cent) of executives rate their teams’ creativity and innovation skills as poor, while more than 57 per cent agree that addressing skills gaps is high priority.

In addition, a mere 23 per cent of executives rate their organisations positively for supporting mental health initiatives and the good news was, 68 per cent say they are already taking steps or planning to address negative aspects of their organisation’s culture.

The report also revealed that career development is employees’ top concern with workers saying their top three frustrations are a lack of career progression (33 per cent), a lack of skills development opportunities (31 per cent), and a lack of autonomy over how they work (30 per cent).

As businesses struggle to adopt AI, more than half (51 per cent) view improved decision-making as the biggest benefit of AI, while only 43 per cent of the executives surveyed said they have adopted technologies required for employees to perform effectively.

Titled Building a Resilient Workforce in the Age of AI, the report also emphasises the importance of building a resilient workforce in the age of AI. It introduces the Workforce Resilience Index, which identifies Resilience Leaders (seven per cent of companies surveyed) who report better results in core business metrics and key people indicators compared to Mid-Market Performers (85 per cent) and Laggards (eight per cent).

Resilience Leaders reported increased revenue (70 per cent), improved profitability (61 per cent), improved customer satisfaction (74 per cent), improved ability to recruit talent (79 per cent), and improved retention (72 per cent) compared to Laggards.

To build workforce resilience, the survey identifies four best practices namely, partnering with workforce solutions providers to develop agile and capable teams; leveraging new technologies for better visibility into talent demands; tapping into diverse perspectives and providing flexible work arrangements to empower employees; as well as prioritising wellbeing and mental health to improve performance.

-- BERNAMA