HR department 'must understand needs of new generation employees'
THAILAND will likely face a shortage of qualified workers in the near future if the young generation keeps turning its eyes towards self-employment to capitalise on the revolution in online markets. How can companies and their human resources departments
To find the right answer, The Nation talked last week with human resource specialist Noppawan Chulakanista, managing director of jobsDB Thailand.
“The human resources department at each company must have a true understanding of the unique characteristics of new-generation workers. The wide range of good practices from the old school of human capital management seems to be no longer suitable for today’s employees,” she said.
It is not only Generation Y but also Generation ME and onwards. The definition of success among those generations has very like shades of grey, which was mainly cultivated by the river of data in the digital society as well as strong waves of consumerism.
Online media signifies borderless opportunities for new generation workers. They will feel more independent and have greater flexibility to choose to work with a company or to be self-employed. Online and social media are also believed to be an instant button at their fingertips to help them reach a huge market space for success. Social media allows them to be well accepted by others.
Besides the opportunities in e-commerce, the idea of capitalism was also greatly influencing new generation workers.
“You know, when I went to a bookstore I saw some books written by young businessmen on how to get rich quickly and those books were on the bestseller list. What does that mean? This actually mirrors the current manpower situation,” she said.
In fact, it’s not easy to be successfully self-employed, and to get rich and famous quickly. It’s a big challenge.
“This implies to me that today’s employees, particularly in the |new generation, prefer challenging and multi-tasking assignments. Therefore, supervisors in each firm should rethink the ways to work with them.
“For example, assign them an important and sophisticated project and endorse their value if the project is successfully done,” she said.
A boring, routine job is also one of the key reasons why employees decide to resign from their company. Another reason might involve disappointing salaries and benefits.
Offering customised benefits and welfare is also an important strategy for a company to retain well-trained staff. Those benefits should respond to the different demands of employees.
“As one size never fits all, human resources should listen to all voices from all employees to design appropriate packages for each particular requirement,” she said.
The human resources department should work closely with the marketing communications division to foster a corporate reputation as a most preferred company to work with. This integrated strategy would help a company retain existing talent and keep the company attractive to prospective new hires as the best place to work for.
