The Singapore HR Challenge: An Overview

Into its 5^th year, the Singapore HR Challenge 2012 serves to engage future leaders, people managers, critical thinkers, and contributors of the new workforce. The Challenge is a platform to showcase innovation and creativity as we as promote progressive HR to students.

The theme for Singapore HR Challenge 2012 is HR 2020: HR Capabilities for Business Sustainability. This theme offers more mind-challenging HR issues at the workplace, and would require participants to brainstorm strategies and present on what HR challenges organisations would face come 2020, and how they can work towards achieving success and sustainability for their businesses.  Participants would also need to look into how organisations can leverage on technology to embrace the challenges ahead as technology would play an integral role in shaping HR Challenges for the future.  

Some background information include the findings from the 2008 and 2010 survey by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on key HR Challenges for the region, in particular Singapore.  Some additional readings should be from the publication “Succeed of Sink: Business Sustainability under Globalisation” which will be released in Singapore in December 2011.  Aimed at business strategists, policy makers, researchers and adult learners, this book has an Asian perspective on business sustainability. It explains how recent developments and future actions in one part of the world have a global impact. The published report and executive summary of the study done by SHRI in 2011 titled “Significance of Technology in New-Age Recruitment: A Candidate Experience” would also make good reading material for this competition’s required study.

What is expected of participants?:-

·       Against this backdrop, participants are required to establish a study based on the HR Challenges revealed by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study in 2010 and determine if and how organisations can manage these HR Challenges come 2015 and 2020. Top 3 HR Challenges could be identified for 2020.

·       Participants are also required to look into and strategise on how information technology can play a role in enhancing organisation’s HR capabilities and sustainability come 2015 and 2020.

·       Participants shall interpret, express and study the above challenges mentioned above by introducing, discussing, analysing and innovating any frameworks, processes, models or solutions to meet these challenges. For example, the participants can discus the actual merits of an existing policy and introduce new framework or policy.

·       Participants are encouraged to conduct surveys, interviews and organisational field trips to substantiate their analysis and innovations.

·       Participants are required to submit their reports for judging and semi and grand finalists will be selected to present their case during their semi and grand finals.