Dr. Hon. Samson Tam, JP, Legislative Councillor (Information Technology).

The network economy is changing the way of doing business. It is also transforming the way people communicate and collaborate. In addition to the advent of the network economy, generational diversity further introduces new challenges to the workplace. Organisations that do not keep pace with the times and act with agility to address the challenges will no longer be able to stay competitive, says Dr. Hon. Samson Tam, JP, Legislative Councillor (Information Technology).

The Legislative Councillor, who is also Chairman of Group Sense (International) Limited, points out that the development of new technologies like Cloud Computing and mobile Internet technologies and services has revealed a new employment landscape with new types of jobs and skills.

Information Hub for Asia
"The role of Hong Kong has been changing over the years. Hong Kong is an export-oriented economy mainly made up by a large percentage of international trade. In the past, the key role of Hong Kong was an international logistics centre. As Hong Kong is a city with good and quick information flow, it is critical now for us to sort out effective ways to facilitate Hong Kong's growing status as a communications and information hub for Asia Pacific."

Dr. Tam points out that the trend of the network economy is undoubtedly irresistible as e-trading and e-business now accounts for approximately 6-7 percent of our GDP. The advancement of technologies creates room for overseas trading, which is a very good opportunity for Hong Kong businesses that are agile and adaptable to change, and is favourable for enhancing Hong Kong’s competitive edge in the region in the long term.

Getting the Talents Back

The growing prosperity of Mainland China has weakened Hong Kong’s leading status as the Asian headquarters.

He adds, “Over the past two decades, many of our local talents relocated to neighbouring regions especially cities like Shanghai and Beijing in Mainland China. With the growing prosperity of Mainland China, more international organisations choose to set up headquarters in major cities in Mainland, which has weakened Hong Kong’s leading status as the Asian headquarters. To maintain Hong Kong’s competitiveness, it is crucial to attract the talents back to
Hong Kong."

Referring to the theme of this year’s Greater China Talent Management Summit, Dr. Tam agrees that it is now a critical challenge for organisations to manage a multigenerational workforce, in particular young talents from Generation Y. Whilst many HR or business leaders find it a headache to attract, engage and retain this group of young talents, he thinks that the discrepancy between the tech-savvy young talents and the older generations who are less adept at technology is a key factor that makes managing Gen Yers a difficult task.

Understanding Tech-savvy Talents

Dr. Tam says that new technologies like Cloud Computing and mobile Internet technologies and services have revealed a new employment landscape in Hong Kong.

"I think the early exposure to new technologies among the new generation is the main reason that generates the differences between generations, as the older generations haven’t undergone the experience of their younger colleagues," he says.

Speaking of the differences, Dr. Tam finds that Gen Yers enjoy challenging and innovative work that they think is conducive to displaying their potential. "They tend to have shorter employment periods and do not easily commit to a company. What they look at is not just monetary return, but also other elements such as the employer brand, values of the company, corporate social responsibility, etc."

Since most of the talents from this generation prefer communicating and collaborating through new technologies such as instant messaging, posting updates to walls and activity feeds, organisations will have to adjust their communication styles by adopting and getting familiar with the new technologies to get closer to this talent group. "We are now in a transition period. If an organisation succeeds in getting through this period, it will be more capable of creating sustainable business value in this network economy," Dr. Tam continues.

As developing and retaining talent has been a hot topic among HR practitioners, Dr. Tam holds that effective training and retention of the new generation of talents not only pertains to organiational success, but also the continuing development of Hong Kong. He urges organisations to rethink and readjust their talent management strategies and be open-minded to implement flexible work arrangements, which is an expedient way to motivate and engage the new generation of talents.

He suggests, "Young talents enjoy freedom at work, so flexible management practices will be effective in engaging them, for example flexible working hours or work from home practices. In this new era, I think we really need to keep pace with the times and be open-minded to accept new things, which is extremely important for attracting and retaining young talents in the organisation."

New Trends to Embrace

Organisations have to adjust their communication styles since young talents prefer communicating and collaborating through new technologies such as instant messaging.

With the traits of the young generation that value individuality and autonomy, Dr. Tam also suggests that organisations consider adopting other forms of employment, such as partnership, workforce outsourcing and freelancing. “To young talents, these new forms of work allow them to have greater exposure as they can serve a number of organisations at the same time, which is particularly common for jobs like administration, design, IT and marketing."

As told by Dr. Tam, it is in fact a new trend that we should embrace. "To organisations, these talents are not your full-time employees, but they are also your human resources. No resource is more important than your people, so it also requires effective management to retain these talents’ knowledge and expertise," he explains.

Given the mounting popularity of the social media, such as networking sites, Dr. Tam reminds organisations to take note of information security issues. "It becomes increasingly important to consider information security risks posed by the growing usage of technologies. For data loss prevention and reputation management, organsiations need to make sure that they have thought through the information security issues and how they affect the business carefully. In the meantime, organisations should also develop a coherent approach for dealing with information security risks, whilst thinking about how to strike a balance between the adoption of the social media as well as information security."

Driving to a New Mindset

To embrace the new trends of the network economy, business leaders and HR pracitioners are suggested to develop a new mindset towards harnessing the new technologies to nurture and manage their young talents. "In the old days as long as you provided development opportunities you would be able to retain your talents but this is not the case today. To attract, engage and retain talents of the new generation, you really have to develop new platforms for them to unleash their potential, such as by outsourcing tasks to them or working in partnership. Furthermore, it is necessary to ensure a smooth flow of information across the organisation, so don’t hesitate about investing in IT," Dr. Tam suggests.

In closing, Dr. Tam says a new mindset for managing talents is indispensable for HR and business leaders to welcome the arrival of the network era. "It has now become an imperative for professionals engaged in talent management to develop their creativity and make good use of information technology to optimise their management practices, which will greatly help increase the competitiveness of their multigenerational workforce and create sustainable value for our society," he concludes.