The Economy Is Recovering, But What About People?

All signs are pointing towards a speedy recovery. Contrary to what this writer initially predicted, the economy seems to be genuinely recovering. Key companies, including many government-linked corporations, are reporting profits once again. Across Asia, key economies led by China and India are experiencing growth in Q2, Japan is experiencing output growth, and the worst is over in Europe and the US – the epicentres of the financial crisis.

Our own economy is seeing a lower contraction of 3.9% in Q2 as opposed to a 6.2% contraction in Q1. The Asian Development Bank is predicting a 0.2% contraction this year followed by a 4.4% growth in 2010.

The amazing amount of stimulus being pumped in by governments across the globe is seeing its effects. Consumers are buying again. Cars are being sold. And in Malaysia, property speculation and ‘investment’ is hot again. All the pent-up demands are slowly being unleashed into our economy.

U, V, W or L

Economists and politicians alike have been talking about various ways the economic recovery will take. Depending who you talk to, the alphabets U, V, W or L are being brandished as the shape in which the recovery will take. If you are an optimist, then a V of straight up recovery it will be, but if you are pessimist, then a W shaped recovery followed by another dip may be what we’re looking at.

The good news is, regardless of the shape, a recovery now seems a certainty. The bad news is, employment is still at an all time high. Official figures asides, graduates are finding it tough to get jobs, large employers have not started re-hiring and there’s only so many Bumiputra graduates the government can absorb. These, plus the mass retrenchment last year, and VSS offered by many GLCs, mean there are still hundreds of thousands of Malaysians out there who are without jobs. What does an ‘economic recovery’ means to these people?

We were screaming for a major overhaul of the system. For more stringent measures to be put in place to ensure transparency and accountability in both private and public sectors. For our manpower to move up the value chain and stop thinking and acting like unskilled workers. For our economy to be further liberalised and the distinction between Bumiputra and non-Bumiputra in business to be narrowed. I have not heard any objections to any of these goals. Yet, a year into the financial crisis, we are not seeing much real change happening in this country.

Speculators are still being allowed to play up the prices of property. People are still expecting hand-outs from the government. Major trade bodies are still asking for protectionism to be kept in place. And promises of major reform in the government have so far netted more strings of alphabets than real changes.

Capitalism at its finest

There was a major debate among economists and politicians, including at the World Economic Forum and at the G20 Summit that there must be a new economic model to replace the current capitalism for us to prevent another global economic meltdown.

Yet, we are seeing the very essence of capitalism – that the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer. Even the economic stimulus packages tend to accentuate this. Massive bailouts are benefiting major shareholders and corporate movers and shakers, lower rung employees are being sacrificed as ‘excess headcount’ while top management and business owners are getting away with little more than their cars being downgraded. Politically connected construction companies that were seeing double digit growth before the crisis are seeing double digit growth once again. While small manufacturers that had to scale down are still being turned away by banks. Now, where’s the new economic model these ‘world leaders’ were talking about?

Teach them to fish!

If we continue to ignore the plight of the lower income group, and fail to develop a sustainable strategy to improve their livelihood, we are going to see an ‘Indonesia ‘97’ styled revolt soon. The current practice of handouts and skills training need to be overhauled, as the problem is not physical poverty, but mental poverty.

People will remain poor because they are not being taught how to move out from their comfort zone. We’ve been offered the proverbial crutches for so long, we can no longer stand on our own. With the recession over, barriers down and globalisation resuming, we are doomed as a nation.

Well connected companies will continue to make money, some segments of the society will continue to prosper, but for majority of Malaysians, where’s the recovery?

As Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz said, “recovery will amount to nothing if the most important element of the economy: labour, is overlooked”. The economy may be recovering, but have we done enough for the people on the ground for all these to matter?

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This is my article for the Perspective section of SME Magazine September edition. If you haven't got your copy, head towards your nearest news stand now. :-)

HR Ministry Not Important?

I read this news on Star Online with considerable surprise. I hope The Star has gotten their information wrong, as they have a tendency to sometimes.

2. I cannot fathom how the Ministry of Human Resources is less important than the Works Ministry. Given the increasing emphasis on human capital development, and Prime Minister Najib’s assertion of a People First, Performance Now policy, I would assume that it is an honour to be placed in charge of human capital development.

3. Perhaps some of these close-minded politicians referred to the ‘contracts-awarding’ power of the Works Minister. If that’s the case, then they have no place in the Cabinet to begin with.

4. The importance of a Ministry is a sum of how the Minister and his officials project themselves and evolves with times. In the first cabinet of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Agriculture and Rural Development were right at the top of the ‘list of important’ ministries, along with the Finance Minister and Prime Minister.

5. I hope the Human Resources Minister will openly dismiss this as mere speculations and the works of some irresponsible elements within his party. To say the Ministry of Human Resources is ‘not prestigious’ reflect badly on how much he has achieved as a Minister so far.

HR Professionals: The World’s Most Hated People?

I don’t think this is news to you. Everyone in every organisation hates HR professionals. Maybe it’s not universally true, but it is generally so. And during times like these, when we have to play the broom, down-sizing, right-sizing and generally keep our organisations lean and mean by getting rid of employees, we have certainly been moving up the ‘hate-o-meter’.

All of us know that HR can be a thankless job. Do it well, and colleagues and bosses expect more of the same. Do it badly, and we are the scapegoat for anything that’s rotten in the organisation. When there are happy news to announce, we are but scriptwriters for CEOs and perhaps the PR-types. But when there’s a bad news to announce, we’re suddenly the official spokesperson of the organisation.

This hate tag is unlikely to go away anytime soon as well. By definition, our constituents are most unpredictable – ‘human being’. Unlike finance who deals with numbers, and production who deals with machines, we are faced everyday with emotions, irrationality, cultural differences, etc. On top of that, we have bosses and investors to deal with, and governments and unions to worry over. With so much juggling to do, we can’t really play the Mr. Good Guy role, can we?

HR – THE MOST LOVED PEOPLE IN ORGANISATIONS?

A lot of these hatred are misplaced, as you would know. In most cases, we are powerless to correct the perception. However, I would like to think that we can, if we want to. Through the 3Cs of communications, commitment and compassion.

If we learn to better communicate the reasons for many of our actions and decisions, our stakeholders will be better prepared to understand our roles, and hence, alleviate some of the misgivings. If we can show compassion in delivering the bad news (read Cassandra’s article on page 46) and in our everyday dealings with employees, perhaps we can become the most loved people in the organisations (like many HR professionals already are!). Remember how HR was once considered the ‘mother hen’ within organisations – the place to go to with your grievances, personal or work-related? Perhaps technology and the need to keep up with other organisational functions have dimmed this role – making HR the last place to go to! A lot of the perceived unfairness – that HR professionals are henchmen of financial controllers and CEOs can be corrected if we show stronger commitment to justice: if we uphold what is good for the organisation in the long term rather than immediate issues. Yes, easier said than done, I know. But we can’t continue being ‘the most hated department’ if we are to progress as a profession.

TALENT MANAGEMENT

Since this issue is about talent management, perhaps we should put first priority to managing talents within HR. We are expected to acquire and retain the best talents for the organisation. How about starting with our own departments? It’s time HR are staffed by the brightest of candidates. Not just future HR VPs, but future CEOs and captains of industry. That’s talent management. And a challenge worth taking up.

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This article appeared in the Editor's Note of HR Asia Vol 2. For more articles on HR across Asia, get a copy from your nearest bookstores - now available in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong. If you are a senior HR professional - email chroclub@hrasiamedia.com for free subscription.