Overseas stints ‘can help groom S’poreans into corporate leaders’
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — In the 1960s and 1970s, many Taiwanese flocked to the United States, choosing to base themselves in Silicon Valley. To tackle the brain drain, the Taiwanese authorities emphasised vocational skills among the local population, and transformed the island into an attractive place for returnees to do business, said Professor Paul Evans, Emeritus Professor of Organizational Behavior at business school INSEAD, yesterday.
The fear of losing talent overseas hits close to home, but he dispelled the negative connotations associated with brain drain, and pointed out that overseas stints could groom Singaporeans into corporate leaders.
“The reality is that Singapore doesn’t yet have an adequate supply of people to occupy very senior positions in business. What Singaporeans see is an excessive dependence on expatriates,” he told TODAY. “You can (teach) people in the classroom but if you try to develop top managers in the global perspective, it can only be through experience outside your own home country.”
Candidates primed for management positions must have international experience, stressed Prof Evans. Yet, the reluctance to venture outside home ground throws a spanner into the works, said Ms Wong Su-Yen, chief executive of the Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore (HCLI). The two spoke on the concept of mobility during the regional launch of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index.
For the third year running, Singapore took the top spot in Asia-Pacific, and placed behind Switzerland in second place worldwide. The annual study, published by INSEAD together with Adecco Group and the HCLI, ranks 109 economies based on their ability to develop, attract and retain talent.
In the latest edition, Singapore performed strongly in ease of doing business and hiring, and trailed behind in its vocational enrolment, tolerance to immigrants and pension scheme.
Taking part in a panel discussion at the launch, Ms Wong suggested that with the rise of technology, the Asian success formula of getting a good education and job, and working hard could be dated. Traditional notions tied to education, work and success will have to change, she added.
Prof Evans, who is also academic director and co-author of the study, noted that there are “ a lot of inequalities” around the issue of talent.
He questioned if these inequalities could be narrowed. “Or will the inequalities around talent widen — and there are big gaps at the moment — and blow some societies apart?”
