MALAYSIA’S drop in a business competitiveness ranking and inability to retain talent should prompt employers to offer workers a career path and mobility, said a recruitment consultancy.

“People do desire mobility, as they seek out other opportunities. Regional or international mobility is what a lot of employees look for,” said Kimberlyn Lu, country manager of Robert Walters Malaysia.  

Malaysia dropped seven places to 28th among 63 countries ranked for their ability to retain and attract local and foreign high-skilled workers, according to the World Talent Ranking (WTR) 2017 survey released by Swiss-based Institute for Management Development (IMD) this month. 

The survey gauged each country for investment in and development of home-grown talent, appeal to the overseas talent pool, and readiness in terms of skills and competencies in the talent pool.

Malaysia also dropped from 19th to 24th position in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2017, released earlier this year.

“Talent retention is a very important topic. It’s about staff engagement and ensuring the career paths are clearly mapped out,” Lu told reporters during a presentation of the Robert Walters annual salary survey 2018 (Greater China and Southeast Asia). 

“There must be communication with employees about their career development. Companies must consider people’s career aspirations and mobility aspirations if they want to do better at retention,” she added. 

Hiring in Malaysia is expected to remain active next year, driven by growth in e-commerce, digitisation, financial technology and shared services.

“In an environment of strong counter-offers, companies need to ensure good talent attraction and retention strategy is in place, for example, offering competitive salary packages, efficient recruitment processes and timely hires, better workforce engagement and structured training and development plans.”

Robert Walters projects a higher demand next year for talent in finances and accounting, IT and supply chain and procurement, as shared services are expected to grow further.

Toby Fowlston, managing director for Robert Walters Southeast Asia said a “digitalisation trend is sweeping the region”, spurring many businesses to create online or mobile platforms.

“As a result of these transformations, many companies are looking to hire professionals with digital expertise, across both marketing and IT, especially those who are proficient in running back office digital infrastructure or with niche technology skills,” he said. 

Candidates with high potential or niche skills can expect increments of between 25% and 30% when they move jobs, although a raise of 15% to 20% is a more common business practice, according to the Robert Walters Salary Survey 2018.

The report added, however, that annual increments for employees staying with their companies will generally be dependent on inflationary adjustments. 

Lu said Malaysian companies are still able to draw talent, especially overseas Malaysian talent as their international experience is valued. 

“I don’t think Malaysia is drastically different from other countries in the region. I think it is competitive and attractive on its own right. I think a lot of companies find Malaysia an ideal platform if they want to grow their presence in Southeast Asia. From a regional perspective, it is economically and politically stable. Costs are well-managed.

“We have people who speak many languages. We’ve got the right infrastructure and it’s not as expensive as other countries. If you look at, for example, Indonesia and Vietnam, they’re still growing, infrastructure-wise. They’re not there yet. We’re in a right position, for now.” – November 22, 2017.