AS companies grow faster and become increasingly globalized, challenges are arising, especially in human resource management.
The problem is to find enough professionals who can act and make decisions across several jurisdictions, operating in a true global environment.
The latest Human Capital Management study by IBM, which is one of the world's largest HR surveys conducted every other year, suggested that more than 75 percent of the 400-plus HR executives surveyed were worried about the ability to develop future leaders who are globally equipped.
The looming leadership crisis is affecting organizations in every corner of the globe, the study found.
Companies in the Asia-Pacific region are most concerned with their ability to develop future leaders, followed by Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
"Globalization has certainly caused an increase in demand for 'globally aware' business leaders, managers and candidates who are capable of seeing the bigger picture," said Ryan Owen, Shanghai office division manager with Antal International, a leading human resources sourcing company.
"Most global companies now have extensive operations in Asia coupled with headquarters outside of Asia, resulting in the increased demand for candidates to work on a truly global scale," he added.
Rotating employees across divisions and geographies might be a solution to cultivate the right talents, but the problem is more than simply transferring an expatriate employee from one country to another.
"Leadership skills are critical to support substantial business growth," said Erik Bush, vice president of IBM's global business service unit. "We want our associates to become a bridge between different centers."
To cope with the challenge, the Big Blue has begun a training program to relocate employees from emerging markets such as China and India to work on-site with IBM clients in mature markets for at least one year.
It seems to be a test for young professionals, not only in the technical sense but in terms of language ability and culture gaps as well.
One who is rising to the challenge is Tao Xinyu, project manager at IBM's global delivery center in Shanghai. Tao has been sent to work with counterpart IBM divisions in the United Kingdom, Japan and Spain over the past three years.
