Dispatch (Asia version)
| by Peta Tomlinson, Nazatul Izma Abdullah, Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop 30 Jun 2008 Topic: News |
|
talent fight heats upPwC's 11th annual CEO survey, released in February, found that 73% of respondents in China/Hong Kong are very confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months, compared to 50% globally. China is paying the price for its skills shortage, with 91% of privately owned firms paying significantly more in wages than they were a year ago. The latest Grant Thornton International Business Report, which surveyed businesses in 34 economies globally, found Mainland China tops the world in increasing staff costs. Chinese firms are also the second most focused (after Vietnam) on staff retention. Desmond Yuen, managing partner of Grant Thornton's China practice, said Mainland employers are under sustained pressure to recruit and retain the best talents. 'The findings reveal that the continuous booming economy does escalate skill demand in the region, which definitely drives up the salary level and staff costs,' he said. 'Obviously, skills shortages and a diminishing supply of inexpensive labour have driven them to place stronger focus on employee recruitment and retention.' A vast majority (81%) of Mainland Chinese businesses said they pay more attention to recruitment and retention issues compared to 12 months ago. Yuen says the influx of international organisations coming to Mainland China to gain a market foothold creates more choice for talent. 'Privately held businesses have to compete with some of the best known brands in the world to attract and retain the best people.' The report noted that Hong Kong, which ranked 16th on the list of increasing staff costs, had adopted a series of retention strategies. Developing competitive reward systems and benefits packages became the most widely adopted initiative (57%), closely followed by ensuring that all employees understand the company's core values, mission and goals (56%). Gary James, partner at Grant Thornton, said privately held business owners in Hong Kong also realise that people rarely exit an organisation solely because of pay. 'To be a competitive employer, they not only offer attractive packages but also make employees believe in what they are doing, whom they are working with, and the value of the organisation. That is why a strong employer brand is one of the best ways of retaining staff.' The employer brand can portray an image that your organisation is a great place to work, James added. 'Privately held businesses often provide a close direct connection between employees and the ownership or management. This makes them potentially attractive as employees like to be involved in building and creating an entity, and to have their views valued.' CSR still wantingMalaysian Plcs generally lag behind international best practices and disclosures in corporate social responsibility (CSR), revealed a pioneering 2007 survey commissioned by stock exchange Bursa Malaysia. The findings of the CSR 2007 Status Report showed that, on average, the Plcs surveyed demonstrated lack of knowledge and awareness of key CSR concepts. The study also pinpointed the absence of top management commitment towards CSR, which could explain the lack of integration between sustainability measures and business strategies. Interestingly, many companies still equate CSR reporting solely to community investment and philanthropy, demonstrating the lack of understanding among companies. The survey, which sampled 200 listed corporations, measured their impacts across four dimensions, namely, the marketplace, workplace, environment and community. Results showed that only 32.5% of companies ranked in the above average, good or leading categories of CSR practices, while two-thirds of Plcs ranked either average (27.5%), below average (28.5%) or poor (11.5%). Listed multinational corporations achieved the highest score. Among the best performers were gaming, tobacco and alcohol-related firms, possibly due to the businesses' social and environmental impacts, whereas construction firms emerged as the least CSR-savvy. The survey highlighted weak corporate commitment to the environment and diversity. There was a lack of environmental preservation efforts by local firms, along with inadequate female representation at top management level, and less than satisfactory Malay and Indian representation in the senior company hierarchy. Malays make up the majority of the multiracial population that also comprises Chinese, Indian and indigenous peoples. The exchange urged companies to manifest CSR in their business practices and not to treat CSR initiatives as an add-on list of activities in order to promote business sustainability and add value to the capital markets, as well as to enhance the international reputation of Malaysian companies. pledge to uphold best SWF practicesIn recent months, investments by sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have triggered concerns around the world as governments fear such investments might have hidden political motives. In the first two months of this year alone, investments totalling US$24.4bn have been made by SWFs, and research house Dealogic estimates there is now about US$3 trillion invested by SWFs globally. Singapore has two well-established investment vehicles acting like SWFs - the Government of Singapore Investment Corporate and Temasek Holdings - and their investment activities have been under constant scrutiny, especially after they have recently made several high profile investments in the global financial sector, including stakes in UBS, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch. Ensuring that its interests are protected, Singapore has been proactively contributing to international efforts on developing best practices for SWFs and recently, with the US and Abu Dhabi, helped set out voluntary principles to guide SWF investments. The policy principles aimed to allay fears and concerns of recipient countries, while contributing to the work of the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on the issue of SWFs. 'SWFs will continue to grow in significance. As long-term players with little or no leverage, they play a constructive and stabilising role in global financial markets. Singapore believes that an open investment environment is critical in a globalised economy and is in the interests of all parties,' the Singapore Finance Ministry said. The three nations hope their guidelines will create a strong incentive among SWFs and investment-recipient countries to hold themselves to high standards. The principles state that SWFs should base their investment decisions solely on commercial grounds, rather than serve geopolitical interests of the controlling government, and the funds should make this statement formally as part of their basic investment management policies. There should also be greater disclosure by SWFs in areas such as purpose, investment objectives, institutional arrangements and financial information - particularly asset allocation, benchmarks and rates of return over appropriate historical periods. This would help reduce uncertainty in financial markets and build trust in recipient countries. SWFs should have strong governance structures, internal controls and operational and risk management systems, and should compete fairly with the private sector. Meanwhile, the three nations argue that countries receiving SWF investment should not erect protectionist barriers to portfolio or foreign direct investment and should not discriminate among investors. streamlining the capital marketMalaysia's stock exchange Bursa Malaysia has proposed to merge its Main and Second Boards as part of a move to provide better access to the capital market, facilitate capital raising exercises, and inject further confidence into a lacklustre stock market. According to the Securities Commission (SC), the Main and Second Boards will be merged into a unified board for companies with an established profit track record, where the qualifying criteria for listing will be based on the current Second Board criteria. The SC hopes that this move will negate the differentiation of companies based on size and facilitate the assessment of companies on the basis of quality of earnings. The MESDAQ Market, which was initially set up to house tech and high-growth companies without a profit track record, will be transformed into a sponsor-driven market and expanded to include the listing of both technology and non-technology emerging companies. The SC also plans to introduce a new regulatory approach for listings and fund-raising on the unified board and MESDAQ, whereby principal advisers and sponsors will be bringing companies to list on Bursa Malaysia and will be responsible for ensuring the quality and suitability of companies for listing. In addition, sponsors will be expected to ensure ongoing supervision of companies post listing for the MESDAQ market. The new approach will enable the SC to shift its focus from assessing the suitability of proposals to ensuring the adequacy and quality of disclosures in prospectuses in order to safeguard corporate governance and public interest. The streamlined board structure, together with the new regulatory and listing approach, will be implemented by the end of 2008. how to be outstandingWhat can make your accountancy website stand out from the crowd? Australian web design firm Wiliam Web Services has devised 10 top tips to help accountants utilise their web page as 'another sales person undertaking business development 24 hours a day'. The first priority, said Benjamin Christie, Wiliam's innovations director, is to detail precisely what services your firm provides. Be specific, he advises. If, for example, you provide superannuation advice and lodgement of Business Activity Statements (BAS) to the Australian Tax Office, then say so. 'I'd recommend writing 300-400 words on each, as opposed to a simple title,' said Christie. 'This type of content will help search engines drive traffic to your website.' Staff profiles should also be included, from senior partners through to the receptionist, with a mini-biography covering their qualifications and expertise. In a tight recruitment market, the website enables you to promote employee benefits, professional development and training as well as the social aspects of working for your firm. 'Try to include photos of your office and case studies of previous graduates who have worked their way up,' said Christie. A handy online gadget or tool will draw people to your site. 'Think about something that has a wide appeal to your existing or future clients,' he suggested. 'What about a company tax or BAS calculator or even a loan calculator to show the weekly repayments?' Highlight your firm's services and solutions via successful case studies. Think about adding a basic quotation form as a direct means of generating new business. Opinions matter, said Christie. Websites should feature professional comment on issues of the day, such as taxation legislation. Let your clients know how changes will impact them. Talk in simple language, he continued. Explain terms like balance sheets, profit and loss statements, directors' duties, etc. Include articles of benefit to your clients and useful tools such as checklists. Finally, invest in a regular e-mail newsletter, and start a blog. Christie said this is the way to directly connect with your clients and potential clients. 'Controversial opinions quite often will create discussion and draw people to your site.' angel in the roughAccounting firm Baker Tilly Hong Kong is backing an innovative programme matching upcoming entrepreneurs in Hong Kong with successful business mentors. The Baker Tilly Hong Kong Business Angels Programme helps start-ups looking for funding and provides free advice. It is run in conjunction with the British Chamber of Commerce. Bruno Arboit, director of Baker Tilly Hong Kong, which monitors the programme, explained the firm's involvement. 'Strangely, it's sometimes easier to raise $100m than $1m,' he said. 'Whilst the private equity industry has boomed over the last 10 years with the creation of colossal funds targeting multi-billion dollar deals, the work of the business angel has remained much as it always was. 'It is still difficult for an entrepreneur, particularly a young entrepreneur without a track record, to find the first round of funding necessary to turn a good idea into a good business. Anything we can do to help people in that position to find sources of funds and other support has to be a good thing. It is not wholly altruistic - who knows, we may be helping the next Google get off the ground.' Baker Tilly Hong Kong contributes towards the cost of the programme and helps the British Chamber to organise and publicise events. It also makes available senior professionals from a variety of disciplines in the firm to meet with entrepreneurs and work with them to polish their business ideas. 'We try and help them take what is, in some instances, quite a rough and ready idea and turn it into a concrete business proposition that can be put in front of a serious investor,' said Arboit. He believes such initiatives are important. 'Hewlett Packard started in a shed,' said Arboit. 'Google's founders were working from a friend's garage in the early days. Pretty much all the giant corporations of the world started with an entrepreneur and an idea. But how many good ideas that could have been successful have never got off the ground simply for want of a few hundred thousand dollars to kick-start the project? If we can help a couple of today's entrepreneurs find the initial funding that allows them to get their feet on the first rung of the ladder, then we will have made a real difference.' in brief...
Deloitte CEO honoured
BHP drills for Olympic glory
SFC tightens up
Singapore active in project finance
E&Y appointed for Shanghai Expo
Larger balance of payments in 2007
CPO receives energy boost | |