About 49% companies in Asia Pacific lack formal written HR strategy: Study

Another 38% pursuing change in business strategy or seeking to achieve cost savings (24%)

In Asia Pacific region, about 49% companies currently lack a formal written human resource (HR) strategy to lay out the role of the function within the business.

According to a study by global professional services company Towers Watson, a third of respondents (33%) will make a change to their HR structure before the end of next year.

The 2013 HR Service Delivery and Technology Survey, a global survey of 1,025 companies, including 578 based in Asia Pacific, found that among companies changing their HR structure, nearly three-quarters (73%) are doing so to realize further operational efficiencies, while just over half (52%) are doing so to improve quality.

Another 38% are pursuing a change in business strategy or seeking to achieve cost savings (24%).

"We are seeing elsewhere in the world that companies are carefully examining both their HR structures and the way HR services are being delivered, and Asia is no different: there’s a need to review, refine and enhance for the function," said Robert Zampetti, director of Towers Watson’s Asia Pacific HR Service Delivery practice.
 
The survey revealed that companies are considering new HR technologies, will continue to invest in HR technology such as mobile applications, and plan to review their HR processes. For the Asia-Pacific region, the survey showed that HR technology spending remains steady and strong despite cost reductions in other areas of HR.

 
Human resource is also catching on to the mobile technology trend. Nearly half (46%) of respondents now provide mobile access via smartphone to employees, with iPhone (60%), Blackberry (35%) and Android phone (32%) being the devices supported. But HR-enabled applications are in their infancy: just over one in 10 organizations (13%) in Asia Pacific currently use mobile applications for HR purposes.
 
While only 51% of companies in Asia Pacific have a defined HR strategy in place, a further 31% of companies plan to implement such strategies within the next 18 months.