Emerging trends in Asia Pacific are causing employers to take a more holistic look at their compensation and benefits. This ranges from addressing the impact of economic, geopolitical and social developments on their business and their workforce to expanding their approach to employee wellbeing. Organisations will need to look inward to identify the best approach that will respond to the needs of your business and people.
Economic growth in the Asia Pacific region is expected to be more robust in 2024 and 2025 and is projected to surpass inflation next year. This can have a positive impact on the salary increase rates within the region (Figure 1).
Source: WTW 2024 July Salary Budget Planning Survey Report
In fact, the majority of the markets across Asia Pacific are projected to show positive real wage growth this year. From 2023 to 2025, it is expected that salary growth will remain stable in most markets, except for China. Below is a quick look at the compensation landscape across some key markets in Asia Pacific:
Prioritising employee wellbeing can have a substantial impact on business performance. Recently, the 2024 Wellbeing Diagnostic Survey found that a majority (69%) of Asia Pacific employers use their wellbeing strategy to compete for talent (Figure 2).
Source: WTW 2024 Wellbeing Diagnostic Survey, Asia Pacific
Other factors driving the focus on employee wellbeing include enhancing efforts toward diversity, equity and inclusion and to control rising business and operations costs. This can indicate that employers are acknowledging how employee wellbeing is contributing to their business performance. In fact, companies shared that they plan to sustain their investment on wellbeing during an economic downturn and even increase it in the event of a pandemic.
However, there’s still more to be done; two in five employees state that they have moderate or major issues in at least two areas of wellbeing as cited in the 2024 Global Benefits Attitudes survey. Additionally, employer priorities around wellbeing do not always align with employee needs, particularly when it comes to financial wellbeing (Figure 3). Financial struggles are a critical concern as they can affect mental and physical health, potentially making it difficult for employees to manage their medical care or maintain a nutritious diet.
Source: WTW 2024 Wellbeing Diagnostic Survey, Asia Pacific. WTW 2024 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey, Asia Pacific
Moving forward, companies are planning to enhance their focus on employee wellbeing by integrating it into their culture and improving communication to enhance programme delivery and achieve results. More than half (81%) of the organisations surveyed said they aim to enhance employee experience with their wellbeing strategy in the next few years. After all, enterprises that are deemed as highly effective companies in their wellbeing programmes are shown to have a stronger initiative toward improving employee experience.
HR metrics are critical data in providing valuable insights to various aspects of an organisation’s human resources, such as employee performance, engagement, retention and productivity. By leveraging workforce analytics and tracking metrics like turnover rates, employee satisfaction scores and diversity statistics, HR can make informed decisions to improve workforce management, enhance employee experience and ultimately contribute to the overall success of the organisation.
These metrics measure the performance of HR practices and initiatives, which can help business leaders identify efficient strategies and arrive at data-driven decisions that will maximise return on investment.
For instance, productivity metrics measure the profits generated by the workforce, which can help in planning for revenue targets within an organisation. A survey across 1,292 companies in Asia Pacific shows that each employee generated an average of $212,000 in revenue (Figure 4).
Source: WTW 2024 HR Dashboard – APAC
HR metrics also reveal a complete picture of organisational health by showing the current state of the following:
Looking at the organisation from the inside and out can help ensure your business maximises its ROI while being responsive to the needs of employees. By using HR metrics, organisations will be able to identify areas for improvement and enhance their approach toward resource allocation, which can help in efforts to maximise your total HR spend. Moreover, having awareness of how your industry peers operate will aid further in sharpening your approach toward workforce planning. Through comprehensive data, you will be able to make objective decisions on your organisation structure and workforce planning strategy that will benefit your employees and business in the long run.
