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Italy Based Global HR Leaders Share Views on Talent in Emerging Markets

Hosted by: Luxottica

The Chapman Consulting Group this morning hosted 20 Global HR Leaders at the world headquarters of Luxottica for an engaging discussion on APAC and Emerging Market HR talent trends. This was part of The Chapman Consulting Group’s Global HR Briefing Series. The session, chaired by Nicola Pela, Global Head of HR of Luxottica, and Matthew Chapman, CEO of The Chapman Consulting Group, tackled the common HR team development issues being faced by Italian and European multinational organisations across rapidly growing developing markets. The session was attended by global and international HR Leader friends of The Chapman Consulting Group, including those from companies such as Gucci, L’Oreal, Indesit, Autogrill, Permasteelisa, Tenaris and Alcatel-Lucent. Everyone in attendance had the common link of covering Asia Pacific and/or Emerging Markets.

Some of the most pertinent insights gained from the meeting included the following:

  1. Italian multinational corporations in attendance demonstrated a hunger to be ‘aware’ of developing market perspectives on the back of high business expected growth in APAC and emerging markets. More companies are deriving larger proportions of revenue from this part of the world.
  2. Some organisations are thinking about high potential development plans where APAC and emerging markets talent is being specifically hired and groomed on programmes which will fast-track them across different businesses and geographies, and develop critical skills. There was agreement of the need to develop these skills ‘in house’ rather than expect to acquire through hiring new employees from the market.
  3. Building talent retention in hot markets must be based around more than just cash factors. There needs to be greater understanding around critical hygiene factors to retain talent such as leadership development, flexible working, mobility and skills development.
  4. Every company is thinking about ways in which to bond global and regional/country HR structures together in a way that allows for both centralised and decentralised decision-making. The ‘magic formula’ is to allow flexibility in decision-making while not retaining consistency and control.
  5. HR Leaders are thinking more about sending global headquarter talent on short term assignments to APAC and Emerging Market regions to understand these markets more. There’s greater urgency to do this now, rather than wait for the talent from these markets to come to the headquarter location.
  6. Where budgets are limited, it’s important to focus spending on where it can have the greatest impact. Therefore some leaders were moving away from across-the-board bonuses and inflation-related salary increases, and were advising local leaders to think harder about where investments in talent should be made.
  7. There was a consensus among the group that it’s no longer good enough to just ‘react’ to market forces in Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets. More time now needs to be spent in properly managing HR and Talent strategies and other enabling functions that plots a more sustainable long-term growth plan. After the meeting, Oscar Fuchs, Director of The Chapman Consulting Group, commented: “The eagerness of our Italy-based HR network to meet and share best practices was impressive. Italian companies have a very strong brand globally, and they’re well known for the quality of their goods and services. So it’s great to hear more about how they’re harnessing their advantages in the fast-moving markets of Asia and beyond.” Fuchs continued: “Like all other companies, there are significant headaches in successfully managing talent in these markets, but this is where we can hopefully help by regularly allowing Global HR Leaders to collectively learn from each others’ perspectives.”

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Key Contributors:

Matthew Chapman
Matthew Chapman

Founder

Global Management
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Matthew Chapman
Global Management

Matthew Chapman

Founder

Matthew (Matt) Chapman is the Founder of ChapmanCG.

He has also created the Thrive HR Exchange, a global community platform for people leaders and HR professionals to find and exchange inspiration, ideas and insights. Discover some of his interviews with HR leaders here.

Matt has a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Business Law from the University of New South Wales, Australia. He is a Singapore Citizen and divides his time between Asia Pacific, the Americas and EMEA.

Matt is a wellness, self-improvement and fitness addict. He has completed six desert, 250km ultra-marathons in Chile, China, Egypt, Antarctica, Namibia and Madagascar.

EA Registration Number: R1111550 Licence Number: 08S3543