The report found that inspirational leadership (70%) and strong workplace culture (66%) were more important than a strong brand reputation (60%) to employees when choosing an employer.

The Malaysian findings show strong leadership is a key driver to creating sustainable growth for organisations and companies need to have solid leadership training and career advancement opportunities in place if they want to develop or attract strong leaders. The research is part of Randstad’s annual Asia Pacific study of 8200 people that gathers perceptions of employees and employers to better understand the human capital challenges existing today. The survey covered 674 people (including 270 business leaders) in Malaysia.

Almost a third (29%) of employers say attracting talent for the next phase of growth is the biggest human capital challenge they face. Two-thirds (66%) also cite developing leadership skills to grow the company as a major challenge for increasing productivity.

Three-quarters (74%) of employees intend to leave their jobs in the next 12 months and of these, most (35%) said their role lacked opportunity for growth and development, followed by uncompetitive salary/remuneration (27%). Less than half (42%) of employees were satisfied or very satisfied with their roles.

Companies must develop effective human capital strategies and offer attractive benefits as part of creating an engaged workforce. While financial remuneration is an important factor, companies know they must continue to invest in their human capital and provide quality, effective training and career development opportunities to keep talent.

Twenty-nine percent of employers agreed the lack of opportunity for growth and development was the main internal factor for employee turnover, closely followed by uncompetitive salary/remuneration (20%). Further, being valued and recognised (20%), and having a strong understanding of how their role contributes to achieving organisational goals (30%) were key motivators for employees to perform well.

Employees want to contribute in an effective way to their organisation. They have strong interest in upskilling to remain competitive and relevant to the business needs, so they need to have their progression path and opportunities clearly defined.

Other interesting findings from the report include:

• Only 42% of employers rate their organisation’s ability to meet human capital challenges as good.

• Among the 38% of managers who intend to leave their job in the next 12 months, a quarter cite lack of opportunity for growth and advancement, followed by 14% who cite uncompetitive salary/remuneration. The number of employees who intend to leave their job jumps to 76% for the same main reasons.

• Ninety-seven percent of employers will increase remuneration and 69% will increase investment in training and development. Throughout the coming year, 64% of employers will offer leadership and career development as a benefit to retain employees, and 67% will offer general training and development.

• The majority (90%) of employers agree that employee distrust in organisations will grow unless they make the shift to more transparent business practices.

• Forty-four percent rate the ability to motivate and inspire others as the single biggest attribute that defines a successful leader, yet 43% rate their own direct manager as average or poor when it comes to motivating and inspiring their teams.

• 65% of employers currently offer leadership and career development or general training and development as an employee benefit.

• 44% of all employers believe their organisation doesn’t have effective processes to capture ideas for business improvement or innovation.

Karin Clarke is the Regional Director for Randstad, Singapore & Malaysia. Randstad is one of the world’s largest recruitment & HR services providers, with Asia Pacific operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Australia and New Zealand. To request your free copy of the Randstad 2011/12 World of Work Report, please go to www.randstad.com.my.