Alexander Mann Solutions Takes Aim at Asia’s Talent Gap
8th April 2011 – While the Asia Pacific in general, and China in particular, is widely credited with softening the impact of the recent financial crisis, a big freeze could be on the horizon according to Alexander Mann Solutions, the leading global provider of talent and resourcing solutions.
“Asia is clearly the hottest place on the planet in terms of economic development, however, a critical gap in management expertise is developing and could put the brakes on corporate growth. The experienced management that created Asia’s economic miracle during the last 20-30 years is fast approaching retirement age and the younger generation just leaving university and business schools don’t yet have the real world knowledge needed to take these organisations to the next level,” said Rosaleen Blair, founder and CEO of Alexander Mann Solutions.
The implications for enterprises are alarming. “Organisations will have to fight harder to acquire and retain talent in the region and work significantly faster to develop local capability in areas of expertise that are relatively scarce in these markets to begin with. Alternatively, they can suck talent from other markets – the US Europe and Australia for example – but that will drive up costs and impact the donor countries,” said Blair.
Alexander Mann Solutions has responded to the threat by expanding its footprint in the Asia Pacific region adding expertise at a leadership level and is also investing in local talent development to secure its future position for the long term. The organisation has appointed two industry heavyweights – Paula Baskus as Head of Asia Pacific and Martin Cerullo as Managing Director – Development for Asia Pacific to lead this push.
“We are working up our own Talent Development programmes for the region” says Baskus “to ensure that we are delivering locally to clients in Asia with local expertise that can handle both cultural and social idiosyncrasies. This means tailoring the communication for the AMS Employee Value Proposition, identifying skill gaps and adapting our training programmes to meet specific needs. All the things we do for our clients looking to tackle similar challenges in the region.”
“Many of our clients in the region realise the need to hire locally but countries such as China are short on infrastructure and technologies to support this. AMS is able to bring 20 years of resourcing methodology and experience to address this, as we already deliver in over 17 countries and 10 languages both, in region and from global sourcing centres in the Philippines, United Kingdom and Poland” said Baskus. Baskus joins an already experienced team at a time of significant growth for the organisation, and will act as region lead in the rapidly-developing resourcing and talent services market in Asia Pacific. She will be responsible for the growth of AMS’s Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) as well as Professional Human Capital services in the region.
Recognised as one of Asia Pacific’s foremost RPO minds, Baskus brings a wealth of experience in recruitment solutions that cater for the entire employment lifecycle. Having pioneered Australia’s first RPO solution in 2006 Paula developed and enhanced Talent2’s RPO presence in Asia Pacific over the past seven years, securing multiple large-scale outsourcing contracts with some of Australia’s leading organisations, and achieving significant recognition from clients and industry commentators alike.
“I’ve been very fortunate to learn a great deal from the recruitment industry over the past seventeen years, and I’m thrilled to be able to go on the journey with AMS through its continued expansion in the exhilarating Asian talent market. Alexander Mann Solutions has been at the forefront of global recruitment process outsourcing for over a decade and I’m eager to embrace and add value to the great people and clients within this widely-respected organisation,” said Baskus.
Cerullo takes up a new position as Managing Director – Development for Asia Pacific, working from AMS’s Hong Kong offices and responsible for sales and business development efforts in the region as well as driving the Asia Pacific consultancy proposition.
He joined Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS) in December 2006, launching the AMS Resourcing Communications business. The Resourcing Communications team delivers strategic employer branding and sourcing support to AMS’ clients across the world, both as a component of outsourced recruitment services and as a standalone, consultancy service. The team is recognised as a market leader in employer branding, creative agency, sourcing optimisation and brand insight.
Cerullo will also continue in his capacity as the Global Director of Resourcing Communications and Innovation.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to work closely with clients in the fastest-moving economies of the world and one that simply couldn’t be passed up,” says Mr Cerullo. “With such extensive economic growth in Asia, the talent agenda has become one of the most critical success factors for organisations – regardless of industry sector, location or size. We have a unique ability to drive results for clients through our outsourced recruitment services and tailored talent consultancy,” Cerullo said.
