What Can We Learn from Singapore's Investments in Talent Development?

Let’s start with this premise: Without the right talent, all bets are off on sustainable growth and profitability for any organization. 

Singapore buys into that premise and, over the next five years, will be doubling down on talent development as a critical driver for the country’s continued economic growth. As Singapore celebrates 50 years of independence in 2015, the country’s leaders are looking ahead. They plan to provide SkillsFuture Credits for every Singaporean that never expire and to add regularly scheduled “top-ups” to fund periodic development infusions. Individuals can use these credits to pay for the learning and development opportunities of their choice.

Singapore’s investment will be huge. They plan to spend an average of over $1 billion per year over 5 years to implement the full package of SkillsFuture measures. Singapore’s strategy for ensuring continued growth and economic development for the next 50 years is to invest in talent development.

How will they get the best return on that investment? 



This article in HR Asia calls Singaporean business leaders and individual workers to action, urging them to step up and play an active role in fostering and engaging in a learning and development culture. The government can plant seeds with this funding, but individuals have to sow, water and fertilize them to ensure a long-term payoff for Singapore’s investments in talent development. And business leaders should be leading by example.

Getting the best return on investment starts with getting people committed to investing in themselves. Did you know that more than 50% of C-suite leaders report that they get no professional development at all? (source) Leaders in Singapore (and leaders anywhere) must take ownership for creating, implementing and encouraging development opportunities for workers at all levels within their organizations – including themselves. 

Any business leader knows that investing in talent development can bring a strong ROI, even if you measure just the tip of the iceberg – improved retention and decreased turnover costs. But how can leaders maximize ROI on talent development?

The answer is simple, but not easy. Focus on individuals and target strengths. 

Even within an environment of strong support for ongoing talent development, leaders cannot relax from a relentless focus on their people.

Leaders must lean in to build one-on-one relationships with their team members. They need to focus on individuals, one at a time, to discover each person’s unique talents.

And they need to steer those individuals to target their development investments toward areas of natural talent and potential, not toward areas of weakness.

All too often people do the opposite. They invest in fixing what’s broken, closing gaps, remediating weaknesses. But what’s the goal of that kind of development? Just moving performance from unacceptable to acceptable. 

We can do better. And to maximize ROI on development, we must.

Development targeted at strengths and potential creates far higher returns on investment. Why? Because people are investing in getting even better in the areas in which they already excel or show promise. What happens as a result of that kind of development? Performance moves from good to great! And the returns on that kind of performance improvement can be objectively measured not only in business outcomes like productivity, quality, client service and client engagement but also in increased retention, engagement and net promoter scores among an organization’s workforce.

• Are you investing in strong one-on-one relationships with the people you lead? 

• Do you know how to look past performance and identify potential? Even leadership potential?

• Do you know how to identify an individual’s unique strengths and talents? 

• Are you ready to invest in their strengths and leverage their potential to maximize individual growth and performance? 

We started with this premise:

Without the right talent, all bets are off on sustainable growth and profitability for any organization.

Let’s end with this one:

To maximize investments in talent development, focus on individuals and target strengths.