Human resources consulting firm Mercer Philippines hosted its annual flagship event with the theme “Workforce 2.0: Unlocking human potential in a machine-augmented world” at the Grand Hyatt Manila on Thursday, June 20.
During the full-day event Mercer experts provided insights on how organizations can foster sustainable talent practices, manage risks, and build human-centric work models in an era that the company considers as the most significant transformation of work today.
In an exclusive interview with Adrian Sibal, Consulting leader at MercerMarsh Benefits Philippines, he said that the event is an avenue for Mercer Philippines to demonstrate its expertise in the field and communicate to HR professionals the best practices and market drivers today from the talent, leadership, and benefits perspective.
This year, the event builds on the concept of Workforce 2.0 which it highlighted in the previous iteration of the event, diving into current HR trends like the integration of AI in the benefits administration space.
“For now, we’re really focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) as part of the current disruption scene in technology – how to drive productivity in the age of AI, balancing the risks and opportunities when it comes to introducing AI into the workforce, and the policies and guidelines that are in place surrounding the use of AI in the workplace,” he explained.
According to Sibal, the country’s current maturity level in terms of adoption is still in its infancy, citing that the mismanagement of AI is still not a priority for human resources and risk managers today since they still don’t see the imminent threat posed of AI influencing the way they work.
“There’s not much conversation yet on AI adoption in the Philippines that’s why we are having this Mercer conference, to really impart best practices that we learn from other markets in other parts of the globe,” he continued.
During the conference, Mercer presented its Talent Trends (3,600 respondents in Asia) and People Risks reports (110 respondents in Philippines) and highlighted key points including financial strain being identified as the lead reason for employee burnout, widening gap in employees’ trust in employers, and the difficulty of companies finding the right balance between adapting their human capital strategy and technology.
“Short-term outlook is focused on return on investments and companies want to make sure that in two year’s time, the investment is coming back in monetary value. More focus should be looked at how these investments can really contribute more value, productivity, and business results for their organization.”
