From Tintin to Temasek

Growing up in Belgium, Filip Lievens dreamed of becoming an architect, detective or Tintin (the famous fictional reporter and adventurer featured in the comic albums of the Belgian writer Hergé). His eventual occupation as a research professor, to some degree, is an amalgamation of those aspirations. As he remarks, “research professors need to be curious, investigative, and creative”.

In the spirit of the globetrotting Tintin, the Belgium-born Filip has also embarked on many research visits in various parts of the world, and is now based in Singapore (although Tintin might have preferred the city-state’s ancient moniker of Temasek) as Lee Kong Chian Professor of Human Resources at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB) in Singapore Management University (SMU).

Reflecting on his decision to plant roots here, he says: “My experiences at SMU and Singapore have been great. SMU is a world-class university and an ambitious front-runner in many ways; I want to contribute to that spirit and vision. My SMU colleagues are also fantastic. Plus, my wife and I also love the spirit and culinary tradition of Singapore.”
 

Investigation with Impact

As a Professor of Human Resources, Filip’s main area of research is in talent acquisition and talent assessment - an interest that was inspired by his father’s career in personnel selection. After completing his undergraduate degree in psychology at Ghent University in Belgium, he completed a Master’s degree and his Doctorate at the same institution, specialising in how to attract and assess people.

His decision was timely, as talent management is an increasingly pertinent field, especially with the rise of automation in the workforce. In fact, the recent 2019 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report has suggested that the disruption brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution is impacting work, workers and organisations like never before.

As such, talent management is influenced by burgeoning trends such as the mainstreaming of the ‘alternative workforce’ (contract, freelance and gig employment), the need to re-design traditional job roles due to AI, robotics and cognitive technologies, plus the evolving requirements for effective leadership in the 21st century.

Organisations have also had to adapt to changes, such as the shift of the traditional hierarchical structures to teamwork; the need to align rewards with more agile performance management systems, as well as the increasing importance of the ‘human experience’ at work, to attract talent and maintain optimum employee retention.

Filip’s research in talent management involves applying psychological theory to better understand work-based behaviour. Ultimately, the aim is to improve individual performance and wellbeing in the workplace while positively shaping the organisation and improving its performance - a mission that keeps Filip motivated every day.

He describes: “I always have to make sure that the research evidence that I put forward to organisations is not only important for the organisation but also for the people involved. It is a domain where we need to find a solution that is both profitable for organisations and suitable for applicants.”

Talent acquisition and Industry 4.0

Data increasingly drives many aspects of our lives. Even organisations are relying more and more on data analytics to manage and optimise everything from pricing, to promotions, to supply-chains, to maintenance, to warehousing and workforce planning. But as data grows to be more powerful, the general consensus is that it still requires complementary human talent to develop real usable solutions.

So even as technology and data are creating waves in the area of talent acquisition and assessment, Filip suggests that hiring processes aren’t changing as dramatically as the media would have us believe.

Instead, he believes that talent acquisition processes will evolve towards a “best of both worlds” scenario, where information is extracted by computer algorithms based on our social media as well as via traditional methods such as interviews, assessment center exercises (role-play simulations), and standardised tests.

“I see three models: a substitute model, a complementary model, and a supplementary model,” he suggests. While the media tends to focus on the substitute model — an “either” machine “or” human story, “I lean more towards the other two models. I am convinced that humans and machines will work together in some kind of symbiosis.”

As a result, Filip believes that graduates of the future will not only have to develop their cognitive ability, knowledge, and academic performance, but also skills such as adaptability, cooperation, leadership, creativity, and resilience. These skills are becoming increasingly crucial - as pointed out by the Singapore’s 21st Century Skills Framework, endorsed by the Ministry of Education.

He believes that job candidates of the future will need to think about how best they can demonstrate these skills and employers will need to develop adequate approaches for testing and fostering them, once people become employees. 

You can visit Filip Lievens' website here.