With economists, politicians and executives beginning to talking openly about the "green shoots" of recovery, there is optimism that the world economy is beginning to emerge from the deep shadow of recession. However, a number of industries still face short term challenges and many boardroom conversations are now about finding the balance between continued cost optimization and a refocus on growth opportunities.

With the backdrop of the global recession, we recently concluded our Best Employers in Asia 2009 study. The study gave some perfectly timed insights into how companies are facing up to the unprecedented challenges of the past few months. Our lead article reviews this year's Study and sets the foundation for how companies should be looking to emerge from this recession.

In other features, our story on Linking Engagement to Business Performance highlights the strategic link between Human Capital and Business strategies.

In a related article, Achieving Efficiency and Continuing to Grow reviews how this plays out in the real world.

As the role of HR Director becomes ever more strategic, this issue will take you into the realm of HR strategy and business policy beyond the daily HR functional management.

Throughout most sectors of the economy, there is a pervasive sense that the party is over. While this appears to be true for many, the current economy and the uncertain stock market present a whole breadth of new opportunities.

For the managers and Boards of public companies, one of the opportunities is to re-focus around fundamentals. There are ways and means of using pay to help get everyone back to the basics of creating real and sustainable growth in shareholder value. We maintain that the universal starting point is company strategy.

Our cover story, Strategic pay solutions for today's tough challenges, provides scenarios for many of the challenges facing companies today, with some thoughts on how companies can respond, particularly from an executive compensation perspective.

In other features in this issue, our story on Today's challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities highlights significant research findings that identified strengths and challenges in talent management and key areas of focus for the future. The ability to sustain a steady supply of critical talent is a challenge facing all organizations — worldwide.

The issues behind Incivility in the workplace are ultimately costing employers in Asia. Research shows that incivility in the workplace has a significant impact on employee engagement while other ongoing research shows that engaged employees deliver better business results.

The current economic crisis is deeper and broader than many of us initially imagined it would be. As the financial impact spreads, it is clear that no one organization will remain untouched. Employees too are anxious and uncertain about the future.

Our cover story, Making the most of your workforce amid economic instability, offers 10 recommendations about what you should be doing during times of uncertainty.

In a related article, we take a closer look at one of the most critical issues today, Managing talent.

Structuring the salary packages of sales people in a way that maximizes sales has become an even more critical factor today in the success of any business. Our article, Are your sales commission plans really maximizing sales?, offers insights into how structuring should be done.

It may be true that we will always get great performances from ‘the best’. In today’s competitive environment, we also need great results from ‘the rest’. The article, Full Throttle: Creating a high-performance culture is a business imperative, will help you set out on the right path.

China’s landscape for expatriate talent and rewards is evolving quickly. What does this involve, and is the change happening fast enough to mitigate against the economic impact? You decide as you read, China's evolving expatriate talent and rewards landscape.

Just who are ‘the Millennials’? Why do HR departments and senior management need to be aware of this stream of new employees?

Our prediction is that they will have a huge influence on how corporations will recruit and, more importantly, retain and motivate a new breed of employees.

In this issue’s cover story, we provide insights of importance to all of us.

Other feature stories in this issue focus on various issues and trends around benefits and pensions, such as the specific needs of mobile workers, and how tools such as Hewitt’s Pension Risk Tracker can help you monitor your pension plan’s funded status on a daily basis.

We also highlight common HR pitfalls experienced with ventures in Japan and the importance of relationships for mergers and acquisitions in the Korean market. Our article on long-term incentives examines what incentives will best motivate executives and other employees, and we provide ‘six incentive imperatives’ that offer solutions for a more balanced incentive portfolio.

Closer to home, Hewitt has acquired three companies globally since April: New Bridge Street Consultants, one of the leading executive compensation consultancies in the U.K.; CSi, a specialist remuneration consultancy that provides advice to assist organizations with strategic and operational remuneration activities in Australia and New Zealand; and LCG, a U.S.-based company that specializes in absence management.

These actions further demonstrate Hewitt’s focused growth agenda. We are confident the leadership of these acquisitions can help us deepen and broaden our services to clients, while accelerating our growth in critical consulting practice areas.

There are clear signs that many of the challenges emerging in 2007 will be carried over into the new year, with some further developments added to the HR agenda. One of the most significant issues continues to focus on leadership.

Hewitt initiated the Top Companies for Leaders research in 2001 seeking to identify those factors that allow financially successful organizations to consistently produce great leaders. Our first results, published in 2002, uncovered a link between financial success and great leadership practices, and identified differentiating elements found only in Top Companies. Subsequent undertakings in 2003 and 2005 further expanded the foundation for our 2007 global study.

In this issue, we present highlights of the new global study, as well as more specific information about the results and the Top Companies for Leaders in Asia Pacific. There were some very interesting developments and findings within the Asia Pacific segment of the research. Of particular interest are the comments by the regional judges. All predicted that, in the next study, China and India will have a far greater presence. Their observations are profound, recognizing that truly great companies and great leaders exist and are increasing throughout the region.

In related areas for this issue, we also provide insights from other recent studies, including Best Employers in Asia. In another article, we provide insights into setting up share-based long-term incentives for employees in China.

We continue to further develop the content to meet your information needs. In this issue, we have added three new columns to HQ Asia Pacific.

You will also notice that we have developed a digital version of the magazine. All readers going forward will need to register to receive the publication in the future. Many thanks for your ongoing support.

In this issue of Hewitt Quarterly (HQ), it is timely to share our thoughts on corporate transition and transformation in Asia induced by the impact of private equity, as well as the evolving rewards and compensation structures made more complex by Asia’s different stages of economic growth. We hope you also find the other articles in this issue of interest, including Next Generation HR, which takes a look at the drive to make the 21st century HR fully integrated into organizations and fully focused on providing solutions for your business. If you are considering M&A in the heated Asian market, then our story, Merger in Mind, will be of particular interest. Other stories in this issue focus on employee relocation within China, and on the growing role of HR in the developing and thriving economies of the Middle East.

In this issue, we also ask you for your feedback on the contents of our publication. The Readership Survey included in this issue will help us further address the key business issues of direct interest to you. Please take a moment to complete and return the survey before 14 December 2007.

This issue of Hewitt Quarterly showcases Hewitt’s Best Employers in Asia 2007 study results. Thanks to a record number of participating organizations, leaders, and employees, the study provides an invaluable resource full of data and fresh insights into the best people practices in our unique region. The stories cover the hidden costs of employee disengagement, how to create a high performance workforce, insights into what it takes to be an effective leader in Asia, and highlights of the Best Employers study, from business leaders’ and employees’ perspectives.

This issue explores the importance of HR issues during any merger or acquisition, providing insights into the key findings of the Mergers & Acquisitions Asia Pacific Study 2006, and examining how BP managed to overcome their HR challenges during a recent JV in China.