3 mindsets Singaporean employers must change

According to a recent news article by Channels News Asia, employee loyalty to their company fell to a five-year low in every major region. And about 52 per cent of employees in Singapore intend to leave their current employers within the next five years. Research also found that about one in three plan to do so within two years!

However it would be unfair to deduce that ‘employees’ are the ones with a problem with loyalty. It takes two hands to clap. Employers have their own limiting mindsets as well. In this article, let me share with you the 3 mindsets that employers must change.

1. “Employees Show Lesser Loyalty These Days”
Loyalty is earned. It takes time to inculcate trust and loyalty. Management of various companies must show a concerted effort in employee engagement.

What have you done lately to earn their loyalty? Was there a proper onboarding process for newly recruited employees?

If the employer lived and breathed only about the short-term results, his employee would be influenced to think that his employer doesn’t care about long-term sustainability. Do you think loyalty can be inculcated this way?

No matter how busy an employer is, take the time to talk to the team. Look at them in the eyes. See if there is fear or hesitancy, then go help them solve their problem.

Loyalty is gained from ‘roughing’ it out with your team. If you demand your team to work late, you better be there with them. I know of a boss who runs a printing company. He would rush home for dinner to be with his family. He would then return to office to oversee his team till past midnight.

He confided with me that in a ‘Money-See-Monkey-Do’ environment, a leader must always lead the way.

2. “Employees from Generation X and Y are Really Demanding!”
Less than a century ago, it took 14 days for a mail to reach someone. Now it takes less than a mili-second for an e mail to reach another person. And even less than that for a text message to be sent via phone.

Can you blame this generation for demanding speedier results?

People evolve with technology. And this started when they were young. Children can now pick up an iPhone and learn to use it with such ease.

With such a keen sense of technology, can they fit into your company’s aging system? Even till date, there are still firms who literally ‘cut and paste’ data into their accounting sheets!

Having to work in some companies may be a step back into the past for these employees! Such culture shock doesn’t help in promoting loyalty.

Having said that, some employees are indeed guilty of being demanding, and yet not performing to their best. The ‘3 Strikes’ policy is sufficed in managing this group of people.

Give them ample time to learn from their mistakes. Set reasonable goals for them to achieve. And if nothing happens thereafter, have the moral courage to give them the sack.

3. “I think they just want a higher pay!”

Get this straight. People want perks. Not just increase in salaries.

In 2011, the top 5 companies that Young Singaporean graduates wanted to work for were, Apple, Google, 3M, Singapore Airlines and Barclays. It’s not surprising that those 2 IT companies were highly sought after. These companies offer plenty of perks!

You don’t need to have a big operating budget like Apple and Google. You just need to know when you can create some excitement in the typical work life. A fun environment can be created when some perks are thrown in to stir up the interest of employees.

A business partner of mine recently bought a laptop to reward his teammate. This is his recognition for the hard work that his teammate had put in the past few months!

There is a greater payoff for the talents in a good physical and human environment. Rival companies cannot easily duplicate such ‘remuneration’ packages because of its spontaneity.