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How to Get a Pay Raise In An Economic Downturn

Jappreet Sethi | October 3, 2012 | Finances, Salary Issues, Salary Negotiation | No Comments

Think you deserve a bigger paycheck? Want to ask for a salary raise but not sure you’ll get one?

Plenty of employees are finding themselves in this predicament, because many recession-wary companies that stopped handing out Salary raises during the economic downturn are still hesitant to open their wallets today. But career experts say that despite all the penny-pinching, a salary hike isn’t necessarily out of the question–so you might as well ask.

Asking for a salary raise is a delicate conversation and something you should not do without careful planning, says Dr. Katharine Brooks, director of Liberal Arts Career Services at The University of Texas at Austin “Being prepared can help you overcome your hesitation.”

Once you’ve determined whether it’s the right time to ask for a raise, here’s what you can do to get it:

Know your value. Do the proper research to figure out what you’re worth, even if it means going on interviews or using resources like Getraised.com, Payscale.com, or Glassdoor.com, If you find out you’re underpaid, you can use that to negotiate an increase.

“Look at salary surveys, cost-of-living comparisons, and rates of compensation within your organization, if possible,” Brooks says. “If you are aware that colleagues are earning more than you, tread carefully. You don’t want to put others in a negative light or violate a corporate written or unwritten rule about knowing what others earn. Simply present what the field generally pays, and why you believe your performance is at the top of your field.”

Know the number. Once you do the research, figure out what you think is a fair amount of money to ask for, says Thanasoulis-Cerrachio. “Have that number in your head when you ask for a raise.”

Schedule a meeting. Find a time that works best for you and your boss,Give your boss a head’s up that you want to chat about your career growth so that you both have ample time.

Practice salary negotiations. This can be a difficult or awkward conversation. Practice with a friend who can be a tough negotiator.

Start on a positive note. Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert suggests kicking off the conversation with something like, “I really enjoy working here and find my projects very challenging. In the last year, I’ve been feeling that the scope of my work has expanded quite a bit. I believe my roles and responsibilities, and my contributions have risen. I’d like to discuss with you the possibilities of reviewing my compensation.”

Or, “I’d like to discuss my career and how I can do my best work.”

Tell them you know that the company isn’t handing out raises. Anita Attridge, a Five O’Clock Club career and executive coach, says, “Make the case of why you should be an exception to this policy. This will need to focus on the results you have achieved for the company.”

State your case, and then pause. Listen to what your manager has to say. “Give it your best case for why you should get a raise,” says Thanasoulis-Cerrachio. “Never use idol threats or mislead an employer to think you have an outside offer. Make your case based on your research and the results of your work. The worst they can say is no.”

Depending on the response, gauge how much detail you now need and how much back up support you require, Taylor says.

Be specific. Give your boss a range for the raise you want, and explain why. “Be prepared to say, ‘After a lot of research, which I have here if you’d like to see it at some point, and how I feel I have contributed to the company, I would ask for you to consider an increase of $5,000 to $7,000. It has been ___ (time) since my salary was last reviewed. I greatly appreciate your consideration,” Taylor says.

Bring your personal kudos file. Bring a list of your key achievements, and focus specifically on the areas of accomplishment that are important to your manager, Attridge says.

“Bring up your strengths and talents, your accomplishments, your desire to do even more, and your ideas and plans for the future in your role at the organization,” Brooks adds.

Don’t be aggressive. Be diplomatic, well-prepared and assertive, but not aggressive.

Don’t threaten your employer. Whatever you do, don’t threaten to leave if you don’t get the raise, Brooks says.

You also shouldn’t threaten your boss with other job offers, interviews, recruiter conversations, etc., Taylor adds. “You run the risk of your boss mistrusting you, or in the worst case, if you’re already on somewhat shaky ground, him saying, ‘maybe you should consider those offers.’”

Ask for endorsements. “One of the most powerful ways to demonstrate to your manager that you deserve a raise, or at least some form of recognition for your results, is to have other people endorse the work you have done and how it helped them,” Attridge says. This may be done through a phone call to your manager or an e-mail. The more your manager hears about how your work has contributed to organization goals and results, the stronger you will be positioned to be seen as someone deserving of consideration for an exception in the time of no raises or at least some form of recognition.

Don’t share your sob story. “Don’t bring up personal issues,” Brooks says. Don’t tell your boss that you can’t afford your rent, or that you need a raise to cover other personal expenses. Stick to your accomplishments and the value you add to the company.

Be patient. Remember, your manager may need a few days to think it over and get back to you, so don’t be disheartened if you don’t get an instant “yes,” Taylor says. There’s also a chance your boss isn’t the one to make the decision. He or she might have to go to the higher-ups with your request.

 

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Why HR Needs To Move To Mobile Recruiting

Jappreet Sethi | February 23, 2014 | Best HR Practices | No Comments

The world has skipped a generation of evolution and has moved to smart phones faster than anticipated, by mid of 2013 India outpaced Japan as the third largest smartphone market in the world. Interestingly most of the smart phone users are using it for activities beyond making phone calls and apps constitute a big chunk of this usage.  Cisco said in a 2012 report that Mobile Internet data traffic will grow 13 times by 2017, bulk of this growth in traffic would come from Asia & Africa.

This is scary as most of the candidates in future will move to mobile and they may not use the traditional desktop to apply for jobs, so if you are not there forget about attracting a large chunk of candidates.

What is the current status?

LinkedIn conducted a survey on mobile recruiting in 2013 and found that 74 % of active candidates and 60 % of Passive candidates viewed a career opportunity via mobile for opportunities send to their inbox. 45% of the active candidates even applied to the job via mobile. The survey further pointed put that 72 % of active candidates visited a company career site via mobile to learn about careers. When prospective candidates are looking for you through their mobile device and they are unable to trace you, you simply don’t exist.

On the other hand 49 % of leaders surveyed by LinkedIn in 2013 said that mobile recruiting was not on their top priority list and only 13 % of the job openings were optimized for mobile.  You would be surprised to know that 95% of Fortune 500 companies don’t have a mobile optimized application process.

It is evident that increasingly candidates are researching companies and career opportunities on the go or multi-tasking on the lazy boy in after hours. The writing is clear on the wall, the companies have to change faster or they will miss an important chunk of talent to next gen and smaller startups that are more agile. Talent is what will make or break the companies in next decade, look at Google or Apple’s success.

Five simple things to do

The first step is to optimize your career site for mobile usage, get hold of your IT department and ask them to do a responsive design so that the site is simple and clutter free, remember mobile screens are not as big as desktops!

Second step would be to make your application process mobile friendly, never ending list of questions and multiple transition screens are definitely a put off for mobile users. Remember that the new generation wants everything quick and fast, patience has gone down.

The third step is to hire a mobile expert in your team so that you can get the new changes quickly to the market; the technology is changing very fast in this segment so limit your investment. It will be a good idea to keep it lean initially and thereafter relook at it every six months.

The fourth step is to Piggy bank on good work, No point in inventing everything in house and winning an award There are great technologies in the market place which you can embed in your career site, try using Skype on your career site so that the candidates can do a video interview instead of coming down to your office.  Use LinkedIn data to draw up resume and ask for a detailed sheet only if the candidate moves to final round.

The fifth step is to break the walls, Connect the hiring manager, the team the candidate will work with through the web platform. This will give the candidate a realistic job preview and using instant messaging the questions can be answered real time. Engaging candidates early on using mobile platform can increase job to offer ratio and reduce new hire turnover.

Mobile recruiting is an untapped blue ocean for employers to constructively and emotionally engage connected with the next generation of talent, Job seekers have definitely made a shift and its time that companies move or they will miss the bus.

Jappreet Sethi

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How to Build A Dream Team At Work

Jappreet Sethi | June 27, 2014 | Team Building | No Comments

How to Build A Dream Team At Work

A super achievers team is a highly cohesive, diverse and aligned group of performers each skilled in their own domains. These teams speed- up the learning and growth of its members and It’s fun being on it, as everyone achieves more. So how do you go about building a super achiever team at work?

At the new- age workplace more and more work is happening in groups that requires a high degree of teamwork, Look at the sunrise sectors and you will realize that the teams have gone virtual and work across continents in different timezones. Use these ingredients to build a super achiever team.

Be On The Same Platform

A common vision keeps the flock together; take an example of an orchestra, every team member has a distinct role to play, some play longer notes some shorter. Imagine an orchestra event wherein each player played silo tunes at the same time, it will be utter chaos. To achieve a higher degree of alignment, it’s best to involve all the team members in framing the vision/ common mindset. Studies show that people work harder and are most effective when they have a sense of choice and ownership.

Establish Stretch Goals & Milestones  

There is an old adage in management, what gets measured gets done, your team members would love to have yearly goals and checkpoints to chart their progress. It may not be a bad idea to set stretch goals (within reasonable limits), more often than not, stretch goals pump up the adrenaline and team members discover hitherto hidden potential in them.  One of the biggest benefits of setting stretch goals is that it keeps high performers in team glued on; as they like working on “tougher bits”. Make sure the goal setting process is collaborative and has majority’s buy in and print a team charter thereafter, the charter is your teams bible.

Build A Culture of Innovation

Encourage short-cycle experiments and build a culture of celebrating big failures, rather than hiding them under the carpet. This will ensure that the team members don’t go into hibernation once they encounter failure. Let everybody learn from the failure so that it does not get repeated ,failures will make you intelligent.

Suspend Judgment

You don’t have to agree; you just have to understand and in order to do that just listen patiently and stop judging.  I will quote one of my ex managers, she is a CEO of a large multinational – “Take off the colored glasses and let your team members openly express their opinion, don’t put words in their mouth.”

Work Hard & Party Harder

Research shows that Group Cohesiveness increases performance of the team, Even though some resist it –  parties, awards, picnics and outings are one of the easier ways to build a well-connected team.  Follow the motto of work hard and play harder. Team that party’s together, stays together for a longer time; make sure you follow the corporate guidelines on partying. However, just partying and not following other principals of making effective teams is a waste of time, effort and your company’s money.

Diversity wins hands down and each one is uniquely gifted

High performing teams are comprised of diverse and dissenting groups and they learn how to take advantage of each team member’s strengths and avoid unreasonably exposing others weaknesses. Successful teams specialize in covering for each other and appreciate the diverse skill sets different members bring to the fore. Resolving conflicts without booing other team member down is one of the most important ingredients of a dream team.

Teams are one of the best ways to accomplish integrated tasks, the key to successful team building lies in identifying roles, jobs, tasks, rewards and objectives with the team, not with individuals. The sum is greater than the parts, provided you get the parts right.

Jappreet Sethi

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Grooming and advancing your 'Rising Stars'

26 May 2014

According to over 10 years of Aon Hewitt’s Top Companies for Leaders research across the globe, Top Companies are extremely methodical in their execution of the talent calibration process and ensuring that this spans across all levels of their organisation.

Top Companies recognise that best practice calibration is critical for building and maintaining the talent pipeline in a consistent and efficient manner. During the talent review, candidates are placed, evaluated and compared to the position of others at the same level.

Organisations that excel at calibration take these conversations seriously and they often result in robust debates among peers to ensure agreement throughout the team.

Because of what is at stake, talent calibration must be grounded in reality. Accurate ratings for candidates require both formal, objective assessments as well as input from other managers and leaders who know the individual.

By sharing their knowledge of a high potential’s capabilities, they can ensure calibration is conducted as accurately as possible and that individual biases do not overly influence the rating.

Executing with this level of rigour also helps guide development conversations and identifies talent gaps that may not have surfaced were it not for multiple inputs. This helps build credibility in the process, allowing for greater transparency and confidence when informing employees of their high potential status.

Aon Hewitt's Top Companies for Leaders are exemplars in the calibration process – their sessions are held several times throughout the year, they include active involvement from senior management, and they have action items and clear accountability built into the talent review process.

The best processes focus on building a pipeline seven to 10 years out.

While talent calibration is an important step in the high potential process, the development of an organisation’s high potentials is the key to success. It is when these individuals enhance and apply their knowledge, skills, and abilities that companies truly get their return on investment.

A true focus on grooming high potentials needs to be driven directly from the top. Leaders have to be on the front lines, to know who the rising stars are, what their needs are, and how they are performing at any given time.

Meaningful accountability is requisite for both senior leaders and direct managers. Without it, organisational efforts to attract, inspire, and retain top performers will fall short.

Beyond active and present senior leadership involvement, it is important to have a common framework of talent management across the organisation.

Divergent notions within the same organisation can result in a “talent inventory,” instead of focusing on the active development and management of key talent for key roles. Moreover, if people aren’t developed appropriately there’s a risk of moving people into positions they don’t actually have the ability to succeed in.

Talent-savvy organisations know their performance assessment processes are only the starting point—and certainly not the ending point—in calibrating high potential talent.

Organisations must also take into account the development and deployment of their top talent, and they must hold leaders accountable for this critical facet of planning for the company’s future success.

The information in this article draws from Aon Hewitt’s extensive Top Companies for Leaders research. To find out more about how to participate in the 2014 study, please contacttopcompanies.apac@aonhewitt.com or visit http://www.aon.com/topcompanies/apac/.

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7 Steps for Effective Leadership Development

HRM 29 Jul 2014

A business is a collection of people working for the same cause, and a leader is required to define that cause. Growth of a business will only come through the time and talents of others. To identify, attract, fill, and retain corporate leadership talent, companies need leadership development programmes focused on hiring strategies, employee development, and career and succession planning.

Companies face two major challenges in finding and developing leaders. They need to identify qualified candidates to fill current and future leadership roles, and to develop a comprehensive leadership programme to cultivate the leaders of tomorrow.

In the past, leadership development was focused on only a few individuals in the organisation. First-generation systems to assist with leadership development were hard to use and were not widely adopted. Companies needed a system-enabled way to unify methods of assessing and selecting leaders, executing programmes to develop skills, and measuring the success of these programmes.

Today, technology can be deployed to extend these practices across the enterprise and down into all levels of the workforce. eHR development then becomes an enterprise-wide effort across the management team and not just the job of the HR department. At the same time, by using a common, integrated technology platform, the HR department can easily and effectively track and execute programmes across the organisation.

Major talent management functions all play a part in a comprehensive leadership development programme and can be well supported by a unified talent management technology platform. These functions include recruitment, assessment, performance management, succession planning and career planning.

A successful leadership development programme begins with the alignment of leadership development with company strategy and an understanding of the type of leadership style(s) needed to execute that strategy.

1. Determine the best leadership style for your organisation

There are many theories and techniques for determining the right leadership styles for an organisation. For instance, the leadership style required by a head of corporate security will be vastly different from an art museum director. Company culture will also play a major role in determining leadership style.

One of the main reasons for the high failure rate of new CEOs (with more than half never making it past the four-year mark) is poor organisational fit. Here are two ways to assess leaders’ fit. Firstly, get to know them better. Psychological and behavioral assessments have been statistically linked to current and future success in leadership roles. Secondly, you must understand the existing culture better. HR must check with the board, employees, vendors, consultants for insight into what makes an effective leader in the company.

Use both sets of information to find alignments or disparities. If there is a glaring cultural conflict, be ready to find a better candidate who possesses the unique skills your organisation requires.

2. Identify current and potential leaders within or outside the company

Leaders can be found both internally and externally. Companies must weigh the cost and timing of developing internal leadership against the cost and availability of hiring from the outside. Research has shown that one of the key advantages of developing leaders internally is that they achieve productivity almost 50% faster than external candidates.

To evaluate potential leaders in the organisation, a leadership programme needs to identify the expected leadership skills and competencies. When leadership positions cannot be filled from within, the company recruitment should use the same measurements to test the existing competencies of potential candidates.

Online pre-assessments and full assessment testing can help ensure that the right candidates are on the short list. Unqualified candidates are automatically filtered out, not on the basis of their résumés but, rather, on the basis of a self-administered online test or questionnaire.

3. Identify leadership gaps

To fully recognise leadership gaps, companies should determine current and future leadership requirements and compare those with the current leadership team. Then, identify current leaders who may be at risk of leaving and develop succession plans. Companies should also look at the leadership development pipeline and identify gaps in skills and the time required to fill those gaps

4. Develop succession plans for critical roles

Succession planning avoids disruption and employee trauma when the CEO leaves, whether the departure is anticipated or not. But a succession plan should not be confined to executive roles. As part of the leadership programme, companies should evaluate critical roles throughout the organisation.

For the greatest efficacy, succession planning should be supported by technology systems that provide the ability to:

• Create backfill strategies that use data captured in the recruiting and performance review processes, coupled with individual career plans
• Display multiple talent profiles—from C-level executives to individual contributors—side by side to quickly identify the best fit
• Track candidate readiness based on skills, competencies, and performance; promote top candidates based on relative ranking and composite feedback scores

5. Develop career planning goals for potential Leaders

Career planning used to be considered the responsibility of an individual. However, today’s companies that support career planning for their employees gain in retention, engagement, and protection of the leadership pipeline. If companies do not provide employees with career planning and advancement opportunities, their competitors will.

Self-service career planning will help motivate and retain talent, by empowering employees to view a career plan and generate their own within the company

Combining employee development with self-service career planning enables employees not only to explore potential career paths but also to monitor and progress through the development activities necessary to attain them.

Competencies can then be tied to relevant development activities, thereby incorporating development planning right into the performance review process, which supports career development and succession planning.

6. Develop a skills roadmap for future leaders

Once the high-potential employees have been identified, a skills roadmap should be developed for the future leaders. Because people learn and develop new skills both inside and outside the classroom, a development programme needs to support both traditional and non-traditional learning.

To support less-formal learning, activities such as coaching, rotational assignments, job shadowing, mentor relationships, and project leadership should also be part of an employee’s development plan. At the core, the very definition of learning should reflect today’s non-traditional learning and incorporate social networking tools into the development process.

7. Develop retention programmes for current and future leaders

Linking pay to performance can be a motivator for an employee, but goal alignment helps potential leaders stay focused on what is important to the company. Recognise excellent performance, and base the upside of bonus potential on the success of both the employee and the company.

Leadership retention is critically important for all organisations, as turnover is expensive and top performers drive optimum business performance.

Another way to retain and motivate future leaders is to involve them in the decision-making process. This teaches them the stated mission, values, and goals of the organisation as well as how they contribute to the success of the business.

A well-designed leadership development programme is the key to identifying, attracting, filling, and retaining corporate leadership. Talent management practices implemented with robust technology applications can effectively identify and develop—from all levels of the workforce—the leaders who will best drive business performance.
 

About the Author Shaun Han heads the Application Line of Business Unit at Oracle Corporation for ASEAN. He is responsible for the accelerated revenue growth and customer satisfaction for the Applications License portfolio including ERP, CRM, business intelligence and analytics and specialty applications. In his previous company, Han ran the Technology Services business unit at Hewlett-Packard, Singapore. He was responsible for the profit and loss of the unit for a broad portfolio of customer services including customer support business, deployment, availability, performance management and security solutions for business critical, multi-technology environments and networking solutions. Prior to this, Shaun was the lead for the Technology Management Solutions (TMS) for Asia Pacific including Japan. He was responsible for developing the strategy and direction for the TMS business which is focused on revenue, profitability and customer satisfaction. His portfolio includes management, service creation and business planning for Asia Pacific & Japan as part of the APJ Outsourcing Organisation. Shaun graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree (Hons) in Building and Estate Management from the National University of Singapore. He also has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Leicester University, UK.

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op Employee Engagement Initiatives

15 Jul 2014

1. Social Media Employee Engagement Initiatives

Social media has been identified as the key to sustainable employee engagement initiatives. Social media with a purpose can break down barriers. For example, witnessed from the employee level, all the jargon about corporate vision may get lost. By using social media and the right language, the content can be related to by employees.

But using social media may not be that easy, for a number of reasons. The growth of social software tools is a source of great innovation, but also has the potential for a lot of confusion, and poses a challenge to some corporate cultures.
 

2. A Culture of Employee Engagement

Digital Journal linked CEOs renewed focus on engaging employees with satisfying customers according to a recent survey, which included CEOs, presidents and chairmen from more than 1,000 companies around the world.  While earlier years saw major discrepancies between regions, challenges cited by CEOs for 2014 revealed global convergence," said Charles Mitchell, The Conference Board Executive Director for Knowledge Management and lead author of the report.

"The top challenges across all regions and nearly all countries converged around questions of internal strength — better products, smarter workers, stronger customer appeal and collaboration." The focus has switched to technology and customers. As Barbara Porter pointed out on Forbes, the key to improving customer experience is employee engagement initiatives.

She notes that successful companies have one thing in common. She said, “Leadership understands the importance of creating an “intentional” culture that harnesses the hearts and empowers the minds of employees to deliver a defined customer experience aligned with financial objectives.”

She states that employers and HR are both responsible for employee engagement. She also reinforces using a communications plan with the right language.

Furthermore she encourages the collection of feedback and data. Tools such as onboarding surveys, and the smart collection of leavers’ data can help organisation to become aware of areas that need work.

3. Coaching Managers

Gallup Business Journal suggests training managers in employee engagement initiatives, then holding them accountable for their teams. Gallup’s research has found that managers have a significant role in staff engagement. They, however, encourage realistic everyday employee engagement approaches, such as meetings, action-planning sessions, and one-to-one meetings.

We are seeing a global push towards employee engagement initiatives. The approaches are more personable and encourage weaving staff engagement into the day-to-day running of an organisation at all levels.

Contact EmployeeEngagement.com.sg and find out more about how they can help your organisation address its engagement challenge.

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Qualifications vs all roundedness

HRM 06 Jun 2014

Roselin Lee
Director of HR, Estee Lauder Travel Retailing Inc, Asia Pacific

While academic qualifications form a fundamental foundation, the new age HR officer should extend the search for candidates with holistic backgrounds. In today’s world, many organisations, regardless of size, are hoping to transform their workforces, bringing a competitive edge and value to their businesses. This calls for existing employees to have a paradigm shift in the way they conduct business – candidates need to draw upon new skill sets and competencies.

Candidates who have broader perspectives possess the capabilities in wearing both functional and corporate hats. Instead of looking at things from a narrow or single functional standpoint, a holistic background enables an individual to look at things from a different perspective and provides invaluable insights to creativity and innovative ways of doing things.

Gone are the days when organisations only hired for skills and competencies to fill the current job. Employers now want candidates with skill sets that enable them to perform roles at least two years ahead, and they also hire from outside the industry, but with the right attitude and leadership competencies.

Take HR as an example - if the HR Business Partner does not have the right mind set of wanting to spend time understanding the business and understanding how different skill sets, leadership competencies could impact their area of expertise, the individual will continue to be perceived as a backend support, and not a strategic business partner whose views and comments could impact how an organisation attracts, develops and retains talents.

Juliana Ong
Director of HR, Royal Plaza on Scotts

Candidates with high education qualifications are not difficult to find in Singapore’s employment market. Employers now not only evaluate a candidate based on their education levels but also on other qualities.

An integral part of the process includes assessing the cultural fit of the applicant to the organisation’s brand and values. The organisation is screening for candidates who can grow well with the organisation and work towards a common goal together with the rest of the team in a collaborative work environment.

A good cultural fit can lead to many positive impacts on the organisation. With greater job satisfaction and commitment to the job, the associates are happier and more likely to stay longer with the organisation. During their time at work, they are also more productive, engaged and innovative. Meaning is created when the associates identify with the way the organisation runs.

The younger generation in the workforce is also known to prioritise work that is meaningful to them over the pay alone. HR professionals on the team need to be trained to identify these traits and learn how to evaluate a candidate based on their responses in these situations. In short, besides the skillsets and technical competencies, the search is on for candidates who are passionate, possess a good attitude with the ability to adapt and learn, as the goal is not only to attract talents but to retain them in the long term.

Tan Li Li
HR Director – Corporate Banyan Tree Holdings Limited

Education is important, but that’s not the only quality that we look out for in a candidate. We assess them in terms of their experience, how prepared they are and their attitude. It is vital that they have the ability to be groomed and to progress in the company. In today’s era, there are candidates who change their jobs quite regularly.

We do not hire such candidates, even if they appear relevant for the position. If a candidate has a history of working at companies for only one to one-and-a-half years, we avoid hiring them. It is really important for candidates to be able to stay and contribute in a firm for at least two years. In today’s workforce, everyone has a degree or least a diploma. I do not just look at their qualifications. The first thing I look at is the candidate’s working experience.

Qualifications do not mean much these days if the person does not have important characteristics such as the right attitude. Even the smartest can be very calculative and once they possess such an attitude, it can be very difficult.

As a global company, we do not focus on names or where the candidates come from. What is more crucial are the qualities candidates possess. For example, are they able to work as a team? Are they willing to go the extra mile for the company and for their colleagues? If everybody has the same mentality of simply doing their own job and nothing else, then it will be very difficult for the company to advance. It is really important to choose candidates who will be the right fit for the firm.

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It’s not just about the money

HRM 24 Feb 2014

Money has traditionally ranked as the top decision-making factor for most Asian jobseekers considering a new job opportunity. According to the latest Michael Page Salary & Employment Forecasts released in China and Hong Kong, it is still the highest motivator. Just over a third of employers in both countries expect the main reason staff will leave their current role this year is to improve their salary (39%).

While some professionals are solely focused on financial rewards and seek better remuneration by changing jobs, there is an increasing number of professionals who believe that doing something they enjoy is as important as the overall salary and job package. A number of employers report that jobseekers have increasingly sophisticated attitudes towards changing jobs and note non-financial rewards also feature highly in professionals’ motivations to leave their current role. For hiring employers, offering non-financial rewards and incentives would be the best way to cater to what these jobseekers are looking for in a new role.

Across China and Hong Kong, surveyed employers believe the second most important factor that will influence employees to consider a new role is the chance to broaden their experience and opportunity to learn (21% and 25%, respectively). Of the employers surveyed for the latest Michael Page Salary & Employment Forecast in Taiwan, 26% said this is the primary reason employees will leave their role this year.

Professionals are also placing more value on a broader range of other non-monetary factors when looking to switch roles. These include:

• working preferences like job scope, daily duties and KPIs;
• long-term career progression (which 35% of employers in both China and Taiwan note is the most popular option they offer to attract and retain staff);
• internal role rotation opportunities;
• gaining new skill sets (which is the second most popular option 21% of employers in Taiwan said they offer to attract and retain staff through training and mentoring partnerships);
• people, corporate culture, and physical and non-physical working environment; and
• work-life balance such as flexible working hours, extended leave and comprehensive medical benefits (where according to employers surveyed in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, flexible working arrangements, team building and offsite activities and sabbaticals are the top three most popular options offered to support work-life balance).

While financial rewards will always weigh heavily on an individual’s decision to change jobs, the opportunity for career development and progression, as well as having a balanced lifestyle also has a place.

Rupert Forster is Managing Director for Michael Page, Northern China based in Beijing. The Beijing office has several specialist divisions including Accounting & Finance, Financial Services, IT and Technology, Legal, Human Resources, Sales, Marketing, Retail, Manufacturing, Procurement & Supply Chain and Property & Construction.  Rupert has more than 13 years’ experience in recruitment working at PageGroup.

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Official Launch – 3rd Annual Graduate Recruitment and Development Congress

HRM 31 Jul 2014

For the third year running, HRM Asia is rallying an all-star troop of recruitment experts and graduate development specialists to gear up for another run of the annual Graduate Recruitment and Development Congress, to be held at Marriot Hotel Singapore on 15 October 2014.

With the majority of HR professionals converging squarely on Graduate Recruitment and Development this year, the trend looks set to continue for years to come. This year, delegates can look forward to expert speakers from SingTel, Deutsche Bank, Microsoft, Barclays, Polycom, Schneider Electric, AIESEC, British Council Singapore and, for the first time ever, high-profile names from Singapore’s three top-tier universities – National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University.

Designed specifically for continued understanding and learning, this congress will address today’s most pertinent concerns by exploring three core pillars – Attraction Strategies, Assessment and Selection Strategies, and Development and Retention Strategies. This tactical approach will be complemented by the symbiotic use of another popular HRM Asia specialty – interactive Think Tanks for maximum discussion and sharing of ideas.

By attending this congress, delegates will also have an exclusive discount to another premium HRM Asia event – 8th Annual Compensation and Benefits Asia Congress, to be held on 17-18 September. This must-attend annual congress returns with even more interactive learning, networking opportunities with peers and invaluable presentations to inspire innovative ideas on how to master the challenges experienced by leading compensation, rewards and HR professionals.

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Wallmart case study - Strategic planning

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Trademark violation dispute

Image for illustration only

A candy maker claimed its products were used in a stock photo, violating its trademark and demanded that the image be withdrawn from a photo agency’s collection. The photo agency representing the image determined that the chocolates shown were not made by the candy company, but by a professional pastry chef who was retained by the photographer, specifically to produce generic looking chocolates for the shoot.

The agency also pointed out that the candy maker’s trademark did not appear in any aspect of the photo. The agency also secured additional outside legal opinion that the representation of common objects in a photo is neither a trademark violation nor would it cause consumer confusion that any specific candy maker produced, endorsed or sponsored the photo in any way. The objection was dropped.

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Unauthorized usage claim

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The current owner of a house objected when he saw his home featured in an ad for a bank. The bank’s ad agency had licensed the image through a photo agency that was able to produce the original, and still valid property release that had been signed by the home’s previous owner. The current home owner dropped his claim.

Note that whilst property releases are not legally required on a photo of a home, many agencies have a policy of requiring property releases for commercial use to avoid the customer having to face a claim as above.

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Whirlpool of Voluntary Retirement Schemes ( VRS)

Case Study in Human Resource Management

Industry : Manufacturing

Industry: Well established, smooth running, multi-crore manufacturing giant, aspiring to be the "No.1" on not only business fronts but political and management horizons too.

You are about to complete tenth year of service in this business house. You are happy and expecting a second promotion.

Situation: One fine day you board the bus in the morning to notice a very special silence. All the chirping, joking, gossiping has come to a stand still .You get to know that your company has accepted the VRS recommendations by the central government. Your bus partner enquires about your age and the number of years of service.

Grapevine: The company may shut down this plant possibly in the next fiscal year due to taxation and infrastructure problems. To begin with they want to cut down the manpower, beginning with managerial cadre, then the vendors followed by the workers…

Facts: Earlier the govt did not allow job termination so easily. The recently elected govt. has a commitment of "job creation" in their electoral "Magna charta" of promises… One brainy idea has come in the form of termination of "old, experienced but sometimes difficult" employees under the disguise of offering "golden shake hand" or "voluntary retirement" Contrast: On one side the country is facing grave shortage of skilled, experienced manpower on the other they are promoting schemes like VRS!!

Challenge:

• You have family of five to support.
• You have to shoulder a housing loan and a car loan.
• Having spent ten years in a particular industry it may not be easy to find a new job.
• VRS is for the employees above forty years of age and / or have completed ten years of service.
• Maximum package of Rs Five lacs is for those having completed 15 years and above.
• You can get a max. Of 2.90 Lacs. Only.
• Once you accept VRS, getting a new job may not be easy.
• If you do not opt for a VRS, possibility of transfer to a remote place or you may be asked to resign , and go without any compensation being in management cadre.




Case Study Questions

Task : You have to make your choice and justify it in not more than five sentences

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Forged property release

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A home owner saw his residence used in an ad for a credit card company. He knew that he’d never given permission for his house to be photographed. Though the photo agency had a signed property release on file for the image, further investigation by the agency revealed that the photographer had provided it with a forgery.

The photo agency settled with the homeowner and protected the ad agency and credit card company from all claims. The photographer is no longer a contributor to the agency and all his other images were pulled from their collection.

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Mistaken identity

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A family claimed that a greeting card company was using, without permission, a photo of an elderly family member on a series of humorous products including gift bags, greeting cards, product packaging and in-store displays. The greeting card company had licensed the image from a photo agency and looked to them to protect them from the family’s claims.

The photo agency was able to produce the valid release from the model in the photo, which also proved that although she bore a striking resemblance to the family member, the model was a completely different person. The agency also produced additional photos taken at the same time, showing the model in several different settings and from different angles. In some of these photos, the model bore no resemblance to the family member. The family was convinced and the claim was dropped.

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