cgp-sg.recsumo.dev

Category: Employee Engagement

  • Measuring the Success of Your Employer Brand: Metrics and KPIs to Track

    Measuring the Success of Your Employer Brand: Metrics and KPIs to Track

    “You can’t improve what you don’t measure.” Often attributed to Peter Drucker, this quote has elicited plenty of admiration and plenty of ire.

    Thus, the same applies to every effort put into building an employer brand. Missing to measure the employer brand’s success means directing your brand toward a road that takes you out of the competitive landscape.

    A strong employer brand can help you attract and retain top talent, improve employee engagement, and boost your bottom line. But how do you know if your employer brand is successful?

    Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither is your employer brand, indicating the time required to produce a favourable output. And by tracking the right metrics and KPIs, you can get a clear picture of how your employer brand is performing and make necessary adjustments to improve it. To ensure the success of employer branding, understand what are the key metrics you should be tracking down to measure the effectiveness of your employer brand.

    The Must-track Employer Branding Metrics

    1. Employee referral rate

    Current employees usually recommend you to their circle only when they are happy working at your organisation. When employees refer people within their network, they trust your brand and add resources to the pool of qualified candidates.

    Analyse the employee referral data and check whether your existing workforce is willing to advocate for you.

    High employee referral rate = High employer branding success rate

    1. Cost-per-hire

    The cost to make a new hire consists of recruitment fees, pre-employment assessments, advertisements & promotions, and more. Organisations enjoying strong employer brands incur low cost-per-hire, and even the cost comes down to almost half in some cases. This is the power of the brand.

    A company that has earned a reputation over time will attract more candidates, who turn out to be better fitted. If your organisation has more quality candidates applying for jobs, you can spend less time and money sourcing ideal candidates.

    The lower the cost-per-hire, the more the chances for the employer brand to grow.

    1. Quality of candidates

    The metric is considered the most powerful yet difficult to measure, encompassing several other metrics. Undoubtedly, a strong employer brand attracts high-quality candidates because present-day job seekers also prefer working with established brands.

    Simply put, determine the quality of candidate profiles and check how experienced and competent they are to match the vacant positions.

    Is the quality of applications below average? Well! It means you need to work on employer branding.

    1. Employee engagement rate

    Employee engagement rate is another robust metric to measure how well your employer brand is performing. To name a few, learning and professional development opportunities are the ones that boost the employee engagement level.

    To measure the level of engagement, you can conduct employee surveys and ensure the questions cover all aspects like leadership, learning, peer relationships, and more.

    Scan the employees’ responses and conclude whether your efforts are reaping benefits.

    Learn about the Importance of Continuous Learning and Professional Development

    1. Social media engagement

    Tracking social media engagement requires you first to set social media goals. For example, if you want brand recognition, track the number of followers, impressions, and reach. If you want to boost interaction with potential candidates, check likes, comments, and shares on the posts.

    Results do not reflect overnight. Therefore, look at the performance over a period of time and observe the trend. If employee engagement on your social media handles is also high, there are chances of generating more tremendous employer branding success.

    The more people engage with your employer brand, the more they can relate to it.

    1. Employer brand index

    Employer brand index involves checking what employees say about your company online. The platforms to check their online reviews are employer review sites, social media platforms, and online forums.

    Based on the opinions shared by employees online, EBI focuses on specific parts of the employer value proposition having the most positive and negative impact.

    The metric also indicates the overall health and performance of your employer brand.

    How to interpret your results and make improvements?

    Once you have collected data on the metrics and KPIs you are tracking, you need to interpret your results and make improvements. Here are a few tips for interpreting your results:

    • Compare your results to previous periods: This will help you see how your employer brand is performing over time.
    • Compare your results to other companies: This will help you see how your employer brand is performing relative to the competition.
    • Set benchmarks: Set targets for each metric and KPI. This will help you track your progress and make improvements.
    • Analyze your results: Look for trends and patterns in your results. This will help you identify areas where your employer brand is weak and make improvements.
    • Make changes: Based on your analysis, make changes to your employer branding initiatives.

    By measuring the success of your employer brand, you can ensure that your efforts are effective in attracting and retaining top talent.

    Summary

    The trickiest part about measuring employer branding success is that there is no industry standard to follow. Moreover, each organisation is creating and using different metrics without the intent to create a benchmark. Nevertheless, it is important to identify and use the most useful, easy-to-read KPIs to facilitate quicker identification of optimisation for making improvements.

    Consistently measuring your employer brand over time will help you see how your efforts are working, and you can identify areas where your employer brand is weak and make improvements.

    The world is already battling against a talent shortage, and it’s high time for organisations to level up their employer value proposition. Thus, by measuring the success of your employer brand, you can ensure that your efforts are effective in attracting and retaining top talent.

    Read more about The Talent Shortage Crisis

    Why choose CGP Singapore to attract top talent?

    Sourcing suitable candidates is arduous and becomes even more challenging when your business is niche-specific. Cornerstone Global Partners can help you find candidates for hard-to-fill roles in these situations. We are one of Asia’s most prominent recruitment solutions providers, with 19 offices worldwide and over 500 team members delivering exceptional

    • Executive Search
    • Contracting, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
    • Human Resources Outsourcing services 

    Reach out to us with your recruitment needs.

  • 8 Incredible Employee Engagement Activities And Why Do They Matter

    8 Incredible Employee Engagement Activities And Why Do They Matter

    ​What is that one aspect that can make or break an organisation’s substratum? Undeniably, it is employee engagement. Disengaged and less motivated employees compromise productivity and can hamper an organisation’s reputation. But it’s on you to create an environment that engages employees as they look to you for cues.

    “When leaders throughout an organization take an active, genuine interest in the people they manage, when they invest real time to understand employees at a fundamental level, they create a climate for greater morale, loyalty, and yes, growth.”- Patrick Lencioni.

    The tip is to exhibit strong leadership and focus on employee engagement and motivation. A host of activities can engage employees and boost their motivation.

    Here is our list of eight incredible employee engagement activities known for bettering workplace culture.

    8 Incredible Employee Engagement Activities

    1. Workplace Parties

    Work becomes fun when employers throw parties to celebrate accomplishments or other occasions. Some workplace party ideas to bring everyone together are:

    CGP Group Christmas Party 2022

      • Halloween parties

      • Thanksgiving dinners

      • Potluck meals

      • Christmas party

      • New Year’s Eve party

    Prefer choosing quality over quantity and making sure the celebrations count.

    ​

    2. Games, Tournaments & Competitions

    Games let the teams come together and have fun at work. The main objective of conducting games, tournaments & competitions is to:

    CGP Group Physical CGP Captain Ball

      • Inculcate team spirit among employees

      • Let them meet other teams

      • Acquire skills like problem-solving, communication & collaboration​

    Maintain a fun-filled workplace culture to help your people work in a stress-free environment.

    3. Special Days

    By mentioning ‘special day,’ we do not indicate celebrating some days with great pomp and show. Instead, we mean to have your employees enjoy special days such as “Pajama Day,” “Ethnic Outfit Day,” or “Bring Your Child To Work Day.”

    The benefits of special days are:

    • They refresh the employees’ minds.

    • They excite the employees.

    • They change the pace and instill the work environment with positivity.

    4. Lunch & Learns

    Better known as learning lunches, it is the best way to bring your employees together and make them learn. Instead of having alien speakers, ask a team member to present on a topic.

    One thing you need to bear in mind is to keep them short and sweet. Why? Because no one loves to have a long lunch meeting.

    5. Employee Training

    The employee retention process shall remain incomplete if you miss training your employees timely. Whether it’s a baby boomer or an experienced employee, every person expects to receive learning opportunities. Therefore, strategise to allow employees to learn at work and upskill themselves.

    You can have a weekly coaching session or provide your employees with online learning resources. Another profitable way is to invite a special speaker and teach your employees something new.

    6. Recognition Programs

    Be an exception and live by the core values. Create an employee recognition program that syncs with your organisation’s core values. However, the creation of such a program won’t be enough, and you have to ensure everyone on your team knows about it. Moreover, the program should make more sense, with you pointing to specific behaviours that exemplify them.

    7. Create a Local To-Do Things Guide

    Get your team together and ask them to pen down their favourite local places and things to do. The list can be kept as a reference for future team outings while allowing your employees to bond with each other.

    Talking about non-work matters gives them better chances to break the ice and bond with each other.

    8. Send out an Employee Survey

    The best way to make employees feel valued and engaged is by seeking honest feedback about their work. And the most appropriate way to seek feedback is by sending out an employee survey. It’s easier for employees to tell what they feel about work anonymously.

    You can ask questions like:

      • How’s your day going?

      • What changes/improvements would you like to bring to the existing work environment or within your team?

      • How happy are you with your current role?

      • Do you feel you are getting enough learning opportunities?

      • Are you satisfied with your compensation?

    Why do Employee Engagement Activities Matter?

    Employee engagement is about improving the workplace culture and aligning employees’ aims with organisational goals. For those running businesses, employee engagement activities keep their people hooked to the organisation for a long time. For those working every day, employee engagement activities play a crucial role in boosting their motivation.

    The benefits that can be reaped from employee engagement activities are:

      1. Increased productivity

      2. Better customer service

      3. Higher profitability

      4. Higher employee satisfaction

      5. Active participation of employees in company initiatives

      6. Brand Advocacy

    Conclusion

    Employee engagement is an organisation’s investment to enjoy the privilege of staying in business. If you take time to appreciate and engage employees, they will reciprocate in a thousand ways. Connect the dots between individual roles and organisational goals. That’s the new talent contract to improve employee retention.

    Over time, you will find that engaged employees believe in the cause of the organisation and are in the game for the game’s sake. After all, the current volatile and uncertain environment demands engaged employees for success and survival.

    FAQs

    1. What are employee engagement activities?

    Employee engagement activities are exercises that increase employee motivation and positive feelings about the work environment. These activities are also known as team engagement activities, resulting in lower absenteeism and turnover. Moreover, these are fun and enriching, urging the employees to take a more active role in the organisation.

    2. What are some employee engagement ideas?

    The most common employee engagement ideas are:

      • Workplace parties

      • Offer mentorship opportunities

      • Host happy hours

      • Establish culture committees

      • Have theme days or weeks

      • Help employees network

      • Implement diversity and inclusion

      • Host a game show

      • On-demand learning

    3. What is employee engagement, and why does it matter?

    Employee engagement is the term that describes the exercises that employers undertake to keep employees engaged. It increases employee motivation and lowers absenteeism and turnover. Employee engagement is necessary for an organisation as they help keep the employees engaged and boost their morale.

  • Employee Retention Metrics You Should Be Tracking

    Employee Retention Metrics You Should Be Tracking

    Millennials: the job-hopping people, are less interested in staying in their current jobs. As per a Gallup report, 21% of millennials are reported to have changed their careers within the past year.

    With this shocking revelation in the market, employers continue focusing on employee retention. Nevertheless, just mapping the route to retain employees won’t suffice. In fact, as an employer, you must also know the employee retention metrics you should be tracking.

    Why You Should Measure Employee Retention?

    #1. Understanding your workforce dynamics

    Measuring employee retention allows you to understand which employee leaves & when, and who stays. With the information, organisations can determine whether the top performers are staying or leaving.

    #2. Identifying issues in time

    Organisations can identify issues early and take appropriate action in time to correct the situation.

    #3. Strategising

    Measuring employee retention enables organisations to create an effective employee retention strategy after analysing the conditions.

    #4. Saving money & resources

    Focusing on employee retention measurement empowers organisations to work on retaining employees. Universally, companies that succeed at retaining their employees save themselves from spending money on hiring and training new employees.

    Before we delve deeper into the details, understand what employee retention can do to your company:

      • Fosters improvement in the company’s culture.

      • Enables employees to develop strong workplace relationships.

      • Increases employee productivity.

      • Raises employee engagement levels.

      • Reduces costs.

      • Increases revenue.

      • Improves employee morale.

      • Creates better employee experience.

    Now, you are prepared to read ahead. In this article, we define the employee retention metrics you should be tracking, and the reasons for doing so are the benefits mentioned above.​

    Common Employee Retention Metrics

    1. Employee retention rate

    The metric that lays the foundation for tracking employee retention is the employee retention rate. The term refers to the indication of a company’s ability to retain employees over a period of time.

    A company could be successful if it welcomes new hires regularly. However, its success reduces to half if, on the other hand, it fails to retain its existing employees.

    The employee retention rate is calculated by subtracting the number of employees who left from the total number of employees and dividing the remainder by the total number of employees. For conversion into a percentage, the number is multiplied by 100.

    2. Voluntary turnover rate

    The voluntary turnover rate is defined as the rate at which employees leave an organisation willingly. As a matter of fact, a low voluntary rate depicts that employees are happy with their organisation and enjoy working there.

    To calculate the voluntary turnover rate, let’s say, ten members resigned from their jobs voluntarily out of 200 employees. You can divide ten by 200 and then multiply the number by 100, which would give you a voluntary turnover rate of 5%.

    3. Involuntary turnover rate

    The involuntary turnover rate is precisely the opposite of the second metric. Simplifying it, the term refers to the percentage of employees dismissed or laid off by the organisation. The higher the rate, the poor an organisation’s workforce planning and employees’ career development strategies.

    You can calculate the rate in the same manner as mentioned for the voluntary turnover rate. The only change is dividing the number of employees dismissed or laid off from their jobs by the total number of employees. You can obtain the rate by multiplying the number by 100.

    ALSO READ: Career Mobility: A Key To Attracting And Retaining Talent

    4. Employee satisfaction rate

    Employees who are well recognised and rewarded timely always stay satisfied and happy with their jobs. Not only this, an organisation that cares for employee development also nurtures satisfied employees.  As a result, they tend to stick to a particular organisation for a relatively longer duration.

    Employers can measure employee satisfaction by asking the employees to rate the organisation on a scale of 1-10. The employees have to rate based on how likely they are to recommend you as an employer.

    5. Average employee tenure

    The tenure for which an employee stays with an organisation indicates their satisfaction with the organisation. Employers calculate the average employee tenure by averaging the tenures of all employees with the total number of employees. A company having employees stick to it for a longer duration enjoys a high employee retention rate.

    The metric allows the HR departments to identify & address concerns that bother the employees. Thus, they leave.

    6. Cost of employee turnover

    Acquiring new talent is costlier than retaining the existing ones. Furthermore, a company with high talent acquisition and low retention rates can never succeed in the long run.

    The formula to calculate the cost of employee turnover is summing up costs such as

      • Monthly salary,

      • Advertisement cost,

      • Background checks,

      • Cost of time invested by managers in conducting interviews,

      • Onboarding cost of new hires, and

      • Training cost

    7. Engagement scores

    Employee engagement is a metric that indicates whether or not an employee will remain with the company. Generally, HR personnel uses pulse surveys or engagement surveys to collect the required data.

    A pulse survey consists of short questions to understand employees’ perceptions of the work environment. Additionally, employers can measure engagement by asking a series of questions. The surveys can be conducted quarterly or annually.

    8. Flight risk

    It’s not always possible to predict the future and tell which employee will leave the organisation shortly. Nonetheless, some aspects can be counted to identify the same, which are:

      • Underpaid employees

      • Employees who perceive they are not being paid adequately

      • Employees that have recently switched jobs

      • Employees that feel the lack of career development opportunities

    By identifying these red flags, you can estimate the flight risk.

    Conclusion

    Knowing the employee retention metrics will not only help you understand the state of employee retention. While this goes above and beyond and helps you assess the effectiveness of your employee retention efforts. So take suitable measures now and make them work for the employees’ career development.

    ​At CGP Singapore, we have a comprehensive line of HR solutions that meet the needs of companies with distributed teams, including talent search, executive search, and contracting. Learn more about how we can help you bring great talents together across Asia.

    KNOW MORE

    FAQs

    1. What is the metric for employee retention?

    Employee retention refers to organizations’ practices and strategies to retain talented employees. The main objective is to reduce turnover during a specific period of time. The most common employee retention metrics are employee retention rate, retention rate per category, voluntary & involuntary turnover, employee satisfaction rate, and cost of employee turnover, and the list is endless.

    2. What is an example of a retention process?

    While there are many ways an organisation can retain its talented employees. However, as per the present circumstances, offering flexible work is the biggest example of an employee retention process. The employees remain productive and loyal to the organisation even when working from home. The reason is they feel valued by their employer as they can spend more time with their family when given the freedom to work from home.

  • The Connection Between Employee Recognition And Retention

    The Connection Between Employee Recognition And Retention

    Employee recognition has never been more critical than today, owing to the current marketplace scenario. Considering the knock-on effect of the Great Resignation and “quiet quitting,” human resources teams have started prioritising employee recognition.

    It is essential for employers to:

    • Recognise employers for their contributions

    • Make them feel connected to their work, and

    • Boost morale

    But what benefit would it do? Precisely, the collective energy of these factors leads to employee retention. This blog lays out the connection between employee recognition and retention.

    Before we proceed, if your organisation isn’t still aware of the potential of an employee recognition program or looking to optimize your current strategy, read our previous blog to understand How to Build an Employee Recognition Program that Inspires and Motivates.

    Employee Recognition: What it is & its importance?

    Recognising employees is acknowledging and letting your staff know their work and contributions are appreciated. Moreover, it aims to make the workplace feel more engaging and inclusive.

    You will be closer to realising your team’s full potential if you acknowledge their work regularly. And this act would result in employees staying loyal to the organisation.

    A little recognition goes a long way, and you’ll find:

    • Happier team

    • Motivated & highly competent employees

    • Increased employee retention

    However, they will likely lose interest if someone doesn’t feel appreciated while performing their job. Adding more to the woes, it’s hard for employees to gain a sense of accomplishment and value in their work.

    Connection Between Employee Recognition & Retention

    A recent Great Place To Work survey found that employee recognition was most important to 37% of employees. In addition, teams scoring in the top 20% of engagement experience 59% fewer turnovers.

    Unfortunately, a good number of organisations still fail to recognise their employees. As a consequence, people cease to give their best output. On the contrary, if employees are satisfied with their jobs, they become more enthusiastic about their work.

    RELATED READ: The Employee Productivity-Happiness Loop: How One Influences the Other

    A culture of periodic recognition and small gestures goes a long way and facilitates retaining top talent. Understand it with an example:

    George works at XYZ organisation and works toward fulfilling his personal growth and organisational goals. Additionally, he takes charge of giving his best and motivates his team to do the same. However, his Manager, Jenny, never recognises his efforts and performance and dismisses his ideas publicly. But she tries incorporating those ideas into her team’s functions under her name. George initially tries communicating his issues to Jenny but starts losing interest. Consequently, he takes leaves and ignores what is being done as a team. On top, he starts seeking better job opportunities. 

    What do you infer from the example? Without any doubt, the organisation won’t be able to retain George. So, here employee retention is directly proportional to the recognition George gets. The higher the appreciation and praise, the better it is for employers and employees.​

    Tips to Make Employee Recognition Programs Effective for Better Retention

    #1. Be specific and clear

    Employees always relate to meaningful recognition that is tied to a specific accomplishment. For instance, hitting a sales benchmark can be considered a metric to measure performance. This approach will motivate them to repeat appreciated behaviours to perform better.

    #2. Be creative

    Appreciation should go beyond just thanking an employee for their performance. Think creatively and understand what appreciation means to your people. More importantly, it should not only include cash rewards. You must understand what matters the most to your employees and devise a program. For example, employees can be rewarded with opportunities to upskill themselves through online courses, mentorship programs, or networking events.

    Alternatively, you can offer them to work flexibly or give them an extra day off to spend with their family. The market also sees organisations providing discount coupons or membership cards.

    #3. Be consistent

    Act promptly. Don’t wait for the year-end event to recognise your employees for a thing they achieved six months back. Mainly, recognition seems more meaningful to employees when given in time. Ensure appreciating great performers timely by having formal systems in place, and you will never have to let go of a star employee abruptly.​

    Conclusion

    The importance of employee recognition boils down to the need for one-on-one connection. Admittedly, sustaining a culture of recognition fosters employee retention.

    Tom Rath, an American consultant on employee engagement, strengths, and well-being and author, spoke about the potential of employee recognition.

    Employees who report receiving recognition and praise within the last seven days show increased productivity, get higher scores from customers, and have better safety records. They’re just more engaged at work.

    Employee recognition isn’t a single-stage function— it’s a company-wide strategy for everyone.

    Repeat after us:

    Recognise. Acknowledge. Celebrate the differences in each other. Foster a harmonious workplace.

    ALSO READ:

    FAQs

    1. Why is employee recognition important for retention?

    Recognition is an effective way to retain employees. Organisations that recognise their people’s roles and performance will likely have highly motivated and passionate employees. Recognised employees are happier and stick around for an extended period. Therefore, employers can expect their businesses to operate smoothly and make profits.

    2. How can an organization recognize and retain its employees?

    The best methods for organisations to recognise and retain their employees are:

    • Allow employees to speak their minds

    • Show appreciation & respect

    • Encourage input and feedback

    • Identify high performers and appreciate them

    • Don’t micromanage

    • Offer growth opportunities to the employees

    • Provide flexibility

  • Why Employee Upskilling Is Essential During Economic Uncertainty?

    Why Employee Upskilling Is Essential During Economic Uncertainty?

    The year 2023 started with economic uncertainty looming worldwide and is gradually becoming a real problem for organisations. Consequently, businesses may consider cost-cutting and slashing their workforce. There’s a lot of uncertainty, but organisations can pull down storm shutters to combat the unpredictable times ahead.

    Now, the question is how?

    LinkedIn Global Talent Trends, October 2022, reveals the importance of opportunities for upskilling and career development and how people place them on their top priorities.

    Additionally,  the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Reports states that because of the growing uptake of technology and automation, half of the workforce will need reskilling by 2025.

    In this blog, we will help you understand how employee upskilling focusing on relevant knowledge and skillsets to reduce the skill gap can help you improve work efficiency and innovation rate, thus nullifying the effects of current market uncertainty.

    Reasons to Upskill Employees

    #1. Boosts Motivation & Morale

    Imagine having two different teams. While team A comprises continuous learners, team B has people who don’t learn much and perform only what’s required.

    Which team would be motivated and committed to producing the best output? Without any doubt, it would be team A.

    Unarguably, if your employees come across a lack of learning opportunities, their work will start becoming burdensome. But, on the flip side, employee upskilling always brings job satisfaction among employees. Sending your team for upskilling courses shows your commitment to their professional development, increasing motivation at work, increasing productivity, reducing attrition rates, and improving job satisfaction. As a result, there arises no point in disagreeing on the benefits of having an invested and engaged team to fight economic instability.​

    #2. Saves on Recruitment Costs

    Organisations that train existing employees are said to have better talent retention rates and save the cost of replacement hiring. Of course, every time an employee leaves, it brings a financial burden, and things worsen during economically uncertain times. Nonetheless, upskilling your existing employees is a much more cost-effective way to hire and train replacements, especially when the economy is unsettled.

    Employee upskilling makes the organisation more agile and responsive to changing times without disrupting the organisation’s social capital.​

    #3. Prepares a Well-prepared Team for the Future 

    Employee upskilling helps team members develop varied skills and abilities. On top of that, it makes them prepared for the changes that lie ahead in the market. Once you identify the benefits of skill programs, there will be no looking back. Your employees will get proof that their career development matters to you.

    When the economy suffers turbulence, your organisation can fill in the gaps without new hires. In other words, upskilling your team will help you have your existing team drive toward goals by playing more than one organisational role. Thus, saving the company from the odds of economic uncertainty.​

    #4. Helps Workers See the Bigger Picture

    In the wake of economic uncertainty, millions of organisations like yours have understood the importance of upskilling. Straight from the shoulder, employee upskilling not only focuses on a promotion or a salary increase but also embraces other crucial factors. While an efficient upskilling program can boost employees’ confidence at work, it also improves their quality of life.

    Career advancement leads to better work-life balance and instills a sense of purpose while making work more interesting. Moreover, modern-day organisations also could nurture better employee experience and create a healthy workplace. Therefore, you can always maintain the best levels of talent retention even during uncertain times by making them reflect on what they might gain.​

    #5. Perseveres Relationships and Teamwork

    Upskilling your employees help improve collaboration and productivity. And when we mention improved teamwork and productivity, we indicate its benefits for your organisation during economically uncertain times. The fact that only some new hires can fit into the role as per your expectations, employee upskilling will keep you afloat without fail. Additionally, you can maintain the best composition of your company’s social capital.

    At this point, you have learned the benefits of employee upskilling, but we haven’t concluded. It would be considered incomplete if we didn’t discuss how to level up the benefits of upskilling. So let’s have a look.

    Get an up-to-date view of ever-changing employment landscape in Southeast Asia to optimise your recruitment strategies to retain top talent.

    Download 2023 Salary Trends Report​

    Getting Through the Uncertainty Ahead

    Leaders must adopt a transparent approach

    Leaders must see uncertainty in the economy as an opportunity to recap and make the necessary adjustments. An adaptive approach by leaders will provide more clarity to employees about the short-term goals and priorities of the organisation.

    Encourage Team Collaboration

    Nurture a work environment that promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing among employees. Nothing can overpower a strong connection of an employee with their colleagues and further strengthens company culture. You just need to know the ways to develop a high-performance team.

    Understand the skills gap

    Identify the difference between the skills your people have and the skills your company needs in the future. It will give you a better idea of designing and developing your skills program to fill the gap.​

    Leveling up: Where to Begin With Employee Upskilling?

    Upskilling could be in any form. From business courses to webinars, build learning paths with your employees customised to the skills they wish to acquire, and get insights into their progress to ensure they’re on the right track. Here we have collated some of the resources

    • SkillsFuture Series – which provides training courses across emerging skills in the four economic growth pillars – Digital, Green, Care, and Industry 4.0.

    • Udemy Business is another useful online learning platform that offers courses on technical and soft skills alike

    • At LinkedIn Learning with Lynda, where you can access business, technology, and creative courses taught by industry experts from various sectors and get course recommendations based on your employees’ unique skill sets.

    • Edx.org is another useful resource offering expert-led to build career-critical skills – ranging from executive education to professional certifications to build today’s in-demand skills.

    Final Words

    Upskilling provides benefits to both employees and organisations. Times have changed, and money is not the only factor that motivates the workforce. Currently, job seekers are looking for meaningful jobs aligned with their professional goals. In that case, organisations can offer upskilling opportunities to their people and make their job roles more purposeful.

    Our exceptional recruitment consultants at CGP Singapore’s team can help you spot suitable candidates and fill the vacant positions within your organisation.

    We pride ourselves on our personalized approach to matching top talent with the perfect job opportunity. Our team of experienced positive recruiters uses the latest technology and modern techniques to ensure a seamless and successful hiring process.

    Get in Touch

    FAQs

    How can employee upskilling help during economic uncertainty?

    Upskilling helps employees prepare for the future of work and boosts their competitiveness. Employers offering skills programs to their employees will help future-proof their organisation and sail through uncertain times due to economic reasons. Moreover, employers that invest in their people always gain their employees’ trust and loyalty.

    How can employee upskilling help with career development?

    Skill development happens over time and is a natural process. However, people who choose to upskill themselves in a planned way can get more benefits, such as

    • Fosters continuous self-improvement

    • Increases competitiveness in the market

    • Helps secure better jobs

    • Qualifies an employee for promotion

    • Assists in progressing toward goals

  • Using Employee Engagement Surveys To Drive Recruiting

    Using Employee Engagement Surveys To Drive Recruiting

    It has now become obvious that employee engagement is acritical for a company’s success, given its links to job satisfaction and employee morale. Companies can achieve crucial competitive advantages with highly engaged employees which in turn help organisations achieve their mission, execute strategy and generate important business results.

    Thus, it is imperative that you are regularly measuring engagement efforts and analysing feedback to make informed decisions about attracting and retaining top talent. This is where Employee Engagement Surveys can assist you in gathering this information.

    Why is Employee Engagement Data Important?

    An employee engagement survey can be defined as a questionnaire that measures employees’ dedication, motivation, and enthusiasm for their jobs. Veritably, such surveys collect quantifiable and unquantifiable data on engagement drivers and areas of improvement.

    Employee engagement data provides information to organisations that help them make better decisions about benefits they offer employees and employee development programs. Another use of the data is driving the recruitment process.

    Modern-day job seekers look for information about the work environment and culture. Therefore, you can use this data to provide them with accurate information on relevant factors.

    This blog will help organisational leaders and hiring managers to learn how to drive talent acquisition and foster employee motivation and retention.

    Employee Engagement Surveys – What are the key advantages?

    #1. Measures the Engagement and Satisfaction of New Employees

    An employee engagement survey holds substantial importance when measuring employee engagement and satisfaction. Studies have shown that new hires will likely quit their jobs within the first month of joining if they don’t find company culture matching their expectations. Therefore, conducting these surveys in the initial stages of an employee’s career is essential to determine their vision and expectations.

    Make your purpose and the list of survey questions attuned to determine the engagement levels of new hires. Consequently, you can use the data to make your recruitment process more meaningful. Also, ensure to ask relevant questions from the employees to check how satisfied or unsatisfied they are and whether they are learning.​

    #2. Tracks Specific Employee Satisfaction Targets

    While an annual or bi-annual employee engagement survey encompasses every aspect of an employee’s life, pulse surveys differ. As a matter of fact, a pulse survey focuses on a specific metric and conducts frequent reviews, which boosts employee engagement.

    These surveys are conducted once a month and are short. And the results of pulse surveys allow employers to compare them and track changes. Finally, hiring managers can use these results to improve the onboarding process.​

    #3. Attracts Top Talent

    Nowadays, job seekers using social media to learn about an organisation have become a norm. For that reason, you must feature positive survey results and promote them across your social media handles. Additionally, you can also speak through employee testimonials and showcase the happiness of your people.

    Sharing results on social media has credibility because job candidates are likely to believe the current employees of an organisation. Indeed, you can expect more job applications if your employees discuss the organisation’s work culture and growth opportunities in the testimonial videos. Besides, your company can leverage its potential to attract top talent as well as improve employee retention rates by conducting timely surveys and ushering in their roles’ longevity.​

    #4. Assesses the Onboarding Process

    How to judge the effectiveness of your onboarding process? It is a known fact that employees tend to quit their new jobs during the initial months, and you can never wholly determine the resignation or quitting reasons. This is probably due to the absence of employee engagement surveys. This is where employee engagement surveys play a critical role.

    Conducting employee surveys for new team members assesses the onboarding process effectively. Ascertain the effectiveness of your onboarding process by asking relevant questions from the new hires. To make them feel valued and improve the survey results, you can also seek their feedback on how to improve, for instance, day-to-day activities.

    ​ALSO READ: 7 Common Onboarding Mistakes Companies Make And How To Avoid Them​

    #5. Fosters a Positive Environment

    While you likely see the benefits of employee engagement surveys for your organisation, the employees might feel missed out. By this, we mean to indicate the importance of opening the line of communication between the management and employees. When you seek their feedback, their goals start aligning with your organisation’s mission & vision. Moreover, the employees get instilled with a sense of security and believe the organisation is responsive to their ideas.

    This leads to improved retention rates, further boosting the organisation’s reputation and, thus, drives the recruitment process.​

    Tips To Better Use Employee Engagement Data for Talent Acquisition

    1. Engage Potential Employees Initially – Make sure you devote time to communicate with the job candidates and focus on the importance of employee engagement and how they perceive it. Once they show interest, introduce the current employee engagement data and tell them how you do it. This will give an idea of how working together will be in the future— to you and the candidate.

    2. Be Open & Honest – Prevent your organisation from portraying an image that befools job seekers. Instead, you must present authentic information so the candidates can make an informed decision. In other words, provide what the job seekers want and show them accurate data to attract genuine candidates.

    3. Build a Team of Brand Ambassadors – The first thing you must understand is that your organisation is a brand. Hence, you should build a team of employee ambassadors, encourage them to share why they love working with your entity and spread the word. It will surely derive great results from your recruitment process.

    Conclusion

    Employee engagement surveys can be counted as equivalent to storytelling. How? Well! It narrates your organisation’s story to the world.

    The most valuable assets of your organisation are your employees. Therefore, take their opinion seriously and mark the beginning of improvements in employee experience and recruitment.

    ​At CGP, we have a comprehensive line of HR solutions that meet the needs of companies with distributed teams, including talent search, executive search, and contracting. Learn more about how we can help you bring great talents together across Asia.

    KNOW MORE

    ALSO READ:

  • 7 Common Onboarding Mistakes Companies Make And How To Avoid Them

    7 Common Onboarding Mistakes Companies Make And How To Avoid Them

    Onboarding a new employee can be a make-and-break experience for both the employee and the employer. Good onboarding experience can make your employees your future brand advocates, but at the same time, a poor experience can lead to lower confidence, lower engagement, and even a risk of quitting the job.  Did you know?

    • According to research, 28% of hired employees will quit their new job within three months of joining. This fact has a lot to do with the onboarding process.

    • Another study reveals that 88% of new hires think their employer did a poor job of onboarding them.

    Don’t forget that hiring and retaining talent is costly, and no employer would want to see their team among this 28% or 88%. Would you?

    Notably, to many employers, onboarding means the candidate entering the doors of their workplace and signing the contract. But do you feel onboarding is restricted, as defined here?

    Well! It is not, indeed. Factually, employers often fail to understand the essence of the onboarding process. It is crucial to employee engagement from day 1 of their joining. This article will help you identify common onboarding mistakes and how to avoid them.

    ​

    “Onboarding is the magic moment when new employees decide to stay engaged or become disengaged.”

    Upcoming Webinar:

    Join our free webinar on March 29th at 11 am SGT to hear from a panel of recruitment experts on how you can deliver a positive experience throughout the candidate-employee journey and minimize the onboarding gaps to minimize talent impact. Register Now!

    Upcoming Webinar - Beyond Hiring: Onboarding Strategies for Candidate Engagement & Retention

    Common Employee Onboarding Mistakes 

    #1 Delaying the onboarding process

    Employers do not start pre-boarding by supplying the necessary paperwork ahead of time. Consequently, employees feel adrift and ignored, as the company doesn’t prioritise its onboarding process. A bigger threat is that until the employee joins your organisation, your new hire might still communicate with other employers and get tempted to accept their offer.

    How to avoid it?

    • Begin your process, and don’t wait until the employee starts working officially for the organisation.

    • Provide them with the essential documents before they join so they have ample time to read, digest, and develop a connection.

    • Take care of the administrative work in advance and chart out their first day.

    • Incorporate modern onboarding tools to let new hires access their intro dashboard, and upload documents at their convenience.

    Related Read: How to Keep Candidates Engaged – Pre- and Post-Offer Management

    #2 Overwhelming your new hires

    Overloading your team’s newest members is detrimental to the onboarding process. Adding to the employee’s woes, providing them with all the information in one go can make them anxious and encourages procrastination. Besides, if you leave your employee alone to figure out things from there, they might feel excluded and burdened.

    How to avoid it?

    • Streamline the process with a slow & focused onboarding strategy.

    • Consider having an internal document that answers the questions pertinent to policies & procedures.

    • Ensure regular check-ins with your new hire with a more consistent and structured approach.

    • Extend some processes like peer and management introductions over a week or more.

    #3. Setting unclear goals & expectations

    Setting clear goals and expectations is synonymous with employee engagement. However, employers that set unclear or unrealistic goals make way for the disorganisation of their workforce.

    ​

    It has been witnessed that employees with goals are 3.6 times more likely to be committed to their organisation.

    How to avoid it?

    • On average, it takes six months for an employee to feel entirely prepared. Therefore, you must use that time to check their progress and seek feedback.

    • Be transparent & upfront with every new hire.

    • Build a central place that displays company goals and team initiatives.

    • Let top leaders on company goals educate managers to educate further and guide the team.

    #4. Ignoring generational gaps

    Having unbiased onboarding practices isn’t wrong. But a general onboarding process may leave certain employees in a state of uncertainty regarding their roles. Additionally, sticking to the stereotypical onboarding process won’t let the new hires feel included. And expecting a baby boomer to require the same onboarding as provided to Gen Zer lands employers in chaos.

    How to avoid it?

    • Have a flexible onboarding process to suit new hires of all ages.

    • Ask hires what onboarding method they would prefer.

    • Keep in mind the person’s age before proceeding.

    • Give them time to experiment with all the available options.

    #5. Considering onboarding as just completing paperwork

    Looking at onboarding as an administrative task limits the process’s potential. In other words, most employers don’t recognise it as integrating the person into the organisation, its culture & environment.

    How to avoid it?

    • Connect new hires to someone inside the organisation to serve as an ambassador.

    • Shoot an email to the new member before their first day about what to wear, where to park the vehicle, and more.

    • Ask the new hires to complete a questionnaire about their favourite food & drinks to treat them upon joining.

    • Make them feel valued & welcomed rather than just getting the paperwork done.

    Related Read: Best Practices for Positive Employee Experience and Retention Rate

    #6. Failing to provide management support

    When organisations don’t consider employee onboarding a part of routine responsibilities, it doesn’t seem very easy. As a result, they fail to devote time to the onboarding process as they see it outside their job role.

    How to avoid it?

    • Organise and schedule the onboarding process well in advance.

    • Provide ample time for supervisors to conduct one-to-one meetings with the new hires.

    • Educate personnel from the management on the importance of avoiding onboarding mistakes.

    • Provide leaders with tools & resources to provide their input.

    #7. Negative feedback loop

    ​

    75% of employees who do receive feedback feel that it is incredibly important to their work.

    Things become challenging for the employees when employers feel tempted to move to the next task without assessing their performance. Furthermore, employees also start to feel disinterested if they aren’t provided with timely feedback or asked for one.

    How to avoid it?

    • Provide feedback to the new hires and ask them to identify loopholes in the process.

    • Gather & analyse feedback received from the new hires.

    • Ensure continuous conversation.

    Conclusion

    The corporate world is going through the “Quiet Quitting” phase that has brought a downfall in the current scenario. Upon identifying the reasons, it has been observed that inappropriate onboarding processes have led the market here.

    Related Read: Quiet Quitting, what is it and how can you combat it?

    As Amy Hirsh Robinson, Principal of Interchange Group, a mobile application consulting firm in Los Angeles, stated: “Onboarding is the magic moment when new employees decide to stay engaged or become disengaged.”

    Aim to live and let new hires live the magic moment while setting clear expectations and following the correct procedures. If people enjoy their work, they will be more engaged and productive.

    At CGP Singapore, we promote a healthy onboarding process for new hires to assist them in adapting to the work environment. By doing so, we see ourselves setting an example in the market for other employers to follow.

    We hope to have covered all the common onboarding mistakes and ways to tackle them in advance.

    Need a recruitment agency? Work with CGP today!

    Let CGP Singapore help you find suitable candidates for your growing organisation. We can be your recruitment partner of choice to guide you through the complete hiring journey so you can offer an exceptional experience to your potential candidate.

    ​

    FAQs

    1. What are the 5C’s of onboarding?

    The 5C’s of onboarding make the employees feel valued & admired and are as follows:

    1. Compliance with organisational rules & standards – HR Managers must begin the onboarding process by informing the new hires about your company’s rules and policies. This is done to make them aware of the necessity to comply with them.

    2. Clarification of organisation responsibilities & expectations – This component deals with informing new hires about their duties and expectations of the organisation from them.

    3. Cultural introduction to attract & retain required talent – HR Managers must give a fascinating introduction to the new hires about the organisation’s culture to earn their loyalty.

    4. Connections building for optimal outcomes – An HR Manager’s role is to ensure an engaging connection with the newly hired team and assist them with their role.

    5. Check back during the transition period  – Recruiting Manager must properly check new employees, especially during transition, to ensure employee satisfaction.

    2. What are the three phases of employee onboarding?

    • Hype phase: This phase is the pre-induction and starts before the employee enters the premises. Companies can send animations explaining the company’s vision and mission and what is expected from them on the first day.

    • Immersion phase: The phase begins on day one and signals the employee’s growth. This intends to let the employees immerse themselves in the business.

    • Cultivate phase: This phase is about the employee’s learning and growth within the business and reassures the employee’s decision to join the company.

    3. What is an onboarding checklist?

    An onboarding checklist is a way for hiring managers to organise the steps to guide new hires through their initial days at the company. In addition, it provides a starting point for procedures that the recruiting managers must follow.

  • How Can Employee Engagement Benefit The Company?

    How Can Employee Engagement Benefit The Company?

    “What is the miracle drug to mitigate workplace challenges?” This is believed to be the most common question asked by every employer.

    Employees feel that “It is how committed we are to the work, goals, and values of the organisation, which is a result of the organisation’s approach towards making us feel valued and engaged.”

    Before understanding how employee engagement can benefit the company, let us decipher the term employee engagement. It is one of the critical indicators in gauging work satisfaction and refers to how happy the employees are with their professional roles and passionate about what they do.

    ​

    As Ken Blanchard said,

    “Connect the dots between individual roles and the goals of the organization. When people see that connection, they get a lot of energy out of work. They feel the importance, dignity, and meaning in their job.”

    Top recruitment firms in Singapore advocate that organisational success starts with employee engagement, and leaders are responsible for keeping employees inspired, informed, and valued. Teams go from being good to being great when they are genuinely engaged. Let’s explore this more closely.​

    Benefits of Employee Engagement

    Boosts Team Performance

    Employee engagement benefits the team as the employees naturally perform better when they work with a group of engaged employees. Amazingly, employee morale is very contagious and spreads faster across the organisation.

    Employers that motivate their people are more successful with higher organisational profitability. So, whether you are trying to engage your team by giving them challenges or opportunities, you do it for everyone’s good.​

    Improves Retention Rates

    As per a 2021 study, 73 percent of employees would consider quitting their jobs even if they weren’t looking for a job change at the moment. Employees cite lack of recognition, internal office conflicts, and lack of pay raise as some of the reasons for quitting.

    Engaging employees can reduce turnover and hiring costs.

    According to Forbes, engaged employees are more likely to stay motivated and committed to their employer. This factor drives the organisation forward and empowers it to achieve its goals efficiently.​

    Reduces Burnout & Improves Mental Wellness

    The World Health Organization defines employee burnout as an “occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,”

    An organisation that bothers to keep the stress level among employees under control brings good results– for itself & employees. Additionally, conducting a workplace wellness program leads to better employee experience and engagement.​

    Fosters Employee Loyalty

    When you keep your employees engaged, they will start developing an emotional connection with the organisation that will foster loyalty on their part. Other factors that strengthen their loyalty are making them feel appreciated, giving them autonomy to make some decisions in urgent situations, and not micromanaging them.

    ALSO READ: Best Practices for Positive Employee Experience and Retention Rate​

    More Teamwork & Innovation

    Healthy competition among teams makes the workplace healthier. Therefore, it is necessary to recognise people’s performance and attitude towards work. You can make your people work well on a team level by praising and appreciating them.

    Engaged teams also become a bunch of great innovators who work relentlessly to think beyond their capacity and bring out-of-the-box ideas to the table. And because the top recruitment firms in Singapore collaborate only with organisations that uphold their employee engagement strategies, it becomes necessary for every organisation to keep employees engaged in getting the best talent.​

    Better Sales & Customer Service

    Anyone can become a salesman, but not every salesman can be equally efficient. So then, where does the difference lie? The level of motivation, persistence, and engagement a salesman possesses makes him stand out from the crowd.

    The correlation between positive employee experience and positive customer experience proves the importance of keeping employees engaged. The more engaged your sales & customer service team, the better.​

    Promotes Growth

    Increased growth includes but is not limited to selling more products or services. Engaged employees organically assist organisations in strengthening their bond with customers, bringing a 10% increase in customer ratings. Further, it can result in a 20% increase in sales & profitability.

    There has been enough evidence proving happy employees make happy customers. And when you have happy customers, the organisation will itself grow.​

    Generates Employee Advocacy

    Employee advocacy is the biggest perk of employee engagement. Team members start feeling happy and proud to work for and with their employers and naturally become brand ambassadors.

    The concept positively impacts marketing, branding, and talent acquisition efforts and exposes your brand to a broader audience.​

    Final Thoughts

    Employee engagement isn’t another corporate buzzword but is the kingpin that stands to support an organisation’s growth. It’s a process and an ongoing commitment to keeping the employees engaged. People want to be treated as people and know they matter.

    Cornerstone Global Partners, the most sought-after recruitment agency in Singapore, advocates organisations must give an unrivalled commitment to employee engagement. Having effective strategies in place helps create a better work culture, reduce staff turnover, increase productivity, and build better work and customer relationships.

    “A group of people get together and exist as an institution we call a company so they are able to accomplish something collectively that they could not accomplish separately – they make a contribution to society, a phrase which sounds trite but is fundamental.” – David Packard, the late co-founder of Hewlett-Packard.

    We are among the top recruitment firms in Singapore and follow this quote and spread its importance to let organisations acknowledge the necessity to keep the employees engaged.

    Help your employees win at work!

    RELATED READ:

    FAQs

      1. What is employee engagement?

    As defined by some experts, employee engagement refers to the degree of commitment a person feels to the organisation and its goals. While some explain it as the extent to which a person cares about his job. Engaged employees care about their work and keep a check on how their work is contributing to the organisation.

      1. Why is employee engagement important?

    Employee engagement has been proven to reduce staff turnover, boost productivity & efficiency, improve customer service, and increase profitability. In addition, an engaged team makes it easier to run a business by letting the leaders focus on higher-value activities like innovation, process improvement, and growth & development to keep the organisation running smoothly.

  • How To Keep Candidates Engaged: Pre and Post Offer Management?

    How To Keep Candidates Engaged: Pre and Post Offer Management?

    5 tips to improve your chances with candidates for an accepted offer

    As we approach the end of 2022 and head into 2023, trends like the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting will still continue to shake up both the workforce and the workplace. Given the very competitive job market, it’s getting difficult for hiring managers and recruiters to find skilled talent more than ever.

    Despite the challenges, once you find a suitable candidate you need to put candidate management at the top of your priorities and provide an exceptional candidate experience so you don’t lose them to your competitors who are making an effort.

    Fallout can happen at any stage and one of the keys to avoiding fallout is correct “Candidate Management” at both the pre-offer and post-offer stages.

    Shirley Tan – Manager, Financial Services Recruitment Team at Cornerstone Global Partners Singapore – shares 5 key tips for effective candidate pre- and post-offer management strategy and how you can keep engaging the candidate in meaningful ways.

    Qualifying Throughout by Setting Correct Expectations

    Personalize your approach and tell your candidates how their experience or skills can add value to the new role and organization. You must share more clarity on the position’s Key Result Areas (KRA) and their correlation with business impact. At the same time, avoid sugar-coating any details on responsibilities/employer or setting any false flowery pictures which could lead to wrong expectations.

    Sample questions you can use to check candidate’s expectations:

    • What is the top motivation to move/push factor for a candidate?
    • After interviewing with the hiring manager – what do they think about job scope, chemistry with hiring manager, and alignment with career motivation?
    • Check if candidates have any concerns. Were they addressed during the interview with the hiring manager?
    • Ask about your candidate’s effective notice period. What is the effective timeline for a candidate to join the new role? Do they have any potential plans like traveling, or pre-booked holidays that may affect the timeline to start work with your client? Or critical projects that may extend the notice period?
    ​ As per Deloitte’s report, 83% of talent say a negative interview experience can change their mind about a role or company they once liked. Furthermore, 87% of talent say a positive interview experience can change their mind about a role or company they once doubted.

    Maintain a Balance of Salary Expectations

    As a topic that is so difficult to tackle, no one expects the conversation to flow naturally. It is important to encourage transparency between the employer and your candidate setting the right expectations from the beginning about the role and compensation.

    Always ensure the candidate’s current salary and expected salary are aligned with the budget shared by the client to save disappointment and time on opportunities that do not match them. This can build a stronger relationship, thus allowing you to clients hire the right talent as well as help your candidates get hired for the roles matching their skill set, well-suited to everyone’s requirements.

    Sample questions you can use, or your candidate might expect from you:

    • What is the next salary adjustment candidate is expecting? What is the next variable bonus payout? Is the salary information updated?
    • Do we know the client’s bonus and increment cycle and tested how it impacts candidate expectations?
    • Have you managed to align the candidate’s salary expectations with your client’s compensation mix (right compensation mix e.g., low base, high variable bonus, or vice versa)?
    • Have you managed salary expectations throughout?
    • Have you noted candidate’s typical increment trend from job to job/ within the same job?

    Watch Out for Any External Influence

    After you release an offer, it is vital that you build a deeper relationship and rapport with your candidate so that you can outbid your competitors for the same candidate. Part of being an effective candidate management, as a recruiter, is understanding candidates’ motivation behind moving jobs. If the sole motivation of a candidate in changing jobs is a pay rise, then there is a chance that is counter-offer situation arises, and you’ll lose your candidate. Be sure that you remain in contact with the candidate.

    By keeping in touch and understanding how the candidate’s current employer reacts to resignation or in case of a counteroffer, you can always stay at the top of their mind and be open about discussion to help in their decision-making process.

    ​ “Clear, consistent communication with your candidates helps build positive relationships and maintains candidate engagement throughout your recruitment process.” – LinkedIn

    Sample questions you can use to strengthen your relationship with candidate:

    • Have your qualified candidate’s relationship with the current boss and the possibility of a counteroffer?
    • Have you scoped if there are internal opportunities within candidate’s current company which can retain your candidate?
    • Have you qualified if there are other external opportunities your candidate is exploring, not just your client’s? How do they compare to your client’s?
    • Have you qualified the candidate’s family/networks/trusted referees etc. that may influence his/her decision?
    • Have you qualified if candidate has any bond to current company that will affect the timeline to move?
    • Have you checked if there are any restraints of trade/non-competition clauses that must be observed and the implications?
    • Do you sense anything (trust your guts!) beyond what your candidates share verbally? Any cues of discomfort?
    • Have you scoped out family support/logistics that will influence the decision? E.g., childcare, ailing parents

    RELATED READ: 10 Proven Ways for Rapid Recruitment​

    Offer Guidance for a Smooth and Stress-free Resignation While Maintaining Relationship

    1. Emotional appeal – Resignation can be an emotional roller coaster. It’s a life event that involves a relationship with the employer, boss, and team. It is natural to feel bad about leaving teammates or employer in the lurch. Candidates might feel that they are not grateful or loyal to the employer who has nurtured them, supported or brought them in. You can guide and prepare your candidate with ideas to resign from their job with professionalism and respect.
    2. Counter Offers – As mentioned above, counteroffers can be expected. They may be in the form of money, promotion in rank, expansion in the job scope or even an offer to switch to a different department. Many times, this may be in the form of a promise which is to be executed ‘soon’ or even something that employers put into effect straight away.
    3. Help candidates in decision-making and respect that. At the same time, it is important for candidates to understand the reasons that prompted them to decide to take up the new opportunity. The decision can be tough. Some key questions that can help candidates take decisions could be:
      • As a candidate, have they reconsidered whether they deserve the counteroffer or not and weighed it with a new opportunity?
      • If you deserve it, why wait until you resign before they suddenly promise to give it to you or give it to you?
      • If you do not deserve it, why are they giving it to you now?
      • What are the consequences of being given something they did not think you deserve but are forced to give to you because they need you to stay?
      • Does the new offer better align with their expectations and career goals?
    4. Refusing to accept your resignation – As suggested above – resignation is a roller coaster and can be for the employer too. It might be unexpected for the employer. The resignation guidelines I am sharing here have been tried and tested to be successful over numerous resignations I have guided my candidates through over the years.
      • Do not disclose the new company or new role – if your candidates are asked about the new company and new role they are going to, tell them to politely tell their boss that they are happy to let them know close to the start of work date. This is to prevent their employer from having information to compel them into a comparison conversation. These conversations can be very long and draining and may involve multiple emotionally weary discussions.
      • Show gratitude and ask for blessings – You can tell candidates to show gratitude for the relationship and the experience they have gained from their current employer. It is important for them that they get blessings before they embark on a new career journey. Asking for their blessings always works – it will take a very hard-hearted boss to still say no when you have humbly asked for it.
      • Express empathy and explain your handover – Candidates need to clarify that they are available and will proactively support the handover. A seamless handover can minimise disruption to the company and help maintain business confidence and continuity.​

    Continuous Candidate Engagement

    Candidate engagement is the one area you can make an impact. There is no defined process of candidate management. It is a combination of processes such as effective communication, experience and building relationships that orchestrate high-quality interactions with your candidate. Starting from attracting quality applicants to the application and interview processes, as well as post-offer engagement, candidate experience can vary from company to company and personnel.

    Overall, the candidate-centric approach helps you build sustainable relationships with job seekers, enhancing their overall experience which will, in turn, promote employer branding. Any experience, whether good or bad, affects your whole talent acquisition strategy.

    DON’T FORGET!

    A caring candidate experience is all in communications. It’s also all about creating remarkable candidate journeys by engaging with your candidates at the right time, in the right way, throughout the entire process.

    ​​CGP Singapore is Here to Help

    Are you a hiring manager or talent acquisition professional seeking talent for your organization or to expand your team? Find an expert recruitment consultant to guide you through your recruitment needs while offering an exceptional experience to potential candidates throughout their hiring journey. The powerful blend of top recruiters and market intelligence helps us deliver market-leading results for our candidates and clients.

    Find Consultant Now

    ​ALSO READ:

    ABOUT SHIRLEY TAN

    Shirley Tan has 15 years of experience in the Insurance and Financial Services industry. She has had 6 rewarding years as an executive recruiter which has elevated her passion beyond just hiring people but to creating and implementing global recruiting philosophies.

  • Quiet Quitting, what Is It And How Can We Combat It?

    Quiet Quitting, what Is It And How Can We Combat It?

    In this post covid era, quite a few novel behaviours have emerged that have encouraged new sound bites, discussions, and hot topics one of which is “Quiet Quitting.”

    For some, this is a ridiculous term giving voice to lazy workers who want to get paid for doing the absolute minimum but for others, it’s a very real epidemic that has seen current and potential employers rethink their retention strategies so as not to lose talent.

    What is Quiet Quitting?

    Wikipedia states that “Quiet quitting is an application of work-to-rule, in which employees work within defined work hours and engage in work-related activities solely within those hours. Despite the name, the philosophy of quiet quitting is not connected to quitting a job outright, but rather doing precisely what the job requires.” In essence, it refers to employees who put no more effort into their jobs than absolutely necessary.

    Ultimately, there seems to be a generational divide which has been present for years whereby Millennials have been asking “What can my employer do for me?” which was a definitive shift from the, “What can I do for my employer” mentality of previous times.

    It is fact that Quiet Quitting is definitely something that is more popular among younger workers, but that is not to say there has been a change in the attitudes of older employees, especially since the covid epidemic.​

    Workforce Dissatisfaction – Time to Address It

    Another buzz phrase that has raised its head in this new era is “The Great Resignation” where people have decided to leave rather than do unfulfilling work. This together with Quiet Quitting refers to workforce dissatisfaction that must be addressed and which can no longer be ignored.

    As a Generation X, I was intrigued to see people rather not work than have no income to speak of or in fact a much lower income should they choose to do what they want rather than what they needed to. Covid then introduced WFH or Hybrid working and significantly reinforced the notion that work is an activity, not a place that was embraced by both young and old. This could definitely be down to a previously undiscussed level of collective burnout that employees were experiencing but had not addressed.​

    Hidden Signs Your Employees are Quiet Quitting at Work

    As both an Employer and Recruiter, I would strongly recommend that you recognise hidden signs your employees are in Quiet Quitting mode at work. Of course, there are many signs but one basic sign is noticing an undesired change in behavior in the way people interact with others. Other signs could include getting disengaged from the work, no more taking initiatives, isolating from the team and having a changed perception of work.

    Disengagement in work

    Disengaged employees often exhibit a slow working tempo, are easily distracted, and have minimal contribution. They basically demonstrate an overall lack of interest.

    A lack of initiative

    At some point in time, employees tend to lose interest in putting their best foot forward and give up on their responsibilities to initiate things that can bring great results for the organisation.

    Individual isolation from the team

    Isolation at work is a type of social isolation that can fill an employee with a feeling of being separate from others. Gradually, the person appears disengaged and stops interacting with co-workers, ultimately impacting overall productivity.

    Changed perception of work

    Employee output and motivation are directly proportional to their perception of work. Employees can never feel satisfied with their job if their perception of work and the organisation’s vision & mission are not aligned.

    ​Related Read: Best Practices for Positive Employee Experience and Retention Rate

    ​What leaders can do to combat quiet quitting?

    Cornerstone Global Partners (CGP) recently completed an online poll to ask “What leaders can do to combat quiet quitting?”

    We received 125 votes.

    Stay Always Updated with CGP Singapore. Follow Us on LinkedIn

    ​Let’s talk about each one of them.

    Build relationships, be upfront, and be open about workload

    No organisation can ever succeed if it doesn’t communicate well with its team members. Leaders ought to cultivate an environment that values relationships within teams and is open about expectations while letting employees speak up and share their side of the story when required.

    Re-engage and motivate your employees – show gratitude

    Valuing employees and making them feel a part of the organisation can bring exemplary results. Leaders must motivate employees by acknowledging their efforts and rewarding them. This also boosts the employee retention rate.

    Encourage sustainable growth – invest in employee growth

    A company grows when its employees do. Most employees believe a company that values their growth & development is more likely to have their loyalty. The management must ensure uninterrupted learning for its employees, so they continue to evolve.

    Maintain boundaries and respect work-life balance

    An organisation’s environment should also promote respecting boundaries and being mindful of work-life balance to march forward in the right direction.​

    In the end…

    In addition, it is integral that employers listen to employees and foster a praising and awarding culture. If people enjoy their work, no matter where it is they are working from, then a natural outcome will be more engagement and productivity.

    At CGP Singapore, We help employees better manage work and personal needs by offering Flexible Work Arrangements. We are committed towards building a better workplace and work environment for our staff, thus helping our employees to achieve good work-life balance and a fulfilling career. Share your interest if you are looking to join our unique, fun, and innovative business and become future hiring experts. Know More Here