Pay rise no incentive for a nine-to-five worker

Want to retain your best employees? Surprising research suggests that although money does talk, there are other factors to consider for retention of Singapore workers

Traditional nine-to-five hours no longer suit many Singapore workers, with nearly half saying they would opt for more flexible working hours over higher pay in a recent survey.

According to the latest Kelly Global Workforce Index, 45% of employees in Singapore would consider giving up higher pay or a promotion for a more flexible schedule, 55% would for the opportunity to learn new skills and 57% would for improved work-life balance.

“While pay is a key driver of employee attraction and retention, the survey shows that workers in Singapore also value their professional growth and personal fulfilment, and are willing to make sacrifices to achieve them,” Kelly Services Singapore vice president and managing director Mark Hall said.

The figures were lower than those for the Asia-Pacific region as a whole. Two-thirds of Asia-Pac employees said they would consider sacrificing higher pay or career advancement for the opportunity to learn new skills, 65% for improved work-life balance, 48% for a more flexible work schedule, and 37% for the chance to perform more socially conscious work.

Other key findings from Kelly found that 29% of Singaporean workers were interested in moving overseas for the right job, but 36% said their destination of choice was within Asia-Pacific.

The results come as Singapore-based global IT solutions and services provider Dimension Data today announced it has been certified as one of the top five employers in the world for outstanding employee offerings, based on annual independent research carried out by the Top Employers Institute.

Dimension Data helps retain talent across all levels of the organisation by connecting employees with education opportunities, the company’s group executive for human resources Marilyn Chaplin said.

“In the highly competitive IT landscape, Dimension Data has a clear strategy to attract, engage, develop and retain talent across all levels of the organisation. Our innovative Fast-Track programme helps attract and retain young talent in our organisation, and our global Leadership Forum provides a multi-layered approach to support the ongoing development of our leaders. The investments we make in our people empower them to grow their skills and stay current in the fast-moving world of technology.

“Every employee has access to a world-class cloud-based learning platform that affords access to the very latest in education opportunities. I believe the winning culture we’ve created is one of our greatest assets and really makes Dimension Data an outstanding place to work."

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