In this dynamic world, nothing stays stagnant. Change is constant and inevitable. However, there are signs which can be identified before a change happens. With no natural resources, our Human Resources compensate this absence with efficiency thereby growing our economy into a great nation. So what will these trends & changes be at the workplace?
Flexible Work Arrangements & Changing Priorities
More people are demanding work life balance in which they want more flexible work arrangements. The changing priority in life creates the different demands in different stages of one’s career. Work life exhibits stages of priority (in life). In terms of remuneration, people who start off building their careers are focused on monetary benefits. While people in their mid careers might have families and are more keen in leave benefits to spend time with their families. Whilst people in their late careers might be of an older age, and would thus look towards more medical benefits.
In addition, Employees with family commitments are inclined towards greater work flexibility. Why? It’s simply because having flexible work hours allows an employee to be equally responsible towards corporate as well as family responsibilities. Later on in life, one may regret focusing on career and wealth accumulation if it means neglecting the family and its consequences. Thus, there appears to be a trend of being family oriented among the new generation of employees.
The demand for workers has caused a serious strain in our labour market, which brings us to the next point.
Tight Labour Market
A new trend, seems to have developed. There is an increase in workers seeking Part-Time work. If the trend continues, there could be a shortage of Full-Time workers. In addition, employees today are increasingly more demanding, making it challenging for employers to find potentially suitable candidates. In a way, a more educated population has higher demands. Not to mention the higher cost of living has exacerbated the problem. Raising a family and being a home owner is substantially higher in monetary terms.
Furthermore, the Food and Beverage (F&B) as well as other existing service industries are facing a labour crunch. F&B jobs are seen as unglamorous amongst the general public. It is mostly occupied by foreign workers, however the tightening of foreign worker quota is making recruitment even more challenging.
Social Media to Attract and Retain Talents
It’s out with the old and in with the new. It is the time to make full use of technology with this IT Savvy generation. The traditional methods of face to face interviews have been converted into online video interviews. Resumes are now replaced with background checks on pending employees’ Facebook or Twitter profiles. In addition an article on Forbes mentioned “58% of people are more likely to want to work at a company if they are using social media and over 20% are more likely to stay at their companies if they are using social media.” So companies, it’s time to get active on social media, and develop your social media departments.
Embracing diversity
With globalisation, accessibility worldwide is a breeze. Unsatisfied locals are moving out of their countries, migrating all over the globe. It’s common now to have at least more than 3 different nationalities at a single workplace or your organisation in more than 3 different countries. Cultural norms or and practises have made it a necessity for organisations to learn to adapt and for employees to learn to adapt with each other.
Take Singapore for an example. Our multinational country with its multinational organisations have made significant strides move forward. It shows that it is indeed possible to come up with policies for a diversified company, to embrace this diversity and still work at its optimal level.
The importance of succession planning
As time pass, employees skills become obsolete. Organisations have to prepare themselves by training the right group of people and equipping them with the necessary current and changing skills to meet the demands of an ever changing world. Corporations have to start now! Start finding the right people and equipping them with the relevant skills due to a shorter product life cycle. Employers have to constantly update your employees so they would not be lagged behind in this ever changing, dynamic world.