Employee loyalty in Singapore firms falls to five-year low
Office workers in Singapore. — Today picSINGAPORE, July 18 — As employee loyalty to their company fell to a five-year low in every major region, about 52 per cent of employees in Singapore intend to leave their current employers within the next five years and about one in three plan to do so within two years, research has found.
These figures are higher than the global figures of 44 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.
Global management consultancy Hay Group yesterday released its latest research which examined "annual engagement and enablement levels" in 1,610 organisations across 46 countries.
Pointing to "an overwhelming focus by business leaders on short-term results and not long-term sustainability", Hay Group Director Stephen Choo said this was evidenced by the Republic's "stagnated employee engagement results".
Employee engagement in Singapore stands at 62 per cent, compared to 63 per cent for Asia, Europe and the Pacific, and 64 per cent for the Middle East.
The study involved Singaporean employees across various functions in diverse industries. It did not review other demographic information.
Recruitment experts told TODAY it would be more useful to break down the findings according to industry, but agreed that employees are now displaying less loyalty than before.
Chris Consulting's Managing Director Christoper Leong pointed to the "very tight" labour market, while Executive Director of the Singapore Human Resources Institute David Ang felt that "company loyalty is defined very differently nowadays, especially with the younger generation".
Employees, noted Mr Ang, are no longer certain about staying with a company for long, and believe opportunities exist elsewhere,
"I would say that times are changing ... most people do tend to move fairly regularly, because they don't find everything they're looking for in an organisation", said Mrs Andrea Ross, Managing Director of Robert Walters Singapore.
To accommodate a younger generation that desires to try out new things and gain new experiences, Mr Terry O'Connor, Chief Executive Officer of Courts Asia, said the company rotates people through different departments.
While his company does not have problems retaining staff, he noted: "I think you've got to accept in this day and age that some mobility is a fact of life. Employers have just got to do what they can to be an employer of choice, and to look after people and hope that you get a good innings in terms of service."
Mr Chan Chong Beng, President of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, said: "You cannot apply the same set of HR policy to everybody".
Those in the early 30s, for example, may require flexible work arrangements to accommodate for parenthood, he suggested. And for those below 30, he encouraged them to explore their options to find a suitable job. -- Today
