Singapore – Generation Y employees in Singapore are less willing to change their communication styles to suit their other colleagues compared to the Gen X and Baby Boomers.
In the Kelly Global Workforce Index survey which polled 3,000 employees in Singapore, 81% of the Gen X and 82% of the Baby Boomers surveyed said they are are willing to adapt their communication styles to colleagues from a different generation, as compared to 72% of Gen Y.
However, 76% agreeed that generational differences affected workplace operations and an additional half also agreed that generational differences interfered with workplace productivity.
Baby Boomers also faced the most inter-generational conflicts at work (61%) as compared to Gen X (54%) and Gen Y (51%). So in order to facilitate intergenerational communication in the workplace, 81% of Baby Boomers said they preferred face-to-face communication with colleagues of a different generation, the highest compared to 75% of Gen Y and 76% of the Gen X population.
According to Dhirendra Shantilal, senior vice president of Kelly Services, Asia Pacific, these survey findings show that even though there is concerted effort from all age groups to bridge the communication gap, more can be done to create a better understanding of how these different generations work and think.
“From this survey, we know that all three age groups are finding their own solutions to resolve intergenerational conflict,” Shantilal said. “However, more must be done to analyse the workplace dynamics and the importance of intergenerational management if organisations want to enhance their productivity and remain successful in the long term.”
Source: Kelly Global Workforce Index, Kelly Services
It hurts to say goodbye
US – The type of separation benefits an organisation offers to terminated employees during a restructuring can hurt the morale and productivity of its remaining workforce if HR isn’t careful.
According to a survey of 1,200 business leaders from 45 countries by Drake Beam Morin (DBM), 81% believe providing higher levels of separation benefits would most significantly impact the morale and productivity of their remaining employees. An overwhelming 95% of HR professionals agree keeping the morale levels among remaining employees stable would indicate a successful downsizing. But there are others who reported otherwise.
Seven out of ten respondents noted decreased levels of morale among their remaining employees with 62% saying there has been reduced loyalty among surviving workers. The declining employee morale could be attributed to the fact that only 45% of respondents polled provide severance packages to all of their employees, including part-time workers. There are still 85% of organisations that provide severance packages to only some of their employees.
The most common factors used to determine the amount of severance compensation are the employees’ years of service (85%), followed by their ranks within the organisation (50%). About half of organisations polled do provide executives (49%) and senior executives (48%) with at least three weeks of severance pay for each year of service. Workers at managerial level and below, on the other hand, generally receive at least two weeks’ pay per year of service.
As for providing outplacement support, only three quarters of organisations with 100 or more employees polled provide such services to some terminated workers. The primary motivation respondents cited for doing so is abiding to corporate values (76%) with less than one in ten identifying labour relations or legal considerations as a rationale for their separation policy. Robert Gasparini, CEO and chairman of DBM, said, “Separation policies are now viewed as integral to business strategy, helping to safeguard the company brand and reinforce relationships with employees, consumers, and stockholders.”
The factor most frequently used to determine levels of outplacement support is employees’ ranking within an organisation (63%), followed by years of service (39%). In fact, more than half polled would increase the levels of outplacement support under circumstances such as mergers, acquisitions and facility closings.
Companies that manage employee separation well can help “fortify loyalty and mitigate retention risk” among their remaining workforce, said Gasparini. “When employees leave an organisation, they don’t just become ex-employees. Departing employees become customers, referral sources, competitors, and perhaps even future employees returning to the organisation.”
| Separation benefits employers place most emphasis on |
| | Respondents |
| Consideration of departing employees | 84% |
| Protection of morale and commitment of remaining employees | 82% |
| Financial considerations | 68% |
| Return of investment | 40% |
Source: Global Trends in Separation Practices, DBM
Be careful of who you hire
Global – A job interview can be equally stressful for hiring mangers as banking on the wrong candidate could cost the organisation millions of dollars.
Two in three managers surveyed by DDI said they feared missing a red flag about a candidate would result in a hiring decision that will return to haunt them. At the same time though, 46% polled were concerned about not having enough information to make a decision. Also, 28% were concerned about allowing one aspect of the candidate’s background influence others while 23% were concerned about candidates not accepting their offer.
Yet survey results showed that most of the hiring managers often make hasty decisions. In fact, 47% of interviewers polled spent less than 30 minutes reviewing a candidate’s interview results before making a decision while 34% spent between 30 minutes to an hour. Only 19% of respondents were conscientious enough to spend more than an hour reviewing their candidates.
Another finding which could potentially cost the organisations’ reputation during interviews with new candidates is that majority of 1,910 interviewers polled thought they had excellent interviewing skills and made high-quality decisions. That’s despite 58% of hiring managers admitting that they had no prior interview skills training or had relied on their own “gut instinct” instead.
Managers with no prior training were less worried about candidates accepting their job offers, compared to those who were trained to conduct good interviews, at 16% versus 26% respectively. Slightly less than a quarter of untrained managers were more worried about the impression they were making with candidates compared to 15% of trained interviewers. Furthermore, 19% were significantly more worried about what questions to ask compared to 6% of skilled interviewers.
The lack of training in interviewing becomes obvious when 67% admitted asking potential lawsuits-incurring questions such as “Are you married?” while 63% starts off with “How old are you?”. Other top interviewing turnoffs for jobseekers include interview techniques which resemble interrogations (43%) and not being up-front about details such as salary, hours and expectations (39%).
According to the survey, HR could consider boosting their hiring mangers’ confidence by providing on-the-job-training, organising classes which allow role-playing, or even online courses.
| Interviewers who spend 30 minutes or less to review a candidate |
| Country | Respondents |
| France | 70% |
| U.K. | 51% |
| Canada | 50% |
| U.S. | 42% |
| Australia | 41% |
| Germany | 34% |
Source: Are You Failing The Interview? DDI
