Holiday entitlement perks resonate with employees
Asia – About 50% of Asia companies say they will be reviewing employees’ health and wellbeing offerings this year, according to a report titled Asia Reward Watch 2010.
In a survey conducted in September last year by Thomsons Online Benefits, 63% of the 201 companies polled said that the escalating costs of rewards and benefits in order to remain competitive was one of their biggest reward strategy challenges. Other challenges also include pressure from the poor economy (47%), feedback from employees about uncompetitive rewards (23%) and the lack of alignment between reward strategy and individual objectives (19%).
Employee salaries were cited be the one compensation and benefit aspect that was rising most significantly in Asia among 45% of those polled, while benefit premiums came in second
at 19%.
While half of companies said that reviewing employees’ health and wellbeing offerings would be the biggest change this year, 32% said that they would consider implementing flexible benefits and 21% said they will introduce total rewards statements for employees. A number of companies (14%) also added that they will look to increase the overall benefits spending as well.
The survey also found that flexible benefits schemes are growing in popularity among Asian employees, as 67% said they offer a flexi-benefits scheme for their employees. When deciding which benefits to include in the flexi-benefits scheme, companies often turned to employee surveys, management decisions and competitor benefits as a benchmark.
It also found that holiday entitlements were one of the most popular benefits among employees, followed by medical cash plans, dental insurance, childcare and life assurance.
However, while 68% of respondents said it was “important” and “quite important” to demonstrate the ROI of rewards spend, only 29% of companies are confident of demonstrating their ROI. Employee opinion surveys (56%), turnover statistics (52%) and levels of employee engagement (44%) were rated as the top three measurements used to measure rewards ROI.
Source: Asia Reward Watch 2010, Thomsons Online Benefits
Joblessness takes toll on mental health
US – Jobless Americans are more likely to report depression and feelings of sadness compared to their employed counterparts.
In a recent Gallup poll among 40,000 Americans, nearly half of those unemployed or who were working part-time but wanted full-time work reported feelings of worry, while 27% reported feeling sad. Meanwhile, only 29% of those employed felt depressed and 13% felt sad.
One-quarter of those underemployed said that they have been told by a medical professional of their depression, compared to 12% of those employed.
According to David Dooley, a professor of psychology and social behavior at the University of California, the depressed economy tends to take a beating on everyone’s moods.
In addition, he added that factors such as age and education impact on how employees cope with job loss. While younger employees tend to drink alcohol after losing a job, older workers are less free to do likewise.
However, 42% of those underemployed said they were “thriving”. While it is 19% lower than those employed, Dooley suggested that this shows that losing your job doesn’t automatically ruin a person’s psyche.
Recession boosts employee loyalty
Singapore – One in three employees polled in Singapore said they are more loyal to
their company in the aftermath of the global economic recession.
According to the Kelly Global Workforce Index, 29% of 2,700 employees polled in Singapore said their loyalty to their company has increased, with only 7% saying they were less loyal. The remaining 64% felt it made no difference. The survey said the increase in staff loyalty could be attributed to reasons such as positive management, improving salary figures and good morale. Skills development was another key reason, with 33% saying they have had more challenging and interesting work, while 26% received higher compensation and benefits. Slightly under a fifth of respondents polled were given more meaningful responsibility at work.
There is, however, a difference in commitment levels among the age groups within the workplace. Generation X (aged 30 to 37) and baby boomer (aged 38 to 65) employees were more committed to their current employers than their generation
Y colleagues at 47% and 52% respectively. Only 32% of employees aged up to 29 said they were committed.
But when compared to other cities in the Asia Pacific region, Singaporeans’ commitment levels were ranked lower than their regional counterparts at 38%. The regional average was 47% and some of the cities with a high level of committed employees include India at 60%, China at 53%, Malaysia at 48% and Australia at 44%.
Mark Sparrow, managing director of Kelly Services Singapore, said this heightened sense of loyalty from employees would be an advantage for organisations when the economy recovers. “Employers who have communicated openly with their staff about the difficult economic conditions and who have tried their best to look after their staff have been able to build strong levels of trust in their organisations.”
Respondents also felt there were three main factors detrimental to the workplace engagement levels. Three out of 10 said it was the lack of advancement opportunities while 28% pointed to poor managers as the source. Only 14% cited declining pay. “Pay is certainly a big motivator but it’s not as big as some imagine, which means employers have to examine a broader range of employee conditions if they want to have the workforce performing at its best,” Sparrow said.
| How do employees assess a company’s reputation? |
| Traits | Precentage of respondents |
| Quality of management and leadership | 42% |
| Quality of its products and services | 23% |
| Company’s financial performance | 6% |
| Company’s longevity | 2% |
Source: Kelly Global Workforce Index 2010, Kelly Services
Tighter grip on social networking at work
US – More companies are getting a tighter grip on how employees use social-networking sites at work.
According to a survey by Robert Half Technology, 38% of 1,400 chief information officers (CIOs) polled have implemented stricter social-networking policies. This figure is more than twice the amount who said
they have relaxed their company’s rules on social-networking sites such as Twitter
and Facebook.
Slightly less than a quarter of CIOs are limiting how the personal use of social media at work but only 15% felt it was necessary to place restrictions on the use of social media for business. In the last survey, at least 55% felt it was critical to ban the use of social networking at work altogether.
Dave Willmer, executive director of
Robert Half Technology, said there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to social-media policies. “Firms are evaluating how to help employees use social networks to keep pace with developments in their industries, stay connected with business contacts and promote their organisations without sacrificing.”
He suggested that if organisations wish to design effective social-media guidelines, they should seek input from stakeholders throughout the company. That includes IT, legal, human resources, marketing, public relations and front-line employees.
