WAGES PRODUCTIVITY
Singapore - Employees will have to triple their productivity levels over the next ten years if they want to increase their wages by 30% on average in 2020.
This is not necessarily an unachievable target, Samir Bedi, regional consultant of Hewitt Associates Singapore tells Human Resources in a phone interview. The targeted 2% to 3% growth rate is attainable if organisations can "embrace the right technology and give clear strategic directions in terms of what is required of employees," says Bedi.
The right employee reward and recognition measures must also be considered to ensure such vast improvement in productivity, says Bedi.
When asked about the possibility of a backlash from employees with regards to the challenging goal to triple productivity, Bedi does not think it is an issue. "Improving productivity means good performance for the companies so it should be a kind of good news," he says.
But Roland Ruiz, ASEAN business leader for Mercer's Human Capital business, says increasing productivity may not mean working longer hours for the employees. Ruiz suggests companies to adopt a "multipronged approach" involving "macro activities such as relooking at the structure of industries and focusing on higher value adding entities". Micro activities such as "redesigning jobs and realigning people capabilities" to address employees' welfare issues should also be looked at, Ruiz adds.
"If the message is clear and communication is clear, then employees would definitely look at it in a positive light," Bedi says.
Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has announced recently that Singapore aims to increase median wages of local employees from S$2400 to S$3100 over the next decade. He also mentioned that the raising of median wages is in accordance to the government's effort to focus on a broad-based increase in incomes and standards of living of Singaporeans.
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