Quit fighting it out

If you think friendly competition with your cubicle neighbour is healthy and even a little fun, here is a piece of news for you: Quit it.  

 

According to a survey conducted by Investors in People, 45% of respondents say that encouraging competition among colleagues achieves nothing and destroys team spirit. A further 14% of respondents also say that competition leads to mistrust among co-workers. Out of the total respondents, only one-fifth agreed that competition is good for the workplace.  

 

It’s easy to sniff out a competitive colleague, respondents say. One of the tell-tale signs, according to 60% of respondents, is a person who always tries to grab the attention of senior managers. Slightly more than half also indicated that a competitive colleague would only pick up extra work if they knew that there was something in it for them. 

What do employees think causes the strife at the workplace? Slightly more than one-third (36%)  say that managers who play off colleagues against each other are to blame. Other reasons cited include poor communication and lack of employee structure within the organisation.

Acting chief executive for Investors in People, Simon Jones, said that while competition could prove to be beneficial at the workplace, too much competition could demoralise employees and leave them unengaged at their work. “Left unchecked competition amongst employees can be divisive, damaging team spirit and breeding a culture of mistrust in the workplace. Managers need to be alert to the symptoms, particularly those that suggest employees only have their own interests at heart,” Jones added.

To combat a sense of competitive work culture, 29% say that managers should set clear and defined work responsibilities, while 15% thought that establishing transparency on matters regarding promotions and development opportunities within the company.

 

Males vs Females

                                                                                    Males               Females

Think that competition in the workplace is positive            24%                  14%

Think that a person has to be competitive in order             46%                  34%

to progress in their career

 

Salary expectation for 2008 to be on the rise in Asia

For the upcoming 2008, companies in Asia remain optimistic and indicate this by administering high salary increases, according to Hay Group’s Asia Compensation Report.

Results have shown that the growing economies in China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam are expected to deliver high increases of 9.4%, 13.1%, 11.8% and 9.1%. With regards to developed countries like Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, employees are to look forward to more realistic salary increases of 2.6%, 0.4%, and 3.8% respectively.

For Singapore, the pay increase looks set to be on a healthy increment. "Among all developed economies in Asia-Pacific, Singapore's real pay increase 3.8% is very healthy due to positive business outlook and low inflation. However, in the short-term, foreign talent may find their increases eroded by the spiking housing rentals especially if their companies do not provide full-housing allowances," commented Christian Vo Phuoc, country manager, Reward Information Services, Hay Group Singapore.

 

On China’s side, Hay Group’s Compensation report shows that the blue collar employees will receive almost as high an increase as their white collar counterparts.

At 10.1% increase, financial service industries such as Insurance, will distribute higher-than-average increases come 2008, than as compared to sectors such as chemical, oil and gas, consumer, retail, shipping and logistics and agriculture. Banks will also be doling out higher increments as there has been a critical shortage of talents.

Sustainable and viable growth looks applicable to Vietnam. "Vietnam is the second fastest growing economy in Asia-Pacific and it's no surprise that its salary increase at 9.1% is comparable to China, India and Indonesia. Even with inflation forecasted at 5.7%, employees in Vietnam will enjoy a real increase of 3.4% - which is comparable to Singapore and Malaysia. Since Vietnamese salaries are starting at the ground-floor level, we can expect healthy and sustainable increases in the coming years," said Connie Ma, Manager, Emerging Markets, Hay Group.

Hay Group’s Asia Compensation Report 2007 is collated after comparisons of cross-country pay information details from Hay Group PayNet.

Forecasted Base Salary Increase versus Inflation for 2008

Country	Base Salary Increase	2008 Inflation	Real Salary Increase
	(forecast)	(forecast)
East Asia
China	9.4%	3.2%	6.2%
Singapore	4.9%	1.1%	3.8%
Vietnam	9.1%	5.7%	3.4%

Sources:
1.        Hay Group PayNet
2.        Economist Intelligence Unit

More managers agree with remote working

In a survey of more than 1,100 managers by SonicWALL, a secure infrastructure firm, managers and business leaders are coming to terms with their employees working remotely. However, there are still concerns regarding the remote work force’s impact on employee productivity, effective teambuilding and computer security.

The survey on management views about remote working was done in the U.S. and Australia by online marketing research firm Insight Express and sponsored by SonicWALL, Inc.

The results indicated that more than half of the respondents believe that to permit their employees the chance to work remotely is a competitive requirement or at least, a motivating benefit for employees.

However, the top three anxieties with regards to managing a remote work force included worry on whether or not their remote workers will remain productive, even though 34% of the managers believe remote workers to be more productive rather than equally or less-productive than their in-office colleagues. Other concerns are challenges to building a good team, and concerns of potential security breeches as a result of remote access.

Where the remote workers might be at, matters to managers. 22% prefer to think that their staffs are working from home, and 16% find their employees working from hotel business centers acceptable. However, places such as coffee shops, airport, public libraries, and wireless hotspots garner limited support. Less than 2% of the managers would take kindly to employees working at a wired beach, pool, or stadium.

Managers tend to show a lapse of faith when their remote employees don’t immediately answer their home or mobile phone, with close to a quarter thinking that the staffs are maintaining the household or commuting their kids around, and a 9% believe that they are ignored deliberately.

 

Differences in opinions of workers and superiors

What remote workers believe
Working remotely encourages productivity	76%
Positive that their manager agrees	61%

 

What superiors believe
Convinced that there were no differences	29%
Remote staffers are less effective	21%

 

Difficulty in recruiting suitable IT staff

A survey by Clarion Consulting has discovered that recruitment agencies are falling short when it comes to sourcing out IT staff for companies. Ninety-seven companies and public sectors have participated in the online survey, and this year, over 35% of the companies have plans to increase IT recruitment.

The actual process seems to be a major challenge with 49% of the companies deeming the search for temp staffs as “reasonably difficult”.

“We have seen a shift away from traditional recruitment agencies to a more consulting-based approach, particularly for contract staff,” explained Ronan Foley, director for Clarion Consulting. “Clients are increasingly turning to niche providers whose recruitment services are supported by a consulting knowledgebase. This approach minimises selection risk, offers far greater value to the assignment and ensures much higher performance levels from the individual.”

Recruitment agencies are still the first choice for sourcing out staff, and 67% of the surveyed uses this arrangement, but 61% respondents pronounced displeasure with services offered by recruitment firms.

Half of companies have indicated that there are requirements for permanent project managers and system analysts while positions like network administrators, security specialists and IT management will be hired by 36% of the respondents. While for temporary staff, it is similar with contract positions in project management at 45%, desktop support at 36% and business intelligence/systems analysis at 27%.

 “We are seeing a much greater emphasis on building project management capability,” said Pat Millar, managing director of Clarion Consulting. “For some time now we have been encouraging companies to invest more in project management skills and welcome these recruitment trends which indicate solid headcount increases across temporary and permanent staff.”

 

Positions that companies have difficulties filling
Project Management	45%
Desktop Support	36%
Business Intelligence/ Systems Analysis	27%