National recruitment agency Randstad Malaysia recently released their 2023 Workmonitor survey which was carried out in October 2022 with a total of 750 respondents aged between 18 and 67 years old. The results highlight a growing concern about job security as almost three out of five respondents said they would not accept a job offer without a formal employment contract.
A full breakdown of the survey can be found on Randstad’s website, but employers pressed for time can find key findings listed below:
- 86% retain strong confidence in their employers to provide them with job security
- Correspondingly, 65% said that they would only accept new job offers with significant salary increments
- 38% resigned due to low wages and a further 34% are thinking about resigning for those same reasons
- 39% of respondents said that they expect to work beyond the age of 60
What can employers do with this information?
While this isn’t good news per se, it is an opportunity for businesses and leaders to be seen as stable, fair, and above all, empathetic to problems faced by staff. As ever, employees want to feel heard and fairly compensated for their efforts.
Businesses that demonstrate their value will not only attract top talent but retain them and keep them highly motivated. With that in mind, here are three strategies employers can consider implementing:
1. Employee Reward Management Systems
Since employers want high-performers and high-performers want to be fairly paid, the best way to create a win-win situation is by implementing an employee reward management system.
These are apps that allow leaders and managers to define, incentivise, measure and reward team members who demonstrate exceptional performance in their job roles. The rewards themselves can range from perks such as additional off-days all the way to cash bonuses. Additionally, they can be awarded on an individual basis or as a team to encourage collaboration.
We at MISHU use an app called Vimigo, and we like it so much we decided to partner with them! Check out what they have to offer and let us know if you’d like a free demo.
2. Flexible Working Arrangements
To employers out there, here’s a serious question: so long as your employees deliver satisfactory work on time, does it really matter where they do it from?
Offering flexible work options like telecommuting, flextime, or fully remote working to team members who have earned the right to do so can be a great way to attract top talent who are already accountable and understand their job scope.
So highly prized is the ability to work from home that it could even compete with higher pay as the deciding factor.
3. Lateral Moves
A lateral move involves moving an employee from one position to another with the same level of authority and pay but new job responsibilities. For example, letting your Head of Business Development have a go at Leading the Finance Department for a change.
The lack of a pay raise makes this situational, but for team members who are truly dedicated to self-development and crave new challenges, lateral moves give them opportunities to learn and expand their skillset as well as gain a truly invaluable bird’s eye view of the company structure and business model.
Conclusion
If we’re being honest, none of this is particularly surprising since these surveys are designed to push a narrative that sells, and nothing sells quite like fear. However, the challenge of attracting, retaining and motivating talents is certainly not fabricated out of thin air. Recent years have seen mass layoffs and resignations as people rethink the way work can be done.
If you are an empathetic employers, the takeaway is nothing special: Pay your people fairly, make sure they understand their job and have the necessary resources, then get out of their way!