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Transcript of Watson Towers - Singapore Report
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012 Gobl Wrkforce StudySingapore report
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Singapore executive summary:
2012 Global Workforce Study
Table o contents
Global Workorce Study overview 4
Key Issues
Issue 1 Sustainable engagement 5
Issue 2 Employee retention risk 5
Issue 3 Issues o leadership and management 6
Issue 4 Issues o career advancement 6
opportunities
Issue 5 Understanding total rewards and EVP 7
Recommendations or Employees 8
Tips: Engaging and Enabling Middle Managers 8
The importance o sustainable engagement 9
Key terms 10
About the survey 10
3
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The Towers Watson 2012 Global Workorce Study (GWS) reveals that one-third (35%) o workers across 28 countries
are highly engaged in their work while others are struggling to cope with work situations that do not provide sucient
support or emotional connection. At a time when employers need to count on employees more than ever to meet their
growth objectives, this nding poses a disturbing risk. Workers may be reaching a tipping point in maintaining the
connection to their companies that yields consistent productivity.
While there are variations in employee attitudes across the regions, infuenced by local economic conditions, the GWS
shows that many employees are working more hours, eeling more stress and are worried about their nancial uture.
In some countries, they are also risk-averse. The result or employers is heightened perormance risk rom lower
productivity and higher rates o absenteeism and turnover to increased costs or chronic illnesses.
Global Workforce Study overview
Less than onethird of Singaporeworkers are highlyengaged
Only 28% o employees in Singapore are highly
engaged at work. Nearly three quarters o them
(72%) either eel unsupported, detached or are
disengaged. Many employees lack the rational and
emotional connection to their companies needed
to spur them to be consistently productive and to
go the extra mile.
The proportion o highly engaged employees in
Singapore is also lower than in the Asia Pacic
region (39%) and globally (35%). Moreover, the
percentage o disengaged employees in Singapore
(35%) is highest compared with the regional
(27%) and global (26%) workorce. While these
ndings could be due to cultural dierences in
the way people respond to questions about work
engagement, we nevertheless eel that they
warrant attention.
Out o the overall workorce in Singapore, the
middle managers are among the least engaged.
Only 23% o Singapore middle managers are highlyengaged, lower than or the workorce as a whole
and about hal the global average o 44%.
It is heartening however to see that high potential
employees are more engaged. In Singapore, 38%
o high potential employees are highly engaged,
whereas only 28% o workers in the country are
highly engaged.
The GWS points to a low level o sustainable
engagement in the Singapore workorce. An
equally signicant nding is the threat o high
employee turnover.
One in three employees in Singapore (34%) is likely
to leave his/her current employer within the next
two years.
The main reason appears to be the search or
better career prospects. Almost hal (46%) o
Singapore employees eel they have to join another
organisation in order to advance to a job at a
higher level.
A perceived lack o career advancement
opportunities, dissatisaction with immediate
managers, and poor perception o pay and benets
are some o the reasons why employees do not
eel sustainably engaged in their jobs.
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Given the importance o a highly engaged
workorce in achieving good corporate
perormance, the GWS serves to inorm employers
in Singapore o the attitudes and concerns o
employees that impact their engagement at
work. The study also provides important insights
into the work environment that can be used toenable employees, enhance employer-employee
connection and raise perormance.
Key issue analysis
Issue 1 Sustainable engagement
Sustainable engagement is the intensity o
employees connection to their organisations,
marked by a committed eort to achieve workgoals (being engaged) in environments that
support productivity (being enabled) and energised
perormance (being energized).
Sustainable engagement is the sum o all
three elements traditional engagement,
dened as employees commitment to the
organisation and willingness to give eort to
their employer, enablement, dened as having
the tools, resources, and support to get work
done eciently, and energy, dened as a work
environment that actively supports physical,
emotional and interpersonal well-being. Eectiveemployee perormance depends on all three
elements and will only hold over time with all three
in place.
Studies have shown a clear relationship
between high levels o employee engagement
and improved nancial and operational results.
When sustainable engagement is low companies
become vulnerable to a drop in productivity, poorer
customer service and higher rates o absenteeism
and turnover.
In Singapore, where nearly three quarters o the
workorce are not highly engaged, this is cause
or concern. One in ve workers in Singapore
(20%) eels unsupported, that is, while they are
willing to work harder, they are not given the tools,
the resources or the support to do their jobs
eectively. A urther 17% are detached and lack
the willingness to go the extra mile at work even
though they receive the support they need. About
a third o the workorce (35%) is disengaged.
Highly engaged middle managers are well
positioned to infuence employee engagement
positively within an organisation. However, in
Singapore, ewer than one out o our middle
managers are highly engaged and this certainly
calls or attention.
Issue 2 Employee retention risk
With one in three employees likely to leave
their current employers within two years, worker
retention is a critical issue in Singapore.
Employers expend much time and eort to
select and recruit the right employees or their
organisation, and urther invest in employee
training. When employees do not stay long in
their jobs employers costs o talent attraction,
retention and management increases.
Furthermore, a high employee turnover is
disruptive to the business.
The GWS reveals that 34% o Singapore employees
wish to leave their current organisations but three
groups in particular pose a higher risk. Younger
employees (under the age o 30 years) (51%),
middle managers (44%) top perorming and high
potential employees (40%).
Employers should be especially concerned about
losing middle managers. A high turnover among
middle managers whom they have invested
signicant amount o training in, is particularly
detrimental to an organisation. When middlemanagers leave, they impact the organisations
succession planning as they are oten the
very people in line or promotion to leadership
positions. Most importantly, middle managers are
the conduit between senior leadership and the
people on the ground. When they themselves are
not highly engaged and choose not to stay, the
morale o other employees can be aected.
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Issue 3 Issues o leadership andmanagement
Singapore employees do not rate their senior
management well. Less than a third (31%) o
employees agree that their senior management
does a good job o developing uture leaders. Only
39% believe that senior leadership has a sincere
interest in employees well-being. Only 42% agree
that senior management does a good job o
managing costs.
Employees are also critical o their immediate
managers. They do not think their managers spend
enough time handling the people aspects o the
job nor provide requent recognition or work done
well. However, they think that their immediate
managers are good in certain aspects: task-
oriented, assign tasks suited to the subordinates
skills and abilities, able to communicate goals and
assignments clearly and treat their subordinates
with respect.
The middle manager in Singapore is caught in-
between not receiving sucient input rom the top
or sel-development and at the same time viewed
critically by subordinates. This may account or
why middle managers register low retention and
engagement levels.
Only hal o Singapore workers (52%) agree that
their immediate manager is eective in his/
her job. A closer look at the data reveals that at
every level manager eectiveness is not ratedhighly. Only 43% o rst-line supervisors view
their managers as eective. Similarly, only 51% o
middle managers who are themselves managed by
senior leaders in the organisation agree that their
leaders are eective.
Issue 4 Issues o careeradvancement opportunities
Singapore employees eel they lack career
advancement opportunities within their
organisation. Almost hal (46%) o the employees
believe they have to join another organisation in
order to advance to a higher level. This perception
is stronger among workers in three groups: middle
managers (54%), high potential employees (51%)
and those that are under 40 years old (51%).
When asked about career advancement,
employees rated their organisations lower on
a ew aspects, that then inorms employers on
things to ocus on. Firstly, organisations could do
better at providing coaching to improve employee
perormance and provide career planning
tools and resources. Secondly, employees
expect more clarity on opportunities or career
advancement as well as promotion or the most
qualied employees. Thirdly, organisations need
to communicate clearly how the perormance
management process works.
Employees have indicated a willingness to take
responsibility or their careers. The large majority
o employees (82%) agree that they should take
ownership o their own careers or that they have
joint ownership with their managers.
The GWS nds that Singapore employees are
career-driven and are willing to seize opportunities
that come their way, even i the careeradvancement opportunity necessitates a re-
location to workplaces outside o the country.
Four out o ve workers (83%) are willing to
re-locate or career advancement but they are
selective about their destinations. The proportion
o workers who are willing to move to certain
locations (61%) is nearly three times as high as
the proportion o workers willing to move anywhere
(22%).
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In summary
Three quarters o the entire Singapore workorce are not highly
engaged and one third is likely to leave their current organisations
within two years. Employees eel that their immediate managers are
lacking in eectiveness and they do not rate their senior managementhighly either. The majority o workers still give a lot o importance to
monetary rewards and this coupled with a poor perception o pay
equity and benets aects their engagement with their organisations.
Issue 5 Understanding total rewardsand EVP
Singapore employees show a very strong
preerence or monetary rewards, consistently
choosing larger base pay increases over more
paid time-o, more bonus opportunity and more
guaranteed retirement benet, even over more
career advancement opportunity.
However, they have a poor perception o pay equity
and benets and this aects their engagement.
On average, about one third o employees eel that
they are paid airly compared with people in other
companies who hold similar jobs (32%) and that
they are paid airly compared with people in their
own companies who hold similar jobs (36%).
At the same time, employees are increasingly
concerned about retirement benets. Only one in
ve agrees their organisations retirement benetsmeet their needs.
A closer analysis o the GWS data reveals
that employees may be highly ocused on pay
and monetised rewards because they may not
recognise that they have a bigger employment
deal. The reason is likely to be that their
organisations have not communicated clearly to
their employees about their total rewards and the
Employee Value Proposition (EVP).
Total rewards include nancial rewards given
or perorming a work role, such as base pay
and allowances, perormance-based rewards
such as bonuses and incentives, plus career
and environmental rewards such as career
development experience and training.
The EVP, also called the employment deal, is
the give and the get between the employer
and the employee. It is the tangible and non-
tangible rewards that an employee expects to get
in exchange or his commitment, discretionary
eort and perormance or the organisation. An
EVP could include the purpose and values o an
organisation, the job, the culture and the people
aspects, and total rewards.
The GWS shows that employees in companies that
have communicated the EVP eectively eel better
about their pay. For instance, 55% o employees
in companies with high EVP eectiveness think
they are paid airly compared with others who hold
similar jobs; 48% think their base salary compares
avourably to that oered in other companies;
48% think their bonus opportunity compares
avourably. Conversely, in companies with low EVP
eectiveness, only 17% o employees think they
are paid airly compared with others; 17% think
their base salary compares avourably with others;
and 20% think their bonus opportunity compares
avourably.
Even when organisations use technology tocommunicate the value o their total rewards
programme, only about one third o employees
(34%) agree that they do a good job.
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Tips: Engaging and Enabling Middle Managers
Employers should pay special attention to the middle managers
because they play a pivotal role in the organisation. Their engagement
and enablement can have a big impact on the overall employee
engagement. Here are some tips on how to address the challenge o
the middle manager.
1. Select the right person or the job. It is important who you select to
be the manager o a group o employees. Are you selecting the person
with managerial skills or only the best individual perormer?
2. Dene the role and responsibility o the manager. Dene the
managers role and responsibilities so that it is clear to the middle
manager what has to be done to deliver eective perormance. Dene
a role or success, not a role or ailure. The goals and objectives mustbe achievable
3. Train and coach the manager. Help the manager to succeed. Give
the necessary and right training so that the manager can manage
his/her own perormance and help subordinates to improve on their
perormance. Ensure that senior management are good role models
and are coaching and mentoring the middle managers.
4. Empower the manager to be eective. Once you have dened the
role and coached the manager, empower him/her to do the job well.
Do not let individuals and processes get in the way.
Recommendation for Employers
Engage and enable middle managers
The middle manager in Singapore is less engaged
and is at higher risk o leaving the organisation
within two years. He/she eels poorly on
many aspects including lack o advancement
opportunities, and having to ace substantial
obstacles at work.
Companies can help their middle managers to
improve their own perormance management and
help them set and progressively achieve their own
career progression goals. Senior leadership can
increase their interaction with middle managers
to provide greater guidance and coaching. They
need to communicate more clearly to middlemanagers on promotions, career advancement and
perormance management.
Companies also need to remove obstacles
that hamper the work o middle managers. This
will enable them to spend more time on the
people aspects o the job, such as guiding their
subordinates and building relationships.
In addition, companies can equip their middle
managers with the skills to coach their
subordinates to raise their perormance.
Communicate, communicate,communicate
Clear communication is inherent in good
management. GWS shows that Singapore
employees are critical o their organisations or
ailing to communicate eectively. This includes
communication on various aspects such as total
rewards, career advancement and perormance
management.
Companies should communicate how employees
can advance in their career, what are the
available tools and resources to help themimprove perormance, and how the perormance
management process works.
Explain total rewards more eectively
Employees in Singapore are highly ocused on
base pay and bonuses. In a tight labour market
especially, pay and monetary compensation are
oten used to weigh competitive job oers.
Simply communicating to employees about pay
and monetary rewards is not good enough. The
ocus should be on the right pay. Employers need
to optimise their total rewards programme that
is based on a better understanding o employee
needs, including healthcare programmes or
retirement benets.
While companies need to pay competitively and
oer the right pay, it is even more important or
them to communicate eectively to employees
about total rewards and the Employee Value
Proposition (EVP).
Dene, communicate and execute theEVP
The EVP can serve to retain, engage and motivate
employees to drive business success. The more
aligned employees are with the EVP, the more
they will raise their level o discretionary eort
and their ability to deliver superior perormance.
Used wisely, an EVP can lead to direct business
benets.
Employers need to articulate the EVP clearly
so that it is well understood by employees. We
recommend that employers use the EVP as a
strategic talent management tool.
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9
Towers Watson research conducted over the
last decade has demonstrated unequivocally
the value o employee engagement as a
driver o improved business perormance. Our
unique Sustainable Engagement Framework
was developed and validated rom extensive
analysis o our organisational survey and Global
Workorce Study data, coupled with current
theories in organisational science.
Sustainable Engagement is the sum o
three distinct elements. One is traditional
engagement, dened as employees
commitment to the organisation and willingness
to give eort to their employer. The second
is enablement, dened as having the tools,
resources, and support to get work done
eciently. The third is energy, dened as a work
environment that actively supports physical,emotional and interpersonal well-being.
Enablement and energy are critical. In the
last ew years, with employers struggling to
manage costs and remain competitive globally,
the importance o enablement and energy has
become really clear. Eective perormance
depends on all three elements o sustainable
engagement. Companies that do not take
steps to improve on-the-job support or
employees and create a sense o attachment
to the organisation will have lower levels o
sustainable engagement and productivity,directly aecting their ability to grow their
business.
The importance ofsustainable engagement
Companies
with low
engagement
Companies
with high
engagement
Companies
with high
sustainableengagement
9.9
14.3
27.4
Operatingmargin
3x higher
Source: Towers Watsons global normative database.
Figure 02. Sustainable engagement and business
results
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Figure 03. From engagement to sustainable engagement
FeelEmotional/affective
attachment to the
organisation
ThinkRational/cognitive
understanding of the
organisations strategic
goals, values, and how
employees t
ActMotivation and
willingness to invest
discretionary effort
to go aboveand beyond
Engaged
Enabled
Energised
A local work
environment
that supports
productivity
and
performance
Individual
physical
interpersonal
and emotional
well-being
at work
Engagement
Rational
Motivational
Emotional
Participatingmarkets or thestudy
Asia PacifcAustralia, China,Hong Kong, India,Indonesia, Japan,Malaysia, Philippines,Singapore, SouthKorea, Taiwan
Europe andthe Middle EastBelgium, France,Germany, Ireland,
Italy, Netherlands,Russia, Spain,Sweden, Switzerland,Turkey, United ArabEmirates, UnitedKingdom
Latin AmericaArgentina, Brazil,Mexico
North AmericaCanada, UnitedStates
Key termsEmployee Value Proposition (EVP)
An Employee Value Proposition is the experience
oered by an employer in exchange or the
perormance and productivity o an employee.
From the employer perspective, a strategically
designed EVP attracts, retains, engages and
motivates employees to drive business success.
From the employee perspective, employees
connection with the EVP determines their level
o discretionary eort in bringing the company
mission, vision and values to lie.
About the survey
The Towers Watson 2012 Global Workorce
Study provides a comprehensive snapshot o
the attitudes and moods o employees globally
in a period marked by dramatic and continuing
economic swings, deep-rooted nancial concerns,
political turmoil and regulatory change.
The Global Workorce Study covers more than
32,000 employees selected to represent the
populations o ull-time employees working in large
and mid-sized organisations across a range o
industries in 29 markets around the world. The
GWS surveyed 1,002 respondents in Singapore.
The study is designed to help companies better
understand their diverse employee segments and
the actors that infuence employee perormance
on the job by gauging changing attitudes that
aect attraction, retention, engagement and
productivity.
Contact
For urther inormation, please contact your Towers
Watson consultant, or
Amrita Prasad+65 6389 7443
Jell Espinosa+65 6389 7439
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Copyright 2012 Towers Watson. All rights reserved.
TW-AP-13-30280
towerswatson.com
About Towers WatsonTowers Watson is a leading global proessional services
company that helps organisations improve perormance
through eective people, risk and fnancial management.
With 14,000 associates around the world, we oer
solutions in the areas o employee benefts, talent
management, rewards, and risk and capital management.