The findings of a national research study in 2010 has revealed that organisational attributes that attract and retain talent support the government’s call for raising productivity. 

The top five attributes in the attraction of talent were ranked in order of importance by respondents as “opportunity for long-term career progression”, “attractive overall compensation and benefit package”, “provide work life balance”, “opportunity to work in different roles” and “training and development”.

When it came to the top five attributes in the retention of talent, respondents ranked “attractive overall compensation and benefit package”, “opportunity for long-term career progression”, “recognition and appreciation of employees' work”, “job security” and “provide work life balance” in order of importance.

The research study, “A SNEF-StrategiCom Correlation Study in Branding of SMEs as Employers” was conducted in 2010, in post recession Singapore.  It was designed to replicate a previous study in 2008, “A SNEF-StrategiCom Study in Branding of SMEs as Employers”, that discovered talent attraction and retention factors in the heart of the 2008 economic crisis in Singapore.  Given the altered economic landscape since, the 2010 study had the following research objectives:

• Determine if the findings of the 2008 Employer Branding for SMEs study findings are still consistent
• Identify the key attributes that contribute to building a strong employer brand image in the context of SMEs
• Explore perceptions on how an employer brand image can influence SME talent attraction and retention

A total of 150 respondents comprising of MBA students, undergraduate students in their honours year and working professionals were surveyed for this study.

Dr. Wilson Chew, Group Principal Consultant & CEO of StrategiCom stated, “The talent attraction and retention factors that were listed by respondents are closely related to the national drive to boost productivity at the workplace.  One way to boost productivity is through training and development, which was ranked in position number five in both 2008 and 2010 for talent attraction.  Equipped with skills that lead to higher productivity, individuals are exposed to greater career prospects in the form of long-term progression and possible promotions that bring about more attractive overall compensation and benefit package.  Skills upgrading also has the potential to allow talent to work in more diverse roles.  With greater performance resulting from enhanced productivity, talent are more likely to receive recognition and praise, as well as enjoy better job security for the increased value they bring to their organisations.  Organisations must thus take a serious look at providing training and development initiatives to better attract talent.

He continued, “While training and development has emerged as a consistently important attribute, it is important to note that the type of training and development in different economic situations should differ. In times of recession such as in 2008, training and development should take the form of acquiring new skills and capabilities as organisations re-orientate themselves in a struggle for survival.  However, in times of economic recovery, training and development should aim to increase employees’ productivity levels to meet customers’ needs and demands.

Notable Findings

While most attributes remained similar in both 2008 for both talent attraction and retention save for a change in ranking in terms of importance, work life balance, which had previously not made the list of top five important attributes in 2008 made both lists in 2010.  This could be a reflection of a change in attitudes of the workforce, especially the Gen-Y workers.  During the recession, younger workers in Singapore had to moderate their job expectations , work longer hours ,   and found it harder to stay employed .  As the economy recovered, work life balance has begun to regain importance amongst the workforce.

Talent Attraction

With regards to talent attraction, “opportunity for long-term career progression” and “attractive overall compensation and benefit package” have crept up two places in the 2010 study to emerge as the top two most important attributes.  The increased importance of these two attributes could be a result of employees’ awareness of rising living costs in Singapore  as well as having experienced wage cuts ,   and retrenchment  during the 2008 global recession.  While employees were more willing to take up contract positions  then, employees are now once again seeking long-term positions where they are able to develop their careers.         

It was also found that employees are lesser concerned with personal autonomy and variety in terms of job scope post recession.  In the 2010 study, the attributes “recognition and appreciation of employees’ work” and “allows employees a lot of freedom to work on their own initiative” dropped out of the top five positions. 

However, the study noted that recognition and appreciation of employees’ work is still important in the long run, in terms of both talent attraction and talent retention.

Talent Retention

The overall study revealed that with regards to talent retention, “attractive overall compensation and benefit package” was ranked the most important attribute in 2008 and the findings of the 2010 correlation study concur.  The findings hence strongly suggest that the attractiveness of the overall compensation and benefits package is the most crucial attribute of consideration for employees.  “Recognition and appreciation of employees’ work”, “opportunity for long-term career progression” and “job security” remain among the top four most important attributes for talent retention.  The findings indicate that Singapore SMEs need to meet employees’ expectations with regards to these four attributes regardless of the economic situation.

In particular, “job security”, defined in the 2008 study  as employment in a stable organisation where employees do not need to worry about losing their jobs, is an important attribute that SMEs should take note of.

Dr. Chew stated, “An organisation can only be stable if the business is sustainable and this is a crucial contributing factor to “opportunity for long-term career progression” as employees can develop their careers in an organisation only if the organisation is stable.  As such, local SMEs need to constantly engage employees and keep them informed and updated about the organisations’ performance.  While this goes against the grain of typical SMEs who tend to shun away from such intimate levels of information-sharing, a change in attitude is necessary if SMEs desire to retain their employees.”

Recommendations For Employer Branding

The results of the 2010 study are important for SMEs to consider in their drive to attract and retain talent.  Traditionally, SMEs face a high level of competition for talent, as larger companies and foreign multinationals are perceived to be better employers.

The study recommended that Singapore SMEs focus on the following in their employer branding efforts to attract and retain talent:
• Projecting themselves as organisations that emphasise on training and development for employees to acquire new skills and increase their productivity levels for long-term career progression, better overall compensation and benefit package, opportunity to work in different roles, recognition and appreciation and greater job security;
• Assuring potential employees of long-term career progression by mapping out clear career development paths for its employees;
• Ensuring that their compensation and benefit packages are competitive via constantly benchmarking their packages against competitors’;
• Understanding potential employees’ expectations with regards to the provision of work life balance and meeting these expectations as far as possible
• Reassuring employees about the stability of the company, and security of their jobs by constantly engaging employees and keeping them informed and updated about the organisation’s performance

Dr. Chew, stated, “In order to attract talent and retain, SMEs not only have to operationalise the recommendations above, but communicate these initiatives constantly and consistently to potential and current employees so as to build a strong employer brand and be perceived as an employer of choice.”

The detailed study findings of this national research study, “A Correlation Study in Branding of SMEs as Employers” will be unveiled on 29th July 2010 at the SNEF 30th Anniversary CEO and Employers Summit.

Click here to download a copy of this article and view a summary of the main findings.

For additional information, please contact:

Other Research Studies