Once there was a great organisation. It hired good people, who had the same vision/beliefs, wanted to do good work (and make money as well), enjoyed spending time with each other and were proud to be part of the same organisation. Work was fun and engaging. People were loyal. Everyone understood what the organisation’s…
Shaping Ideal Careers & Jobs In Singapore
Talent Management & Training
Increasing productivity and the benefits thereof
This article is a continuation of earlier post titled - Understanding Productivity Improvement & Measurement How do you increase Productivity? Increases in productivity can be achieved by producing more outputs (i.e. more goods/services) with the same inputs; or by producing the same level of outputs with fewer inputs; or by producing more outputs with fewer…
Understanding Productivity Improvement & Measurement
How Productivity affects you Singapore’s economy has been steadily growing over the past number of years. We have all witnessed the ever changing skyline as more apartment blocks (both condos and flats) and office blocks go up; more and newer shopping malls and eateries open; the arrival of the integrated resorts and the new amenities…
Losing employees is good talent management practice
Are you concerned about Talent Management? Is losing employees bad for your firm? An intuitive answer would be a straight “yes” because by losing employees, your organisation seemingly loses not only its human capital (i.e. their skills and tacit knowledge accumulated over the years) but also its social capital (i.e. all the internal and external…
Managing big career changes and transitions
Dr. Michael Watkins provides a few quick and practical tips to handle some of the career transitions that people face during their career, such a new job, promotion, international relocation and so on. He also offers some pointers for organisations to make career change/transitions easier for their employees. Career Change/Transitions & Career Path Planning
Overqualified for a job but still no luck?
As a job seeker in Singapore you might face the situation of being rejected, even though you are overqualified for a job and could easily perform well. This is quite a common situation and from the company’s point of view, they are wary of hiring someone who is overqualified because they might not be satisfied, could…
Evaluating Outplacement and Job Search Providers in Singapore
In the event that your company needs to retrench employees, you might consider providing them with outplacement support. Outplacement providers typically offer various career and job search services to help retrenched employees find a new job Different outplacement providers deliver the service in different ways and the prices charged can vary quite a bit. In this…
Playing the Blame Game at work
Nobody likes a finger being pointed at them and being blamed for something. However, people often tend to blame others in the workplace and more so, when faced with a tough situation (such as recessionary pressures or the fear of losing one’s job). Blaming other people at work, especially publically, can have more harmful effects…
Employee Satisfaction Categories and Process to Improve Retention
Guest Contributor: David McGillivray is a Human Resource Management consultant with over 20 years of management experience in small, medium and large organisations. He has considerable knowledge in strategic, operational and compliance HRM. Human Resource Management is about achieving the best from your workforce. Achieving high levels of motivation, engagement and productivity is impossible when employees…
Do job applicants always tell the truth?
A common concern when hiring a candidate is whether the applicant has told the truth about various aspects of their background. It is not unlikely for applicants to feel that they are more likely to get the job if they distort their age, cover-up gaps in their work history and claim to have educational qualifications…
Is the job interview a good selection method?
The job interview is the most common form of selection and one that most people are familiar with. Until recently, the interview has had bad press. Compared to other selection techniques it has been viewed as unscientific and highly prone to the effects of biases and prejudices held by interviewers. Some of the reasons why…
Time to Detox the Work Environment
Corporate practices are having effects not just on polar bears and wetlands, but also they may be killing human beings, says Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer (Stanford University). The concept of “sustainability” must be expanded to include consideration of whether workplaces are good not only for the environment but also for people. What Pfeffer calls toxic workplace…
Bullying in the Workplace
The presence of bullies and jerks in the workplace is not much of a concern for most companies. However, having too many of such people around and not actively avoiding a culture that fosters bullies, is not good practice. In fact it can have quite an impact on company performance and the bottom-line. This is because bullying can (among…
Protean and Boundaryless careers
Two trends have changed the world of work in many ways. The first is the shift towards a knowledge based economy that many countries are seeing and the second is global connectivity, interdependence and integration. The new career context that is emerging as a result of these trends has given rise to the terms -…
Stress is a mess
Stress has become a very popular term in today’s workplace and it is quite common to hear people say they are suffering from stress, or are stressed out. When we feel bad at work, often the blame is placed on stress. The popular media and stress management industry release regular articles/information about the harmful effects…
Is your hiring process helping or harming the organisation?
Many a times when there is an issue with an employee, people blame it on the employee and do not realise that their hiring process could be the root cause. It has been demonstrated by research, that even the best interview techniques, only provide a 50-60% (or lower) chance of hiring the right person…
Some guidelines when cutting jobs
Cutting back on headcount during hard times can be very draining for both the employer and the employee(s). The process should be handled gracefully and fairly by the company, to avoid unreasonable negative impact on employee morale and company productivity. A few basic guidelines can help make the process a bit easier for all concerned. …
Is there a business case for outplacement?
For companies planning to lay-off employees, whether or not outplacement support should be provided is often a question. A recent survey conducted by Reed Consulting in the UK highlights some of the tangible benefits experienced by organisation from providing outplacement support. Ø Improved employee moral, motivation, productivity 66% of surveyed employers feel outplacement support…
Developing a high performance organisation
Majority of companies typically report, that their organisation functions in a way that helps them achieve reasonable success. However, only a select few state that it helps them outperform. The following are some of the most important elements involved in effective hiring and retention: Ø Quick and effective employee selection, which ensures employees are a…