Mercer has released its latest Singapore Employee Engagement Index. The Insights to Enhance Workforce Productivity report infers only 73% of Singaporeans are satisfied with the companies they work for. This marks a decline in employee engagement and satisfaction for the third consecutive year. Employee engagement and satisfaction in Singapore was at 77% in 2014 and 76% in 2015. 2016 marks a significant drop and especially at a time when the global trend is on an upswing. Global employee engagement and satisfaction was at 80% in 2014, 81% in 2015 and 82% in 2016. Clearly, the companies based and operating in Singapore are going wrong somewhere and it is not a onetime or one-off decline but a steady reversal of sorts.
Mercer engagement trends can be further illustrated by studying the feedback from employees. Singaporeans are less likely to recommend their companies as great workplaces. Only 68% of all Singaporeans surveyed will recommend their employers as a good place to work. This is in sharp contrast with 76% of employees in Asia Pacific who would recommend their employers as having satisfactory work environments and employee engagement.
The CEO of Mercer, Singapore, Kulshaan Singh has said that companies need to focus on improving employee engagement and it is a significant challenge for businesses. Employee engagement and satisfaction definitely affects businesses and their branding but it also affects the economy of the island nation. The shortcomings need to be acknowledged and the challenges must be overcome to ensure better employee engagement. The findings echo the observations of Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former Finance Minister of Singapore, who had said in this budget speech in 2014 that improving productivity is at the crux of the country’s economic agenda. The decline in employee satisfaction and engagement stem from lack of pride in the jobs and dearth of satisfaction working for the organisations.
Employees across industries are anxious about career development and innovation. Most employees feel that they do not have enough opportunity to develop their skills. They are looking for ways to learn so they can grow but the companies don’t seem to have systems in place to facilitate such aspirations. This is not only detrimental for the career development of professionals or financial wellbeing of the workforce in general but also limiting for businesses as their future prospects would be relatively bleak in the face of innovative and fiercer competition.
The report published by Mercer highlights 20% of employees having stated that they do not receive sufficient feedback from their managers or supervisors so they could improve. As many as 33% of the Singaporean workforce feels their personal goals cannot be accomplished or are difficult to realise within the organisation they are working for right now. There is some light at the end of the tunnel though. 85% of Singaporean employees feel proud of the services and products they work on. But only 30% think their companies are innovating to improve their products or services. Apparently, more than a majority of organisations is failing to accelerate continual innovation.
About the Author
Morris Edwards is a content writer at CompanyRegistrationinSingapore.com.sg, he writes different topics like FinTech Startups in Singapore and all topics related to Economy and Business, More info about Company Registraion Singapore visit our website.
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