Singapore
Singapore
You have a promising business idea. You have adequate funding. You have solid strategic planning. Are you fully equipped to compete in business? Not without the right people. Canon Think Big weighs in on the challenges of attracting and retaining the right talent to achieve business success.
Manpower Capability Affects Business Competitiveness
Statistics from the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) show that more than 60% of the country’s workforce is now employed by local small and medium enterprises (SMEs). But due to factors like the tightening of foreign talent policies and the limited local working population, SMEs in labour-intensive industries like construction face a number of hiring challenges. Needless to say, the lack of a competent workforce is a deterrent to maintaining a company’s productivity and competitiveness.
Apart from policy changes, SMEs must also contend with competition from multinational corporations (MNCs). Considered to offer better benefits and career opportunities, MNCs are more favoured by jobseekers. How can a SME, with lesser resources, be an equally attractive employer?
Every company willing to invest in human capital stands to benefit most from committed employees. With sound HR practices, which include standard market-competitive compensation, a career plan and beneficial work environment, businesses can attract reliable people who are willing to contribute to the company’s business growth.
Max Talent is also an initiative designed to help SMEs. The Singapore government has introduced initiatives that are meant to help SMEs attract and retain local talent. SPRING Singapore, in partnership with the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), provides access to HR-related resources to provide SMEs with assistance on how to enhance HR capabilities at every stage of business growth. Max Talent is also an initiative designed to help SMEs. A 2-year place-and-train programme by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), it places Singaporean Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) into suitable Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
HR systems go beyond just the process of recruitment. Improving the company’s workforce is not always about hiring new people to beef up the organisation. It is also about getting the best from existing employees.
What is your company culture like? Does the company value the opinion of its employees? When people are given opportunities to contribute their ideas, they are more likely to develop an affinity for the company’s goals. Mr. Michael Tien, CEO of Atlas Sound Vision, shared that in their organisation, the whole team is included in the decision-making, including personnel performances. The open communication encourages people to be more pro-active and to understand business objectives better.
Mr. Kenny Yap, Executive Chairman of Qian Hu Corporation Limited, believes in creating a familial atmosphere. “I try to create a family-like environment in the company; one where we treasure loyalty and unity, where we fight for a common cause, and where we take care of each other.” This close-knit culture has allowed Qian Hu to pull through many difficult times, and helped it make its mark on the world map.
Work-Life Balance is also a concept that has been introduced in many businesses. Designed to encourage employees to live a well rounded life in order to maximise their potential, companies like Canon have taken the initiative to provide their employees time to be with their families more. In the same way, the Kopitiam Group allows its employees to leave an hour or two earlier to bond with their co-employees. The company believes that this encourages better working relationships and a more harmonious atmosphere at work.
In the old days, organisations subscribed solely to the concept of loyalty to the company.
People are rewarded for being with the company for a long time. But loyalty does not necessarily guarantee commitment from an employee. Commitment is crucial in the journey to success. Committed employees work to fulfil business goals and objectives. Committed employers allow employees to set career goals and help accomplish them.
Ms. Elim Chew, President and Founder of 77th Street, confessed that without her staff, her company will not be as successful. Hence, she believes in fostering their professional growth with constant training. To ensure that her team of managers stay in touch with the latest trends, she sends them on business trips around the region to research, design and work with overseas factories to develop new and exciting products. Plus, anyone selected for a leadership role in the company begins by serving at least three months at a store. This allows him or her to make better business decisions, being in sync with the current taste and needs of consumers.
In the age of heightened business competition, working harder is a must. But working smarter makes all the difference, especially for SMEs. A company can thrive with a small but committed staff and a lot of help from today’s technology.
Canon has been at the forefront of bringing innovations that help people and businesses work harder and smarter. One such example is the range of new generation imageRUNNER-ADVANCE (iR-ADV) machines that helps companies work more productively and even lower overall energy consumption. It is equipped with features that maximise technology today.
The ability to scan to a greater pool of cloud destinations.Scan-to-Cloud uses the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) engine to instantly convert scanned documents into easy to use formats like Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The ability to scan to a greater pool of cloud destinations, such as Microsoft Sharepoint, Salesforce.com, and Evernote, plus Office365, DropBox, PaperPort, and GoogleDrive, also aids in saving time and encouraging more office collaboration.
With the idea that employees can work more comfortably through tools that are more familiar to them, many businesses today have given their employees the freedom of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) to encourage productivity. The Canon imageRUNNER-ADVANCE (iR-ADV) supports the BYOD system through the Canon Mobile Printing App. The built in web browser in the App allows the user to preview content, such as emails, email attachments or even data from websites, that need to be printed. The worker on the go can also easily access documents scanned and stored in Cloud.
The most successful entrepreneurs have proven that one need not employ an army and work in a huge office to get things done. XMI, inventor of the x-mini capsule speakers was a 2-man start-up that became an internationally recognised brand name. Shooting Gallery was a company started by photographer Sebastian Tan and only 2 other partners; today it employs a staff of 120 and is still growing. The classic stories of success have always started from small beginnings but were powered by committed people who understood the value of Thinking Big. With the right talents, a business truly has better chances at success.