THE HIRING REPORT the state of hiring in singapore 2015
THE TOP 9 What Singapore professionals really want in a new role in 2015 how to connect The best way to connect with talent today A CHANGING WORLD How smart businesses are changing the way they hire — and winning
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who’s in the market? Hiring in Singapore has never been more challenging, nor more interesting. The diversification of media, the rise of digital and the evolution of networks mean the quest for talent is now a complex web that is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. Is more digital the inevitable path? Or is a more strategic solution required? Surveying 519 Singapore professionals and hiring managers, Hudson set out to find out — starting by mapping the overall talent market. IN 2015, THE singapore WORKFORCE IS OPEN TO cHANGE. Nine in 10 or 92 per cent of the workforce are open to being approached by recruiters, eight in 10 (81 per cent) have an up-to-date CV and over six in 10 (63 per cent) have an up-to-date LinkedIn profile, according to our research. From one perspective this signals a natural propensity to be curious: what
other opportunities are out there and how are others being remunerated, rewarded and motivated? It’s human nature for individuals to be curious about new opportunities and to wonder whether there could be something better for them. Yet what starts as curiosity could lead to a more serious issue for employers: retention. If nine in 10 Singapore professionals are open to hearing about
9 in 10 open to talking
92% of Singapore professionals are open to being approached by a recruiter or employer about job opportunities.
new job opportunities, how confident are employers of their people’s loyalty? Organisations and team managers who want to avoid staff turnover and retain top talent in 2015 need to ensure they offer a strong employee value proposition. The quest for talent is far from over and organisations that don’t make their people feel important, that don’t help them stay engaged, grow their skills and unlock their potential, will lose them.
8 i n 10 have b e e n approach e d More than 8 in 10 (83%) Singapore professionals have been approached in the last six months.
m e n mor e OPEN TO APPROACHES Of those open to being approached about new roles 62% are men, 38% women.
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who’s mr popular?
The people who get head-hunted the most:
62%
59%
are male
aged 36–50
51%
work for an organisation of 1,000+ staff
80%
are comfortable with their online presence
who’s ready to consider new opportunities?
most up-to-date age group on linkedin: 20–35
81% of Singapore professionals have an up-to-date CV 63% have an up-to-date LinkedIn profile
The percentages of age groups with an up-to-date LinkedIn profile 20–35: 68%, 36–50: 64% Over 50: 52%
HIRING MANAGERS REALISE THEY NEED TO TAP INTO THIS largE — but passive — talent pool to get the right hires. Nine in 10 (93 per cent) Singapore hiring managers feel they need to look beyond active job seekers to find the right candidate. They know that the best talent may not be in the group applying for jobs. They know they are instead out there, somewhere.
What’s more, many people may be open to moving but roles are becoming increasingly specialised (a company will seek not just an accountant, but a business partner with stakeholder management skills). So while the pool of talent is large, how do you go about finding that one person? For a hiring manager, this is today’s ultimate hiring question: the perfect talent
fit is out there and likely interested, but how to go about not only finding them but actually bringing them into the organisation? The answer lies in the rationale that in order to win a person over, you must first know what they want. Before you seek talent, you must first know who that talent is and then how to attract them.
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what job seekers want In 2015, any successful hiring process should begin with mapping the ideal candidate an employer wants: their roles and responsibilities and therefore skills and experience, aptitude and traits. From here, the focus must switch to what that ideal candidate wants. ENSURING SALARY BANDS ARE CORRECT AND COMPETITIVE SHOULD BE AN ABSOLUTE PRIORITY for Singapore employers in 2015. Our survey results show that a higher salary is top of the wish list for what Singapore professionals want in a new role this year. At 75 per cent, it is
Some context for this may be found in the fact that in 2014, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) named Singapore the world’s most expensive city to live in, replacing Tokyo in the top spot. Another study by Taiwan’s China Times, found that workers in East Asian countries seem to work longer hours than Western countries, with
significantly ahead of all other factors. What’s more, the second top priority for Singapore professionals when looking for a new role is better benefits. With pay and benefits the two most important considerations for Singapore professionals, it is clear that compensation and reward are top of mind for Singaporeans in 2015.
The top 9 things Singapore professionals look for in a new role 1
higher salary
2
better benefits
67%
3
career progression
67%
4
Work life balance (incl. flexible arrangements)
5
cultural fit with organisation and/or team
6
A company whose values are closer to mine
7
strong manager
8
better brand
9
better job title
Age: 20–35 Higher salary: 88% Career progression: 85% Better benefits: 70% Age: 36–50 Higher salary: 74% Career progression: 66% Better benefits: 65%
64% 59%
Age: Over 50 Better benefits: 72% Cultural fit: 64% Higher salary: 57%
37% 36%
26% 20%
Higher salary tops wish list for senior executives. The top 3 priorities of senior executives when seeking a new role, according to our data:
69 62 57 %
Higher salary
4
who wants what?
75%
This data does not add up to 100% as respondents were asked to give more than one response.
%
Better benefits
%
Work life balance
Singaporeans working the longest hours in the world. With the cost of living and long hours putting pressure on Singapore professionals, remuneration is an absolute priority — so hiring managers should ensure they regularly review salary and benefits packages to be in line with competitor offerings in the market. Once finances are out of the way, however, there is much more that Singapore professionals want in a new role. Tying with better benefits this year is career progression, as individuals seek to develop their careers and learn new skills in times of rapid technological change. Employers would be well advised to be able to demonstrate clear career paths and opportunities for training and development. The importance of work life balance continues, as shown by
its place in fourth position. Work life balance is now a serious discussion point for what Singapore professionals want, and organisations should define what work life balance they can offer and be open to refining it for individual candidates. Finally, the rise in importance of cultural fit we see as significant. That this once relatively unfamiliar concept is now seen by many Singapore professionals as a ‘top five’ priority is noteworthy. Cultural fit means different things to different people but at its heart, it’s about belonging. For hiring managers, it’s never been more important therefore to not only understand what individual candidates want and value but to define and hone an organisation’s own cultural offering and its own employer brand.
PRIORITIES SHIFT WITH AGE For Singapore professionals up to the age of 50, the focus remains firmly on their career — especially on remuneration and progression. But after the age of 50 something interesting happens: salary drops off as the primary driver and benefits become more important, while cultural fit climbs to second place on the priority list.
does brand matter? Rise of the employer brand
96 4
%
of Singapore professionals say a company’s brand is important to them in deciding whether or not to apply for a role. say a company’s brand doesn’t matter when deciding whether or not to apply for a role.
%
Employer branding has emerged as a critical factor in attracting not only clients and customers, but quality talent. Companies risk losing candidates if they are not able to position their brand and clearly articulate the benefits they offer to potential employees.
Singapore professionals have spoken. What they want in 2015 is a competitive salary, a generous benefits package and the opportunity for career growth. Employers who offer that will be well placed to win talent. Mark Steyn, Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific 5
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how to connect with talent Digital technology may have forever altered the market but the new best practice in hiring is far from a digital-only approach. Instead, our data reveals that Singapore hiring managers are relying on a more complex, multi-pronged and people-focused approach to finding and connecting with talent. SINGAPORE HIRING MANAGERS HAVE declared that RECRUITMENT AGENCIES and personal networks are their most effective sourcing strategy for talent in 2015, according to our survey. Asked to name their most effective sourcing strategy, Singapore hiring managers chose recruitment agencies and their own personal networks, both at 32 per cent. In number two position were
head hunters and internal referral schemes, both at 31 per cent. Online jobs boards came in third, at 17 per cent. What is significant here is the variety in these top responses: while technology solutions like online job boards are important, what is seen as more important are people networks and connections with those people, like recruiters and head hunters, who have access to hard-to-find talent. What is also significant is that
Singapore HIRING MANAGERS TELL: recruiters are no 1
LinkedIn 14%
WHAT THIS SUGGESTS IS HIRING MANAGERS CANNOT AFFORD TO take a simplistic approach to hiring. Instead they must take a tailored approach that navigates the multitude of channels now available. According to additional
Other social media 2%
Singapore hiring managers on their most effective sourcing strategies Print media, e.g. newspapers 5%
hiring managers are using a variety of techniques and channels to source top candidates, and an increasingly complex and strategic sourcing plan.
Is social the solution? not on its own: Only 2% of hiring managers say ‘other social media’ is very effective when sourcing talent.
Own company’s database 13% My personal network 32% Recruitment specialists 32%
SO WHAT IS THE RIGHT MIX?
Advertising/Print media Online
advertising LinkedIn
job board Microsites Social media YouTube
Associations/Groups LinkedIn recruiter Networking Open web sourcing Referrals Conferences & events
Internal referral schemes 31%
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Headhunting 31% Online job boards 17%
SEO Blogs
foundation may be a mix of contacts nurtured over years, networks developed and expanded, new groups found and daily social media and personal contacts harvested.
research from Hudson, 21 per cent of hiring managers say job boards are less effective than they were two years ago. And it is not social media that is necessarily filling the gap or providing an easy answer on where best to source talent: only two per cent of hiring managers said that ‘‘other social media’’ (excluding LinkedIn) was very effective when sourcing talent. This signals that while traditional ways of sourcing talent are diversifying, the solution is not as simple as more digital, more social.
Hiring managers who engage a mix of strategy, people knowledge and networks will ultimately be those who win the best talent. And the key here is ‘mix’; for one job the sourcing strategy will be a multiple channel campaign, for another a recruiter’s market connections will result in a candidate being sourced on the spot. Recruiting has evolved into a complex endeavour; in 2015 a multi-pronged, people-focused approach will be the key to connecting with great talent.
INSTEAD, IN 2015 AND ONWARDS WE WILL SEE a new norm evolve: multipronged and complex sourcing strategies that may be the result of several years’ foundational work. That
In today’s connected world, top talent is everywhere — if you know where to find them. Sourcing strategies therefore need to be both targeted and multifaceted, across a range of appropriate networks. Emmanuel White, Regional Director, Hudson Singapore
on the rise Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): The nature of writing job ads has changed forever
88
%
4 8 %
never do
%
of hiring managers always or sometimes use keywords in job ads
don’t understand what SEO is
Mobile: Singapore job seekers are applying by phone The percentage of age
36
%
over one in three Singapore professionals SAY it’s very important that they can apply for jobs over their mobile phone. And age impacts this — the younger you are, the more you want mobile accessibility.
groups who say being able to apply for roles over their phone is very important:
37 37 28 Age: 20–35
Age: 36–50
% %
Age: Over 50
% 7
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SCREENING, Tests & INTERVIEWS Across Singapore, screening is evolving. What we are now seeing is a gradual evolution in how the business sector views and assesses a person’s aptitude and fit for a role, team and organisation. TRADITIONAL SCREENING methods remain strong in Singapore, with cover letters and face-to-face interviews still highly valued: over six in 10 hiring managers (65 per cent) say cover letters are important and just one per cent describe face-to-face interviews as ‘not important‘. Yet the data shows signs of change. Over one in three (35 per cent) say they would be open to non face-to-face interviews in certain circumstances, a sign that technology like Skype may come more into play. What’s more, 36 per cent of Singapore professionals
CVs AND COVER LETTERS CVs Not everyone is tailoring Just a quarter of professionals (26%) tailor their CV for every job application. COVER LETTERS Still important: Cover letters still matter — over 6 in 10 hiring managers (65%) say cover letters are either very or somewhat important in the job application process.
THE SOCIAL FACTOR
79
%
of Singapore professionals are comfortable with future employers seeing their online footprint. That’s a good thing. As who wants to risk appearing unprofessional? Four in 10 hiring managers (41%) look to social media when evaluating a candidate.
say they are seeing more psychometric testing compared to two years ago. As organisations recognise the benefits that great talent offers, so the focus is on ensuring they have quality candidates in place. More rigorous screening measures are therefore increasingly being used; the best businesses know it’s not just about filling a job today, it’s about building a strong workforce that will stay and perform. How do you know you have the best candidate for not just the job, but the business? You test for what drives them, what motivates them, what will make them happy and what will help them succeed.
Interviews Most likely number of interview rounds for singapore professionals: 2 2 interviews: 40% 3+ interviews: 38% 1 interview: 22% Non face-to-face interviews: a new option 35% would be open to non face-to-face job interviewing in certain circumstances. But face-to-face interviews still crucial Only 1% say face-to-face interviewing is ‘not important’.
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Test scores
Psychometric testing is on the rise 2015 IS An important year for PSYCHOMETRIC TESTING in Singapore. Already highly valued in other countries, our findings suggest it is becoming more widespread locally. What our findings also reveal is that senior executives value it more than others, which should be a signal to all. Most senior executives have been through an assessment process themselves and understand the value it can add. Test results help you understand yourself: who you are, what drives you and where your opportunities lie. How do you leverage your strengths? Work on your gaps? Develop a career strategy? Psychometric testing reveals these things and more; it’s the ultimate guide on getting ahead. It’s also the ultimate guide for team managers. Knowing the psychological profiles of their team enables them to lead better, making the most of their employees’ strengths and managing with motivations in mind. Psychometric testing ensures hiring managers select candidates based not only on their skills and experience, but also on their cultural fit and potential for growth — and given the rise of cultural fit in today’s workplace agenda, this has
never been more important. Identifying the connections between competencies and personal qualities allows companies to select those candidates who are likely to both perform better and stay longer. The ‘fit’ factor, often difficult to ascertain through interviewing alone, can prove to be a major component when it comes to selecting and retaining the best people.
Psychometric testing on the rise: 36% of professionals say they are seeing signs of psychometric testing use increasing compared to two years ago.
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Understanding what motivates people is one of the most critical levers to organisational success. Simon Moylan, Executive General Manager, Talent Management, Asia Pacific
46
%
Senior executives value it more than the norm: 46% of senior executives say psychometric testing has merit as part of the hiring process.
% 9
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15 WAYS TO HIRE IN 2015 Hiring has changed. To get the best talent today you need to look beyond active job seekers, beyond standard advertising practices, beyond yesterday’s screening techniques. To define, find and secure great talent who will help your organisation succeed, in 2015 you need to think smarter.
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PROFILE the person, not just the role Mapping the role description, skills and experience required remain vital in hiring. But to truly find great talent who will not only stay but excel, smart businesses are profiling the kind of person they want: the psychometric attributes and motivational drivers that match the job description and will complement the team and organisation.
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Know what your target wants The better you know your target market, the better chance you have of creating, and selling, an offering that will appeal.
CANDIDATES: STAY PROFESSIONAL ON SOCIAL Four in 10 hiring managers (41%) told us they check social media in their hiring process. To give themselves a fair chance, candidates must ensure their digital footprint is clean and professional. 10
SHOW THEM MORE THAN money Money matters, we all know that. And professionals in Singapore have indicated that as a group, higher salary tops the wish list. Employers must have the right salary bracket in place, but they should also realise that for candidates money is a balancing act with other factors.
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Define YOUR role value proposition What are the three key selling points of the role? Is it a learning opportunity, a chance to lead, a certain path to skill development? A strong and clear candidate value proposition equals a strong likelihood of sourcing best fit candidates.
target niche skills and business needs Roles have never been more specialised, so you need to understand the niche skills required to address your industry’s specific needs — know, for example, where to find marketers with analytics expertise and ICT talent with strong people skills. Create a sourcing strategy In 2015 candidates are everywhere, but not necessarily in one place regularly or for a long time. To find them, successful hiring means building a sourcing map: defining the best places to find your candidates, and then carrying out a sourcing strategy.
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Embrace the job ad rule of four Use our IDEA principle in your job ads: ● Stimulate Interest ● Create Desire ● Generate Enthusiasm ● Compel the reader to Action
The EVP era arriveS Only 4% of Singapore professionals say a company’s brand doesn’t matter to them when applying for a role. EVP — the employee value proposition — has arrived in 2015 and hiring managers need to ensure their EVP is strong enough to attract the best candidates.
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Recognise that sourcing is now deep … Today’s sourcing channels include: blogs, SEO, conferences, events, referrals, networking, associations, LinkedIn, YouTube, media, online advertising, job boards, personal networks and databases — for a start. Today, great talent is scattered and can remain elusive so sourcing strategies may need to go wide and deep.
… Yet personal networks are MORE IMPORTANT than ever The top five most effective sourcing strategies in our survey included just one purely technical platform — online job boards. The rest were all people-based. As our world becomes more digital and socially connected, so we reach more to our personal networks, to the bonds that connect us and in which we trust.
UNDERSTAND SEO 88% of hiring managers now always or sometimes use keywords in their job ads. To compete, you must too. SEO is not just a technology initiative, it’s about writing high quality, compelling and search-friendly ads.
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Consider psychometric testing 36% of Singapore professionals say they are seeing this increasing. Psychometric testing benefits the role: it increases longevity and results. It benefits the team: fit the right personality and improve team dynamics. And it benefits the organisation: hire for motivational and cultural fit and you get innovation, creativity, perseverance — the keys to organisational success.
Prioritise WORK LIFE BALANCE & CULTURAL FIT Singapore professionals nominate work life balance and cultural fit in their top five priorities in a new role in 2015. Most of us want to work hard, make our mark and achieve in our jobs — but increasingly we want to do so with balance in our life, and with like-minded peers in an environment where we feel valued. As work encroaches on our personal life with extra hours at night and on weekends answering emails, we start to wonder, ‘What’s it all for?’ A common purpose, shared beliefs and united vision can make the difference between a disengaged employee who works to live, and a passionate one who loves to work.
THE COMPETITION FOR PASSIVES is growing Nine in 10 Singapore hiring managers now feel they need to look beyond active job seekers to find the right candidate when hiring. Your competitors are scouring for the best. If you want to find the right talent, you need to engage the passive market. 11
Methodology
about hudson
For this report we canvassed the views of 519 professionals and hiring managers across Singapore. We asked them their views on all aspects of hiring, from what they think of cover letters and how confident they are with their own social media presence to whether they use psychometric testing in their recruitment practices. From these results we collated this report, a combination of the survey findings and our own knowledge, learnings and insights into best practice hiring in 2015.
Hudson is a global talent solutions company with expertise in specialised recruitment, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), talent management and contracting. We help our clients and candidates succeed by leveraging our expertise, deep industry knowledge and proprietary assessment techniques. Through relationships with millions of professionals in 20 countries, we match talent with opportunities by assessing, recruiting, developing and engaging the best and brightest people for our clients.
Hudson Global Resources (Singapore) Pte Ltd EA Licence Number: 03C4590
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