Commentary

The challenge of engaging Singaporean employees

Culturally, engaging Singaporean employees can be somewhat tricky. While they are often not highly vocal in their criticisms, they tend to be very discerning and hold their organisations to highly exacting standards.

The challenge of engaging Singaporean employees

Culturally, engaging Singaporean employees can be somewhat tricky. While they are often not highly vocal in their criticisms, they tend to be very discerning and hold their organisations to highly exacting standards.

60% of Singaporean customers don't complain about bad service

According to a new survey in Singapore, 60% of people who suffer from bad service never complain. That means that for every four people who complain, another six are just as angry but never tell the organistion about it. This is a staggering number and should be a big worry for everyone in the customer experience sectors in Singapore.

Call for cyber security experts grows louder

Demand is on the rise across all banks in Singapore for cyber security experts who can help combat the increasing threat of cyber attacks and meet the demands of regulators.

Undervalued Philippines property market piques Singapore investor interest

In the 1960s, the Philippines was more advanced than Korea and large swathes of war ravaged Japan, but years of corruption and mismanagement took their toll on this beautiful archipelago and it became known as the ‘sick man of Southeast Asia.’

What you need to know if you're starting an agency recruitment career in Singapore

According to Ministry of Manpower Singapore, there are a total of 2,222 registered recruitment agencies in Singapore. If each of them house 10 recruiters, we are looking at 22,220 recruiters. So you are looking at 1 recruiter to every 242 residents.

The biggest threat to Singapore's private sector?

The other day the wife and I decided to grab lunch whilst at a mall. It was a family-style Singaporean chain. Decent food, and as restaurants here go, not exactly cheap – for a casual lunch for 2, no desserts, we ran up a bill of $50. When the wife asked for a glass of water (mid meal), the immediate response from the waitress was “that will be 30 cents extra”.

Top spots for Singaporean investors searching for overseas property

With Singapore property prices on the slide amid stringent cooling measures, Singaporeans are looking elsewhere to invest their hard earned money.

Unleashing the diverse talents of women for organisational success

The need for greater gender diversity in middle management and corporate boards is a growing concern both globally and in Singapore. While women constitute half of the world’s population, only a handful makes it to the upper echelons of the corporate world.

Singaporeans, can you be bothered?

Despite the good things in Singapore, we still have one of the lowest employee engagement around the world. America has 29% engagement; the global engagement average is 13%; Singapore only has 9% engagement.

Will the National Jobs Bank end up a white elephant?

Will the new National Jobs Bank serve its purpose of encouraging employers to consider Singaporeans fairly for job opportunities? Or will it end up a white elephant and a waste of the country’s resources?

Are Singapore companies wising up to attract top Talent?

Ten years ago, no one gave much consideration to Employer Branding but a simple search for the phrase ‘Employer Brand’ today brings up around 4.3 million hits on Google. As the war for Talent intensifies, organisations now realise that they can’t just rely on their consumer brand to recruit Talent – they have to do more. HR today is tasked to find bright minds that will give their company ‘the competitive edge’.

Chicken Rice and a bad taste in the mouth

As you sit down to eat your Chicken Rice today you may be complaining about how much food prices have increased and, having heard how much money agricultural companies are currently making, this may leave a bad taste in your mouth.

5 points for Singaporeans investing in U.S. real estate

When I first moved to Singapore last October, I was amazed by the price of real estate. I arrived in Singapore from the UK, and London prices are also relatively high but I was still unprepared for Singapore condo rental and purchase prices.

A trial date provides a timely reminder to Singapore firms

On August 8th two foreign nationals will stand trial in China accused of illegally purchasing personal information about Chinese Nationals. This is a timely reminder to Singaporean companies conducting due diligence outside of Singapore to exercise caution.

Is the Jobs Bank fair to Singapore?

The Jobs Bank is now live in Singapore. This is a "Singaporean-first" policy for all companies where this didn’t exist before. It’s a great principle apart from the small fact that in many people’s view everyone who wants a job in Singapore can find a job. It may not be their dream job with that million-dollar salary, presidential title, and corner office overlooking Marina Bay but it will be a good job for a good firm in a great place.

What makes a good Singaporean bookkeeper

Being in the business of bookkeeping, we have often encountered people who have the wrong idea of the bookkeeping process. Bookkeeping is predominantly meant to record transactions pertaining to the business in the accounting system - and that is where bookkeeping ends.

3 ideas to increase employee engagement in Singapore

Despite high GDP, living standards, and quality of jobs, we are still one of the unhappiest workers in Asia and globally, according to a newspaper report in January 2014.