Singapore is a country that has made a strong commitment to education with a goal to grow one of the most skilled labor forces in the region. Believe it or not, the most predominant language spoken in Singapore is English. While Malay is the official language and some also speak Chinese and Tamil, English is the language of administration and is also widely used in professions, businesses, and schools. The government has mandated that English be the primary language used at all levels of the school systems, and it aims to provide at least ten years of English language education for every child.
Singapore is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The population exceeds five million and boasts a 95.9% literacy rate. 75.1% of the population is Chinese, 13.4% Malays and 9.2% Indian. The workforce in Singapore is divided with 17.3% working in manufacturing, 69.3% working in services and 12.7% working in construction.
In 2010, Ambition (one of Asia’s leading recruitment groups) released the findings of its “Mid-Year Market Trends and Salaries Report”. The results were very interesting and substantiate the incredible opportunity that Singapore represents to loyalty programs providers.
The survey included 445 Singapore based hiring managers and human resources professionals across 12 industry sectors and focused on three key areas: 1. Business performance and market outlook, 2. Hiring trends and 3. Compensation and benefits.
Approximately 95% of businesses reported that their business had performed as expected or better than expected, and that there was a considerable improvement in business performance. This was a significant increase when compared to the previous year’s survey results. In 2009, the most common challenge reported by employers was budget constraints and tight head count approvals because of the instability in the world’s economy. This year’s findings were quite the opposite.
Businesses identified that the job market in Singapore has shifted from “employer driven” to “candidate driven” and that the toughest challenges that organizations now face are the lack of qualified candidates in proportion to opportunities, salary inflation and increased turnover.
As the job market has stabilised so many sectors in Singapore are experiencing growth and are offering plenty of opportunities for job seekers. Candidate pools for skilled talent are depleting and top quality candidates are becoming increasingly difficult to find.
Staff retention strategies have become paramount for all employers, which leads us back to the opportunity for loyalty programs providers in this very prosperous region of the world.
Employee reward programs has proven globally to be a key factor that has led to increased morale, motivation and employee loyalty in companies across the globe. When companies compete for top talent, if all are competing on the merits of salary and bonus, what makes once company stand out in front of the others?
Programs providers will not feel much resistance when it comes to approaching companies in Singapore about their dynamic and engaging programs. The idea that an employee can accumulate rewards and incentives in addition to their annual salary and bonus makes employers more competitive and also leads to a more motivated and engaged workforce.
Before a programs provider can enter a market like Singapore they must ensure that they are offering a loyalty program designed to a global standard. The program must utilize a global currency, support all languages and convert domestic reward costs to US equivalent. This is then converted to a points program for ease of use in any country in the world. Local taxes should automatically be factored into the reward costs.
Rewards must be available and accessible in the country where the loyalty programs are being offered. The rewards program should provide millions of incentives and rewards to choose from via online access to a vast, global library of catalogues sorted by country and category.
Finally, reward program should be delivered through a Software as a Service solution. Software as a Service is a web-based technology that will make your loyalty programs available to your clients and their employees from anywhere there is an internet connection. Your Software as a Service based loyalty rewards system should enable you and your clients to manage your float and payments via electronic bank transfers. Your Software as a Service solution should also provide online, paperless reporting that includes item cost, shipping and taxes and more.
There is a lot of business to be had in Singapore so, if you enter the Singapore market prepared with a good product, you should not have any difficulty being successful there.
If you are an Employee Recognition, Incentive or Loyalty program provider who is interested in entering the market in Singapore with the world’s leading “white labelled” Software as a Service (SaaS) based system delivering global rewards, please contact Rob Purdy at 905-477-3971 at Global Rewards Solutions or visit www.globalrewardsolutions.com.