What Singapore bosses must know to make themselves attractive

The well-known saying “Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus” is apt, especially when it comes to defining the most important factors when looking for a new work environment.

According to the Randstad Award 2013 survey of 4500 Singaporean employees, male and female respondents have differing opinions on what makes an organisation attractive. While most men and women equally value interesting job content and a competitive salary, the survey found that most men prefer working for organisations with a strong management team, providing global career opportunities and offering good training programmes.

On the other hand, 20 percent more women than men seek an accessible workplace location. Women also ranked flexible working arrangements and a pleasant working environment as important factors that make an organisation attractive. An organisation’s ability to provide a good work-life balance is also a key consideration for female employees.

While these findings indicate the factors that attract male and female employer to a particular organisation, they also highlight the importance for organisations to recognise the motivations of jobseekers when choosing a prospective employer. This becomes more imperative with Singapore’s tight labour market and the fiercer competition among companies to attract and retain the best talent.

Recognising the key demographic differences between male and female jobseekers will help the organisation adjust their attraction strategy accordingly, ensuring they will not lose out in today’s talent-tight market. Employers and HR managers need to define who their target group of employees are and understand what they want. This will help them in crafting and incorporating relevant messages on good career prospects and flexibility into their employer branding efforts in order to appeal to both male and female employees.

Having these strong branding messages can also help position their organisation as an employer of choice, foster brand loyalty and will attract and secure the best talent in Singapore’s skills-short labour environment. Arming the organisation with a strong employer brand that speaks to the needs of different employees groups will give the organisation a powerful edge to win the talent war.

The Randstad Award which recognised Singapore’s most attractive employers was held on 11 April 2013.The Randstad Award is an annual award granted to the country’s most attractive employers based on the market’s largest general public opinion survey. The online survey is conducted by an independent external research agency (ICMA + GMC) and measures the employer attractiveness of the 75 largest commercial employers in Singapore (by employee size). The Randstad Award was first conducted in 1999 in Belgium.