Bosses spend over half a day per week to train underperforming workers

Most bosses engage in coaching, whilst others transfer struggling employees.

Most Singaporean bosses (96%) allot more than half a day per week coaching underperforming employees, according to a study by recruitment firm Robert Half.

To solve this, over half of employers surveyed (58%) engage in coaching or mentoring strategies in order to augment employee performance, whilst 50% result to transferring a poor performer to another role and 47% provide additional training.

The report stated that the cost of underperformance could include an employee’s salary that is not reflective of expected output, paid time for mentoring and supervision, additional training costs, lost revenue from missed business opportunities, costs linked to letting an employee go, and rehiring.

About 22% of bosses see termination as a last resort as Singapore is facing a talent crunch and reducing expenses brought by vacant roles and hiring processes. In the 2019 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), the nation is found to be struggling to retain talent, lagging behind the United Arab Emirates and Spain at the 26th spot.

Also read: Why do Singapore firms still struggle to retain talent?

On the other hand, a separate report from recruitment platform Monster.com stated that 42% of employees attribute difficulties in achieving a work-life balance to overbearing bosses, whilst 40% blame it on uncooperative and over-competitive colleagues.