The Mercer 2022 Report
Mercer’s 2022 report titled the “The rise of the relatable organisations” is a comprehensive 88-page study on what employees and managers hope for. More interestingly, it also explores what keeps them up at night. More than 11,000 people from 16 geographies and 13 industries contributed to the study.
On the Mercer website, you can read an overview of the key findings of the study, and look at the data by geography and industry. A screenshot of the overall trends from Singapore is appeneded below for easy reference.
The top five HR priorities in Singapore are putting sustainability and ESG at the hear of the transformation agenda, improving workforce planning to better inform buy/build/borrow talent strategies, tapping into non-local or non-traditional talent pools, designing work to improve agility, and improving total reward packages.
On a global level, Mercer concludes that “relatable organisations” hold the keys to success in 2022.
Organizations today are expected to have a heart, to come off mute on what they stand for, and to make measurable progress against goals relevant to all stakeholders — from ESG to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to co-creating the new shape of work. They are striving to become more relatable, taking on the values and personalities of their people and their communities. These relatable organizations have homed in on a few key success drivers: resetting for stakeholder relevance, building adaptive capability in their people and processes, figuring out how to work in partnership and tackle inequalities, driving outcomes on employee health and total well-being, incentivizing employability, and harnessing energy for the collective good.
Staggering Statistics for Singapore
Singapore’s staggering statistics make for a sobering read, and should serve as a wake-up call for all employers and HR managers in the city-state. We set out the key data relating to Singapore below
- 85% of employees feel at risk of burnout this year.
- 50% of Singaporeans intend to leave their jobs in the next six to 12 months.
- 62% say not being able to work remotely or hybrid permanently is a deal breaker when considering whether to join or stay with an organisation.
- Six in 10 executives also believe fundamentally that work gets done in an office, not remotely.
- 97% of companies report significant skill gaps in their organisation.
Some of the top reasons for Singaporeans calling it quits include not feeling sufficiently rewarded for their efforts (35%), feeling overloaded at work (34%) and feeling uncertain with changes not being clearly communicated (30%).
One in five Singaporeans feel de-energised at work, For purposes of a relative comparison, this is twice the Asia average and 6% higher than the global average.
Despite these numbers, it appears that all hope is not lost. As Lewis Garrad, a Career Business Leader, in Mercer Singapore states that 36% of Singapore HR leaders say they are planning to introduce strategies to address burnout this year. He added that:
“While companies are doing more on employee wellness, a gap still remains between what companies are offering and employees’ expectations. Companies need to know that a failure to focus on employee wellness can potentially put a company’s transformation at risk.”
Garrad also advocates for new and flexible work models.
“Employers need to bridge the gap in expectations and embrace new, flexible work models to cultivate a workforce that can design their own careers. Those who find that balance and align their policies to the wants and needs of their employees will not only boost the motivation and engagement of their existing workers, but also will win the best talent.”
Singapore is the 4th most overworked city in the World
A separate study by Kisi, which was also published earlier this week, said that Singapore was the 4th most overworked city.
The best cities for work-life balance, according to the index, are Oslo, Bern, Helsinki, Zurich, and Copenhagen.
The Cities with the Best Work-Life Balance 2022 used data to identify the best cities for work-life balance based on Work Intensity, Society and Institutions, and City Liveability. The study considered over 130 data points covering a range of indicators to highlight the most and least overworked cities around the world.
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