MALAYSIA, we have a problem ... A whopping 90% of Malaysians would consider moving overseas for a new job and 49% are already actively searching for greener pastures. This is according to an international survey done by Archer Bahari’s Executive Search and Human Resource Consulting team.
According to the survey, 1,050 Malaysians — Malaysians made up 94% of the 1,118 total respondents — have, at one time or another, quit jobs, complained about work for a period of time, or spoken to friends and family about leaving their company.
Of the total number 90% want to leave the country, 73% responded that they would gladly opt to work next door in Singapore instead, highlighting the fact that it is not merely the tropical wet, dry and humid weather that they are trying to get away from.
Some 65% of Malaysians polled reported that they do not feel valued at work and 50% thought their management does not do a very good job communicating with them. An alarming 45% said they would not even consider recommending their current employer to friends and family.
The survey, which featured more men respondents (64%) then women (36%), was conducted to obtain a comprehensive analysis of the positive and negative issues affecting employee engagement as well as underlying causes of those issues.
In the demographics of the survey, some 44% were made up of those aged between 31 and 40 while 24% were aged 26-30. Those between 21 and 25 accounted for 234 respondents and the remaining 123 were aged 41-50.
Through the survey, Archer Bahari identified that there was something inherently uncompelling about working in Malaysia, whether it encompassed purchasing power, work environments, employee benefits or bad leadership.
On the positive side, the research found 46% of Malaysians actually like their jobs, regardless of what they feel about their work environment and other factors relating to work.
According to Archer Bahari, many Asian countries suffer a higher staff turnover rate than countries such as the United States, Canada, and many European countries. In fact, for every RM1 million an average Malaysian company spends on payroll, almost half of it (RM475,000) goes to waste because employees are not engaged, and are actively looking for other jobs.
Weak leadership, bad internal communication, lack of work recognition programmes and career opportunities, as well as salaries that are not achievement-based are some of the main causes behind the high level of employee turnovers in Malaysia.
However, it is interesting to note that 77% of Malaysians consider their wages to be fair and competitive, which goes to show that people, generally, are not unhappy with their jobs because of low wages. Therefore, monetary incentives such as big bonuses or profit-sharing generally do not work to retain talent if they already feel dissatisfied with their jobs or work environments.
Some of the most important predictors of a high level of job satisfaction among employees are: good career progression opportunities, being valued by their companies, strong organisational missions, goals and values, and having a working employee strategy which is consistently implemented.
In particular, employees resoundingly agree that they like to feel that their work matters, and that they are important and valued by their employers.
On the flip side, bad leadership is the top weakness that companies suffer from — in the eyes of their employees. These are companies which constantly place more value on production than on the leadership in their organisations.
It goes without saying, that even something as simple as clean facilities and work environments, good security and safety as well as plenty of natural lighting do wonders to boost employee satisfaction and commitment.
The pitfalls of running a company whose employees are disengaged and are looking for the nearest exit not only include a huge drain on resources, but on their brand as well.
Disengaged employees are the people who frequently call in sick, don’t put in much effort in their everyday tasks, and for the most part, do not see any reason to stay since they do not see future opportunities for career progression, and feel that they are not important to their employers.
The problem extends to those surrounding them as well. Often, disengaged employees’ lack of commitment even serves to undermine their colleagues’ work by spreading negative aura to their teams.
On the other hand, engaged and committed employees are motivated to achieve higher goals, inspire others around them to do the same, and unwittingly carry out active positive branding on behalf of the company.
How exactly does this work? Archer Bahari’s team of experts have come across companies — large, well-known ones, at that — experiencing a reduction in brand positivity because their employees felt exceedingly negative about the company. This caused their reputation as not only employers, but a brand as a whole, to be seen in a more negative light by the public.
The logic goes: “If this company treats its employees so terribly, perhaps we should not be so confident that it is a brand that we as consumers can believe in.”
As Malaysia becomes increasingly advanced and modern, its citizens are finding that they are no longer shackled to whichever company they work for. Instead, most are now aware that they have plenty of opportunities not only locally, but abroad as well.
In fact, in the past decade alone, some 300,000 Malaysians — 10% of the country’s tertiary-educated work force — have migrated overseas in search of better career opportunities.
In order to curtail what seems to be an inevitable “brain drain”, employers have to evolve along with the populace, and cater to the needs of their employees so that they can build a workforce that is motivated, committed, and inspired by their leaders and brand.
Having a successful employee engagement strategy not only reduces hiring costs — which include both monetary and human costs — it also helps boost brand positivity in the eyes of the general public.
Archer Bahari Executive Search is a headhunting company that helps leading employers by using over 20 years of experience to deliver search and selection solutions which ensure the very best people are identified, introduced and retained.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on August 25, 2014.
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