Do This One Thing to Become a Top Singaporean Company

Is your company planning to welcome new talent this year? You should brace yourselves.

All signs point to a particularly competitive job market in Singapore in 2022. A recent survey of over 500 Singaporean employers indicates that the Net Employment Outlook for Q2 2022 in Singapore is +25%—the strongest Outlook reported in 11 years. According to the survey, a massive 42% of Singaporean employers plan to hire in Q2 2022.

So what does this mean for your company? In order to hire top talent in a competitive market, you’ll need to make the prospect of working at your company extra enticing for jobseekers.

As we’ll explore in this article, setting up a strong corporate giving program is one of the most effective ways to become a top Singaporean company everyone wants to work for. If you’re interested to learn more about how your company can leverage corporate giving to stand out in a competitive job market, keep reading.

What Talent Attraction Strategies Are Singaporean Companies Currently Using?

Most Singaporean companies typically focus on attracting talent with enticing remuneration and benefits packages. Michael Page’s 2021 Talent Trends & Salary Survey shows that the top five most commonly used talent attraction strategies by companies in Singapore are:

• Competitive remuneration and benefits package - 42%
• Dynamic company culture - 35%
• Professional development opportunities - 35%
• Remote/flexible work arrangements - 32%
• Company reputation - 21%

What Are Singaporean Job Seekers Actually Looking For?

While the prospect of an attractive remuneration package is no doubt compelling to many job seekers, it’s not the only thing they’re looking for. In fact, the aforementioned Michael Page survey notes that in addition to an attractive remuneration package, job seekers also value non-monetary benefits.

In other words, to become a top Singaporean company to job seekers, you need to offer both monetary and non-monetary benefits as part of your attraction and retention strategy.

There are many types of non-monetary benefits to offer job seekers, but few will have the impact of a corporate giving program. As we’ll now explore, corporate giving isn’t only a fantastic way to give back to the community, but it’s also a research-backed way to attract and retain the best talent in Singapore.

How Can Corporate Giving Help My Company to Attract Talent?

Top Singaporean companies recognise the value of corporate giving on both a philanthropic and business level. The reason a corporate giving program is considered to be an essential component of top Singaporean companies is that it’s widely believed that companies have a responsibility to contribute to the betterment of society.

To use the words of the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre’s Chief Executive, Melissa Kwee:

“Society is facing complex challenges at an unprecedented level, and we believe that businesses have the potential to make a significant difference. Besides driving economic stability, businesses can also catalyse social change through their influence, partnerships, and business models."

But do job seekers and employees actually care about this? The answer is a resounding ‘Yes.’ A plethora of studies point to the strong relationship between corporate giving and talent attraction.

For example, research from Randstad shows that close to three-quarters of employees and job seekers in Singapore (73%) surveyed say that they will only want to work for a company that has a strong corporate giving program.

Similar sentiments were reflected in Deloitte’s 2018 study. The study found that over 81% of employees in APAC said it’s ‘important’ or ‘very important’ for businesses to prioritise corporate social responsibility. Younger workers particularly care, with three-quarters holding high expectations for companies to be socially responsible.

The amazing thing about corporate giving is that it also helps with talent retention and engagement. Take a look at Great Place to Work’s research into the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For 2021. The study found that when employees felt good about how their company contributed to their communities, they were:

• 1.9 times more likely to experience pride in their organisation
• 1.7 times more likely to say their work has special meaning rather than being “just a job”
• 1.6 times more likely to say that their executives fully embody the best characteristics of the company
NVPC research similarly found that 96% of Singaporean companies that gave back saw more satisfied employees after giving.

Moreover, the 2017 Corporate Giving Survey found that 66% of Singaporean employees that engage in volunteering are motivated to give as it supports:

• Employee recruitment
• Team building
• Employee morale, loyalty, and retention
• Leadership, talent, and skills development

So why is having a corporate giving program attractive to job seekers and employees? In short, it communicates that your company isn’t solely concerned with profit. It’s a practical means of demonstrating that your company is purpose-driven and is making a genuine effort to give back to the community.

Plus, as highlighted above, employees want to get involved. After further proof? The Corporate Giving survey found that the majority of employees who aren’t already engaged in workplace giving are eager to start.

Which Top Singaporean Companies Engage in Corporate Giving?

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If you’re wondering how to attract the best talent in Singapore, it’s worth considering what the most successful businesses in Singapore are doing. Despite their differences, there’s one unique ethos they all share: a desire to give back to the community.

Take a peek at the list below to see a sample of top Singaporean companies that boast a solid reputation for corporate giving:

• Singtel
• EY Singapore
• Grab Singapore
• Overseas United Bank
• Zalora Singapore
• Sharp Singapore
• CapitaLand
• DBS Bank
• Microsoft Singapore
• IBM Singapore
• Prudential Singapore

Even if your company isn’t as big or profitable as those above, it can still reap the many benefits of corporate giving. Companies of all sizes in all industries can give back to the community. The key is to do so in a way that makes sense for your company.

How Do I Get Corporate Giving Right?

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Job seekers, employees, and customers alike are increasingly wary of disingenuous attempts by companies to give back. Studies have shown that people don’t want companies to only pay lip service to corporate philanthropy; they want to see tangible evidence that companies put their money where their mouth is, so to speak.

That’s why if you want your company to stand out to job seekers, it’s critical to take steps to set up a strong corporate giving program. One of the best tools you can leverage is Catalyser.

Catalyser has become the digital giving platform of choice for a growing number of Singaporean companies. The Catalyser platform is designed with all of the features necessary for Singaporean companies to engage in meaningful corporate giving.

For example, Catalyser not only offers a variety of giving modules to choose from, but also a wide range of charity partners, including well-known Singaporean charities. By logging into their Catalyser account, employees can find useful information about the charities and the campaigns their workplace is supporting, and easily contribute their time, money, or skills.

Thanks to the built-in reporting tools, the platform also streamlines the management and reporting of employee giving activities. Some other key benefits you can look forward to when you make the switch to Catalyser include:
• Increased employee engagement
• Increased visibility for your corporate giving program
• Increased social impact

Simply put, Catalyser makes it easy for Singaporean companies like yours to demonstrate and track their commitment to giving back.

In fact, Catalyser eliminates the two biggest barriers to corporate giving employees identified in the 2017 Corporate Giving Survey. That is, 42% of employees identified finding suitable charities to support as a barrier to entry, while 35% identified the provision of support/info on volunteer management as one.

If you’d like to read more about how corporate giving platforms can streamline and strengthen the delivery of your program, read our free guide. If you want to learn more about how Catalyser can support your corporate giving program, our Customer Support Team is here to help.

What Other Resources Are Available?

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The good news is that Singaporean companies are well-supported to engage in corporate giving thanks to the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC). The NVPC is the leading non-profit organisation in Singapore for organisations and individuals with a desire to give back.

The organisation is the steward of the City of Good vision for Singapore, which offers a range of brands, programmes, and initiatives that facilitate partnerships that drive the country’s giving ecosystem. It endeavours to transform organisations and individuals from a “me-first” mindset to being “other-centred.”

On the NVPC’s website, you’ll find plenty of guides and resources to help your business effectively engage in corporate giving. A particularly useful resource we recommend checking out is the organisation’s It’s Just Good Business Guide.

Final thoughts

It’s clear that both job seekers and employees yearn to work at companies with strong corporate giving programs in place. With 2022 proving to be a particularly competitive job market, it’s never been so important to offer one in your company.

Job seekers and employees are no longer content with turning a blind eye to companies’ inaction when it comes to corporate giving. That’s why, if you want to become a top Singaporean company, a corporate giving program is not just a nice-to-have. It’s a fundamental component of your business’ hiring success now and in the future.