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MOVING FORWARD AND UPWARD

The retail industry in Malaysia has undergone significant changes in recent years, driven by the growth of e-commerce and the shifting consumer preferences.

Despite facing challenges such as increased competition and the impact of COVID-19, the retail sector in Malaysia remains a key contributor to the country’s economy, providing employment opportunities and driving economic growth.

HOW DID THE SECTOR MANAGE TO PUSH SALES?

Once the Malaysian government relaxed the conditions on several sectors after the Movement Control Order (MCO), consumers almost immediately returned to their shopping behavior.

Companies in these industries are looking for candidates to be able to sharpen certain skills especially interpersonal skills which can be more important than their experiences. 

HIRING ADVICE

While this industry is slowly recovering due to the numerous lockdowns from the past two years, it has not completely gone back to normal yet.

Recruiting and retaining top talents are important as these are the people that are the backbone of the company – selling more products and serving the customers. 

SHOWCASE YOUR VALUES-DRIVEN WORKPLACE

Employees, especially with the Millennial and Gen-Z generation, expect to have a conducive working environment that focuses on diversity, inclusion and equality.

Showcase your working environment by including information on actions you’re taking to promote this and how everyone in the organisation shares the same values. 

EMPOWER EMPLOYEE GROWTH

Employees tend to show interest and stay for a longer period whenever companies have a clear path to their career growth. Some employees enter the workforce to move forward while others prefer a more lateral move. 

Provide your employees with training and development programs, mentorship opportunities and a variety of career paths to choose from. 

SIMPLIFY THE HIRING PROCESS

It’s important to note that most employees want a simple candidate experience which helps to kick start the employer-employee relationship.

Try incorporating using pre-recorded video interviews or having an easy one-pager application form.

RETENTION & ATTRACTION

As employers, it is extremely important to understand what makes an employee continue to stay in the long run and those that are there for a shorter term. 

It’s best to understand the reasons behind this to help the management team and the company as a whole, create a better work culture, in order to retain the best talents in the industry and to work towards attracting new talents to the growing team. 

REASONS TO STAY

• Positive career progression
• Competitive salary and commission scheme
• Acclaimed employer branding
• Products and services
• Store location

REASONS TO LEAVE

• Lack of brand awareness
• Salary and commission scheme are not competitive
• Unhealthy working environment
• Lack of opportunity to transfer to backend roles
• Inconvenient access to store

FROM ATTRACTION TO RETENTION

Finding the right talent is critical for your company’s growth. These are the employees that will help your business succeed, so knowing how to manage these employees are key for the development of your business.

Consider these strategies to help you stand out from your competitors when establishing your talent attraction and retention plan. 

CROSS-BRAND TRANSFER 

Employees that have been with a specific group for a while tend to prefer moving to a different brand, but within the same group.

This is to provide a new sense of motivation and satisfaction whilst giving the employee an opportunity for growth.

This allows employees to be versatile with their work, giving them opportunities to thrive, enabling them to widen their skills and knowledge.

TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY TO OTHER CITIES/COUNTRIES

Employees that are seconded are able to garner different experiences in honing their skills, forming new connections, and understanding the company better.

Through secondment, employees won’t feel mundane with their daily routines.

TEAM BONDING 

Having a strong bond within your team is extremely important to better understand everyone’s:

Team bonding, whether done through a lunch or an activity, is able to build trust among employees, allowing them to be proactive with their ideas and take risks.

Communication is always key when working with each other, to be able to set a defined goal and work towards it in the most efficient manner.

SALARY INCREMENT 

The people who work for you should be treasured, so when considering giving your employees a salary increment, it’s important for you to know when and how to offer them.

Employers should also note that compensating employees can go a long way in retaining them, as the industry can get extremely competitive.

Most employees expect to be paid a salary that reflects the hard work and dedication they’ve done with the company. Consider the following:

WORK WITH A RECRUITER

With the booming retail industry and the numerous amount of shopping malls rising in Malaysia, the country is on the verge to be the next shopping paradise for many locals and tourists. 

With multiple competitors in this fast-paced industry and with more new players trying to enter the market, partnering with recruiters is of the utmost importance to you.

By understanding the market, its trends and with a broad network, a good recruiter is able to source and narrow down the right talent for your growing company.

Click here to download the report.

MALAYSIA’S GROWING CALL CENTRE INDUSTRY

As we progress with the disruption from the pandemic, the call center industry was one that continued its operations and is still booming in the country. Malaysia remains the most desirable location in the region for call center hubs due to the advancement in its digital infrastructure and the thriving outsourcing services under IT and Software Development industries.

With the help of the young and talented workforce, the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies are on the rise in the country, and they are able to fulfil the demand for quality workers by clients all around the world. Some of the major companies include ENVO BPO, NXG Global, TDCX Malaysia, amongst others. 

An unexpected trend that will make its mark is digital transformation and conversational artificial intelligence (AI). Many businesses are driving fundamental changes in their operations and entails to the job having an increased efficiency, business agility and having new values for employees. While this may have an impact on the industry, AI can assist the industry by managing and analyzing big data and obtaining specific data from consumers.

HOW DOES THE SECTOR WORK?

In Malaysia, as of May 2022, the government has increased the minimum wage to RM1,500 and this has indirectly affected the industry as a whole. Competing companies are now forced to increase their hiring budget to be more competitive and to recruit new employees. 

Wage in Malaysia account for more than half of the household income, which plays an important role . The increase in minimum wage will exert pressure on business production, costs and margins. Although it may seem like a positive move in the country, consumers will still continue to suffer due to the worsening of inflation in the market. 

Overall, in Malaysia, the employment rate has increased with more companies looking to build their APAC or global hub due to the advantages of multilanguage workforce and manpower cost efficiency. 

HIRING ADVICE

Attracting and hiring high-quality talent can be incredibly challenging when it comes to call centres. It is vital for clients and companies to understand from the get-go on how to set up a proper working culture of the company to attract relevant talents and determining the success of your company.

Here are some strategies to help you hire top candidates.

OFFER EXTRA COMPENSATION. Great candidates are easy to find and attract but one of the main key components in our economy is to compensate them fairly,  motivating them to come to work. The compensation should include overtime pay, performance initiatives and allowance packages.

HYBRID OR REMOTE WORKING ARRANGEMENTS. Great candidates consider this part as one of the major decision makers when choosing a job. The flexibility is considered a benefit to many and providing this option will give your company a wide access to a larger talent pool.

CREATE INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE. Let your employees gain international exposure by giving them chances to work overseas, letting them garner opportunities to develop new set of skills, making their career paths. 

RETENTION & ATTRACTION

It’s important to understand what makes an employee stay or leave. Understanding these reasons will help you create better work environments to retain the best talents and continuously attract new ones to your team.

REASONS TO STAY

• Salary and compensation
• Well distributed workload
• Potential career progression
• Job security
• Work-life balance
• Training and development opportunities

REASONS TO LEAVE

• Better remuneration offered by other companies
• Stressful working environments
• Heavy workload
• Lack of proper training plan
• Lack of opportunities for career development

FROM ATTRACTION TO RETENTION

Finding the right talent is critical for your company’s growth. These are the employees that will help your business succeed, so knowing how to manage these employees are key for the development of your business. Consider these strategies to help you stand out from your competitors when establishing your talent attraction and retention plan. 

Employee Engagements

Engaged employees are able to develop stronger relationships with their customers, entailing to a wholesome better customer experience. It’s been a proven theory that engaged employees are less likely to leave their employers which then helps the business by reducing the on-boarding costs and turnover rates.

Compensation and Benefits

The theory is simple: happy employees = productive employees. There are different ways, not just to compensate your employees with high salary packages, but you can also compensate them with health or life insurance, mobile allowance or flexibility in their working hours.

Moving Forward and Upward

Many employees, especially those in their 20s and 30s are constantly on the lookout to progress in their career, to gain as much exposure as possible, learn new experiences and move upward. Thus, it’s important that you equip your employees with the necessary digital skills and tools, offering training which can include reskilling and upskilling courses to help them in their progression plans.

Acknowledgement and Appreciation

One of the simplest yet most effective ways for employee retention is recognising and appreciating their work. This will help them in building a sense of how much they are valued in the company. It boils down to how employees view themselves and how they’re positively contributing to the company’s growth. 

Work-Life Balance

Since the onset of the pandemic, employees now more than ever value work-life balance and would give up a higher salary package to value their mental wellbeing. If you want the best from your talents, this is a contributing factor that plays an important role for your company – best to be flexible when it comes to the working style.

Communicating with one Another

Employees are the backbone of any company – giving them the proper communications, whether it’s sharing about the company’s growth or having a one-on-one session will provide them with an overview of how the company is doing and how  they can perform better. Employers can also take this opportunity to see how they can help their employees manage tasks better.

IN-DEMAND SKILLS IN CALL CENTRES

• Language proficiency (English is a must; value added languages are Mandarin, Malay, Japanese, Korean and Thai)
• Data Science and Cybersecurity
• Strong Adaptability to Fast-Paced Environments
• Written Communications
• Customer Relationship Management and Computer Telephony Integration Softwares
• Multitasking
• Problem Solving and Flexibility
• Quick Thinking
• Attention to Detail

IN-DEMAND ROLES IN CALL CENTRES

• Telemarketing
• Customer Service
• IT Support

WORK WITH A RECRUITER

In this increasingly competitive fast-paced industry, partnering with recruiters is essential for your company. They can help fill in the gaps for you. 

With a wide array of expertise and experience, backed up with the necessary information on the industry, the labor market, job postings, screening and interviewing of candidates, recruiters will help you fill in the role by ensuring they find the best talent for you.

In this tight job market, consider working with a recruiter so that you can keep focusing on what matters, running your business.

Click here to download this report.

The State of Startups in Malaysia

Already recognized as one of leading global manufacturing hubs, Malaysia is making strides towards establishing itself as a promising startup centre. According to Startup Genome, an innovation policy adviser, Kuala Lumpur is ranked as the 11^th emerging startup ecosystem in the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2020.

The country’s geographical location is a prime spot for cross-country operations, situated between three already growing markets in Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. To help accelerate the ecosystem growth, the Malaysian government launched programs such as Cradle Investment Programme 300 (CIP300) and DEQ800 to offer direct financial support to Malaysian tech startups.

Other than its government funding schemes, Malaysia also offers high quality talent at lower salaries and fast-track visas for entrepreneurs, making the country a great area for startups to move to if they want to expand.

Hiring Advice

Attracting and hiring high-quality talent can be incredibly challenging for startups. However, it is crucial to get this step right in the early stages as your team will help set the culture of your organization and determine the success of your first projects. Here are some strategies to help you hire top candidates as a startup.

Offer a hybrid or remote work options. Many great candidates consider this flexibility as a benefit. Providing this option may give your company access to a larger talent pool.

Create an employee referral program. Personal references can go a long way when hiring new employees for a startup. It allows you to hire faster and candidates recommended by your employees are more likely to have a strong cultural fit.

Build and showcase great company culture. A startup company has a lot of potential to create a positive work culture where talents can thrive. Social media is a great platform to showcase your company culture, from office perks to fun events like birthday celebrations and team bonding sessions.

Use modern tools. Artificial intelligence systems can assist you in filtering job applications and hire more efficiently. These systems can help you scan your job posts to ensure you optimize your language. It also allows you to communicate directly with applicants through chatbots or automatic chatting software. 

In-Demand Skills in Startups

• Data Analytics (i.e research, resource management, forecasting, data visualizations)
• Mobile Development
• Sales
• Business Development
• English Language (i.e. content writing, presentation skills)
• Computer Skills (i.e. MS Office, GSuite, CRM software)

Emerging Soft Skills:

• Strong adaptability to fast pace environment
• Innovative and inquisitive mind
• Dare to share opinions
• Entrepreneurial mindset
• Complex problem-solving
• Resilience, strong tolerance and flexibility

In-Demand Roles in Startups

• Merchant Support (onboarding, trainer, payment dispute handling)
• User Operations Support
• Partner Enablement Team / Activation
• Customer Service / People Experience
• Key Account Manager
• Business Intelligence / Strategic Intelligence
• Software Engineer
• Data Analyst & Scientist
• UX/UI Designer
• Software / App / Web Developer

Retention & Attraction

It’s important to understand what makes an employee stay or leave. Understanding these reasons will help you create better work environments to retain the best talents and continuously attract new ones to your team.

Reasons to stay:

• Positive career progression potential
• Competitive salary and benefits
• Well-known brand image
• Flexible work hours / WFH policy
• Collaborative working culture

Reasons to leave:

• Stagnant company growth
• Lack of room for career progression
• Work overload
• Better remuneration package offered by others
• Lack of new challenges

From Attraction to Retention

In the early-stage startup, finding the right talents is critical for your company’s growth. Businesses are competing for top quality candidates more than ever before. Consider these strategies to help you stand out from your competitors when establishing your talent attraction plan.

Explain your company’s mission

As a startup, it’s important to be open on where your company is heading as it will help your candidates align themselves with your company’s purpose. You can also share some of your ongoing projects to let them have better understanding on some of the works that they will be doing.

Competitive salary and benefits

Our data shows that candidates are more willing to consider joining a startup when offered a 30-40% salary increment. However, if you are unable to do this, there are different ways you can provide competitive packages to stand out in the market. This can include offering health and insurance benefits, flexibility in working hours, trendy office space and perks, or equity.

Provide a clear path for upward mobility

Some candidates can be hesitant to join a newly-established company as they are unsure of how they can develop within the company. During the hiring process, communicate how your organization can provide opportunities for their career growth or to expand their portfolios.

Employee turnover is a constant struggle for companies, especially those who are just starting up. Some studies show that around 20% of new hires leave within their first 45 days of employment. Here are several strategies you can consider for successful employee retention.

Ensure effective onboarding practices

Proper onboarding is critical to any company’s long-term success. It is your chance to create a strong and lasting impression on new employees. Some ways to achieve this include:

• providing all relevant information such as office access or parking spots
• setting up their workspace
• personalizing their introduction to the company
• having clear onboarding plan that covers at least the next month

Offer opportunities for development

High turnover rate is often linked to a lack of investment in employee development. When a clear development program is in place, employees will be more motivated and productive at work. Consider implementing coaching programs or making trainings and certification programmes reimbursable. For employees who are interested in exploring roles outside of their departments, you can provide opportunities to transfer into new positions or functions.

Reassess your compensation and benefits package

Offering employees enticing benefits package can be costly, however, in the long run, it will help you retain your staff. Start by surveying existing employees to see what they think of the current benefit package then check out what your competitors are offering. You can also evaluate your salary structure to ensure that employees are compensated for a job well done.

Initiate employee engagement actions

Studies have shown that engaged employees are often higher performers, more productive and more likely to stay within the company than disengaged employees. You can improve your employee engagement by committing to a two-way feedback system. This will allow employees to get input to enable them to perform their best and at the same time, you can have inputs that would be vital for the company’s growth.

Organize internal events to strengthen team relationships and celebrate achievements

These activities will help employees to communicate and collaborate better, builds trust, help resolve conflict and enhances respect for each other. Some team building events you can do include team lunches, group excursions, or social responsibility initiatives to give back to the community.

Work with A Recruiter

Many startups struggle to fill in crucial roles because they do not have the time or resources to source, engage and hire talents. This is where recruiters can come in and fill in the gaps.

Recruiters have a high level of expertise and experience in dealing with the labour market, job posting tactics, candidate screening and interviewing and labour laws. They have access to a vast of high-quality talents that they have already pre-screened or to passive candidates who are often the best performers in the industry.

In this tight job market, consider working with a recruiter so that you can keep focusing on what matters: running your new business.

Salary Guide

Click here to download this report.