Startup Tips: How To Hire The Best Talents

By Kath C. Eustaquio-Derla


Hiring the best talents for your business
Singapore is fast becoming Asia’s Silicon Valley. With throngs of startups and serial entrepreneurs registering a company in Singapore, launching products and setting up regional headquarters left and right, the hiring pool is also getting quite competitive.

We have previously discussed the pros and cons of outsourcing versus hiring in-house employees for your business in Singapore. Entrusting some aspects of your business like your secretarial, accounting or taxation needs to a professional service provider can help you focus on your main business activities. And for your core business, you will need a competent and skilled team.

In hiring talents with the right skill set and character, you should invest and offer the right package.  After all, it is not worth having a talented employee who doesn’t respect the rules set by the company. When it comes to building an exceptional startup team, it pays to pay based on an applicant’s portfolio, experience, and potential.

Small and medium-sized businesses seem to always be at a disadvantage when it comes to hiring top talents given the competitive salary and benefit packages offered by bigger companies and corporations. However, by highlighting the strategic advantages and perks of smaller and medium-sized teams, you can score some of the best talents in their respective fields.

We came up with 6 expert tips that will help you attract and hire the best people for your business:


Put work-life balance on a pedestal.
More than half of workers in Singapore (55 percent) said their work interferes with family time, according to the 2013 Survey on Social Attitudes of Singaporeans. As the workplace becomes busier, the employees’ aspirations for work-life balance also increases. The government recognizes the need for employees to have more leeway and live a balanced life. In response, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) provides resources that employers can utilize in developing and implementing work-life strategies such as Flexible work arrangements, enhanced leave benefits, and other employee support schemes.

Many businesses, including some multinationals, have started tweaking their hiring schemes in order to offer talents with better work-life harmony arrangements such as flexible hours and options to work remotely. Small and medium-sized businesses are freer to work around this issue because of its smaller workforce size.

By offering employees more flexibility, the business benefits from its happy teams. For instance, an option to work from home at least once a week can do wonders for people who go through an insane amount of morning stress from the daily commute. Giving your regular employees extended holidays or breaks during off-seasons can also be a good scheme to lure and keep the best team players. Companies with a smaller staff are able to monitor such work-life balance schemes compared to companies with huge teams.


Provide opportunities for learning and project ownership.
In big companies, even the best employees sometimes need to claw their way for a chance to manage and lead a major project. Small and medium-sized businesses can offer the same vital learning experiences to prospective talents in a smaller scale.

Giving employees a chance to take the reins on a project is one of the best ways to empower top burgeoning talents. The chance to project-manage an entire project is rare and top talents would jump at this kind of learning opportunity.

Are you the kind of business owner who is used to taking charge of everything? Then it is time to reconsider. In our previous blog post, we discussed how mastering the art of delegation can set you apart from your fellow entrepreneurs. By letting your team players lead, you are not only nurturing their sense of accomplishment but also fostering a growth-centered startup environment.


Offer competitive health and retirement packages.
In the 2014 AIA Survey on Middle Class Hopes and Aspirations: the ASEAN Region report, researchers found that 69 percent of Singapore’s middle class see health as their top priority. For forty-six percent of the respondents, they view relationships and happy marriage as their life’s goal while 42 percent aim for a comfortable retirement plan. Nearly half (48 percent) of Singapore’s full-time workers said they want to decrease hours spent at the office to be able to spend more quality time with their family and loved ones.

“The dreams of Singapore’s middle class often take the form of an easy and relaxed life, including having a work-life balance, travelling around the world and having a comfortable retirement,” wrote the researchers of the 2014 AIA Survey.

Large corporations have the financial backing to offer more enticing health and retirement packages. However, they do not have much control over the working hours needed to get the job done, which is often the case. Most big corporations lure talents with health insurance and retirement schemes firsthand. Small and medium-sized teams can also offer competitive health and retirement packages in a smaller scale.


Invest in unique office perks.
Offering unique perks designed to keep the workforce happy could be a great way to keep and inspire the majority of your team members, especially the Millennials. Small perks such as free coffee or monthly gift cards can go a long way. Regular company dinners at a cool place in the city also do wonders for the team’s camaraderie. Holiday bonuses and cash perks after landing a big sale or project are great alternatives to stock options large companies offer their regular employees. The simple act of investing in your employees’ happiness is one way the company takes care of its people.

“If you look after your staff, they’ll look after your customers. It’s that simple,” said Virgin Group founder Richard Branson.


Offer free training.
The chance to learn and add a new skill on one’s resume while getting paid for it is one of the biggest lures for top talents who are smart about getting the right experience at the right time. The workforce is constantly changing and smart, top talents know that it is vital to keep up with the fast-changing technology trends, sales techniques and other work aspects that directly affect their net worth in the corporate arena. By constantly rolling out learning opportunities, you will not only land on top talents but also increases your chances of retaining them for the long haul.

Top talents know the value of mentoring programs. Businesses with a much smaller workforce and operations scale can offer real opportunities for mentoring whether it’s an informal one within the organization or an external one which involves other businesses or even colleges that offer mentoring courses.


Offer real recognition programs.
As of June 2012, the Singapore Department of Statistics said there are approximately 519,000 Millennials in the country. By 2025, this generation will make about 75 percent of the local workforce.

 Millennials are often described as restless due to their opportunity-driven mindset. But when companies learn how to effectively empower this generation of workers, they will reap many benefits.

Millennials yearn and even expect to be recognized for all the hard work that they do. This is why many multinationals and corporations spend millions in annual recognition awards, which, in turn, result in increased motivation and output.

Small and medium-sized businesses can offer the same kind of recognition without spending millions. The result is the same. Getting recognized for a job well done is a strong motivator. Moreover, giving employees a yearly goal is another way to keep their eyes on the prize.


Ready to hire your team?
In the past few years, Singapore has become a melting pot of great talents from all over the world. Hiring the best talents for your team is made easy with simple tips on how to use your distinct advantages as a small or medium-sized business to hire and retain the top talents in their fields.

Published here.