HR Corner Work-life balance an employee's right by Isabella Lee Top employer offers a life at work The local labour market is thriving because of the robust economy and one effect of this is that top professionals have their pick of jobs. While this bodes well for these individuals, it means companies must work harder to attract and retain employees. While international finance powerhouses are benefiting from the healthy economy, they also find themselves facing turnover challenges, especially since other like-minded companies are also seeking top-class talent. To win this battle, employers are offering more comprehensive remuneration packages and incentives to prospective employees. Fern Ngai, head of human resources at Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, says, however, that this is not enough. "Today's employees are not just looking at the figures in their pay," she says. "Prospective employees assess the bigger picture, including career prospects, learning opportunities and company culture." More than money Mrs Ngai believes that companies need to differentiate themselves to attract high-calibre candidates by offering a strong employee value proposition. "At Standard Chartered one way we appeal to these talented individuals is by demonstrating our commitment to the community and our emphasis on an employee's right to a work-life balance," she says. For instance, the bank has launched "Well-being day" on a weekly basis to encourage staff members to leave the workplace early. By placing a "This is my well-being day" card on their desk, on a day of their choice, employees can enjoy some extra leisure time, perhaps spent with their families, exercising, shopping, or even resting. Another example is "Project 1900" — a scheme that encourages branch staff to finish work by seven o'clock in the evening. To make this scheme possible, Standard Chartered modified some of its operations, such as streamlining daily tasks to reduce the transactional duties after branches close, and shifting some activities to a centralised team. For this, extra staff were hired and most of them are retirees employed on flexible terms. "We have a responsibility and a commitment to provide our colleagues with a great place to work" Mrs Ngai stresses, though, that the ultimate notion of a work-life balance cannot simply be translated into a reduction in working hours. "Life is not static," she says. "People shift gears in different phases of it depending on whether they are focusing on career goals or personal goals. People have stages in their lives when they want to work hard and other times when they want to focus more on family matters or other priorities." In her experience, on the other hand, she has found that at every stage of life people enjoy learning and developing themselves. "Therefore it is important for us to provide them with a wealth of learning opportunities within the company," she says. Employees at Standard Chartered take ownership of their learning with individual learning and development plans linked to their career progress. Line managers monitor and support these, giving advice and attention to the employees to ensure they get the most out of the plans. Sponsorship is also available to support employees who enrol in external education and training courses. Outside of the office, Standard Chartered continues its community building endeavours. "We understand that our staff want to be involved in these meaningful activities," Mrs Ngai says. "This is something we feel strongly about." The bank is committed to global community activities and locally sponsored programmes, and staff are eligible for up to two days of paid volunteering leave every year. As well as assisting communities, this benefits the company by engaging its staff in an extensive range of sporting and recreational activities, thus building team spirit. Work both ways Standard Chartered has more than 1,400 branches in 50 countries. It is ranked among the top 25 FTSE 100 enterprises and has a workforce of 60,000, representing over 100 nationalities. In Hong Kong, the bank's biggest market, there are approximately 5,000 employees. "We embrace diversity, and our great mix of people brings diverse styles of thinking and working. This, we believe leads to better outcomes," Mrs Ngai says. "I believe this is one of the factors that makes us such a dynamic and high performance company." Standard Chartered prides itself on fostering a caring and nurturing environment that helps people to grow and aims to make a difference. Mrs Ngai continues, "We have a responsibility and a commitment to provide our colleagues with a great place to work." The challenge for Standard Chartered — and indeed for every company wanting to employ the best quality employees — is striking a balance between employee satisfaction and company productivity. "We need to closely monitor our work-life balance initiatives to ensure a win-win situation," Mrs Ngai says. Last year the company observed a decrease from 13.7 per cent to 12.5 per cent in the bank's overall turnover rate, and this is very encouraging. "But we need to continue our efforts," Mrs Ngai says. "This is just the beginning." Salient points Career prospects, learning opportunities and company culture as important as pay packages Appeal to talented individuals by showing a sense of community and emphasis on work-life balance Respect individuals' career aspirations and goals Provide staff with learning opportunities within the company Taken from Career Times 15 June 2007, p. A20 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]