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Staff in Malaysia, Hong Kong, anticipate salary increases

As the working year draws to a close, staff in Malaysia and Hong Kong are expecting to receive a bump in salary and cash rewards from their employers.

According to Randstad’s Q4 2014 Workmonitor Report, 83% of employees in Malaysia expect to receive salary increases or bonuses in 2014.

Similarly, while 66% of Hong Kong employees anticipate a pay rise, 60% also expect a one-time bonus at the end of this year.

The report attributed such expectations to a rise in confidence in local economies and a positive outlook for the year to come.

“In addition, with different industries in Malaysia gearing up for the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 and becoming a high-income nation by 2020, employees in Malaysia are shouldering a heavier workload and expect to be compensated,” Jasmin Kaur, director of Randstad Malaysia, said.

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“While offering monetary rewards and incentives in terms of a pay rise or financial bonus may motivate many employees, business leaders are increasingly finding that their top-performing talent are often driven by the provision of leadership or career development opportunities.”

The survey found 88% of employees in the country are seeing the focus on talent development as an opportunity for personal growth.

Seventy percent of staff in Malaysia also recognised the increased time and resources dedicated to talent development programmes today as compared to 10 years ago, proving the growing importance of talent development in the country.

In a similar vein, Peter Yu, director of Randstad Hong Kong, stressed the need for employers to adopt effective measures to manage their workforce to remain productive and competitive.

“While some industry figures show that Occupy Central has had a negative impact on certain industries such as retail, our research revealed that employees in Hong Kong are generally optimistic about the outlook for Hong Kong’s economy in 2015,” he said.

READ MORE:Stable salary hikes for Hong Kong employeesSalaries in Hong Kong to increase in 2015

The survey highlighted 59% of employees in Hong Kong expect the economic situation to improve in 2015.

“With 73% of employees believing they can find comparable work at a different employer within six months, it’s clearly an employee’s market. Therefore it’s important for employers to look beyond financial rewards at the various ways to attract and retain the best talent,” Yu stated.

"With 82% of employees agreeing that the focus on talent development is an opportunity for personal growth, implementing measures and programmes that foster career progression is part of building a strong employer brand that will help to attract top talent and retain a strong team of future leaders.”

Fortunately, the survey found 66% of employees think their employers dedicate more time and resources to talent development programmes than they did 10 years ago. However, employers in Hong Kong need to do more to innovate and increase their efforts to develop their talent.

Currently, only 67% of employees in Hong Kong stated their employers allow them to define their own career paths, falling behind India (82%), China (79%) and Malaysia (71%).

Image: Shutterstock

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