By Elizabeth Wilmot

SINGAPORE companies have been urged to be more creative in the way they go about retaining top talent.

Employees are now more demanding in what they want in a job, and are willing to switch jobs to achieve this, said Mr Don Lindner, manager of the practice leadership arm of WorldatWork, a professional human resources association.

He said firms have to look at a 'total reward strategy', made up of five factors - compensation, benefits, work-life balance, performance and recognition, and development and career opportunities.

Failure to meet changing needs of workers would lead to companies losing their top talent, he warned.

'Companies have to offer more and more in order to keep these workers. These total rewards would be very important to Singapore,' he said.

'With the current global abundance and local scarcity of talent, an organisation's ability to attract, motivate and retain will emerge as the primary indicator of fiscal performance and survival.'

Mr Lindner said Singapore faced problems in attracting and retaining top talent, which was a particularly acute problem, given the shortage of talent in some sectors here.

'Singapore has some unique challenges. You've got a very vibrant economy, but an imbalance in terms of labour shortage,' he said, referring to the ageing population here - underscored by the Government's call for more babies.

Combined with the changing needs of employees today, who are looking for more than just compensation and retirement stability, firms are finding it a challenge to retain good staff.

He said employees have changed their mindsets, and are looking more to job development and self-fulfilment, rather than long-term stability. They are not afraid to switch jobs in order to meet those needs, he said.

Looking abroad, Mr Lindner said he was opposed to some elements of the recent bailout of financial institutions passed by the United States Congress.

The bailout includes provisions in which chief executives would be held to strict restrictions on compensation, with a prohibition on 'golden parachutes', that is big payments upon departure. Also executive compensation exceeding US$500,000 (S$730,500) will not be tax-deductible.

'Whenever you arbitrarily cap anything, it doesn't work,' he said, adding that at times of financial crisis, top talent are needed the most and capping compensation and benefits would not help to attract and retain them.

Instead, he suggested a deferring of contingent payments like stock options for a period of two years, to ensure they earn their pay and do not simply take the money and leave.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on October 16, 2008.