By CASSANDRA CHEW and SUSAN LONG

1 Communicate conscientiously

HOME-GROWN Raffles Education Corporation, which operates three universities and 22 colleges across nine countries in the Asia-Pacific region, has told its staff there will be no retrenchments and no salary, incentive or bonus cuts either.

It has about 160 employees here and over 2,500 overseas.

Chief executive officer Chew Hua Seng, 54, says: 'It is business as usual for us. As a rule, we do not retrench staff during bad times.

'During the Asian financial crisis of 1997, there was a 10 per cent employer's CPF cut but we continued to pay the full CPF. It is in such a time as this that we need to keep them fed, warm and clothed.'

The director of American diner chain Billy Bombers, Ms Jessica Soh, 44, has also reassured her 140 employees that there are no plans for layoffs.

In fact, the chain is still hiring waiters, cooks, supervisors and assistant managers for its seven outlets islandwide.

To manage expectations, she makes it a point to be 'very open' about the company's finances at staff meetings.

'I have prepared them for the possibility of certain outlets closing down if we don't do well, but I have assured them that they will not be retrenched.

'We are working on tightening costs such as electricity use, minimising wastage and increasing efficiency. If we are able to manage these costs well, there will be no need to cut benefits,' she says.

Polar Puffs & Cakes has also promised its 450 employees that they will keep their jobs and that salaries will remain unchanged at least over the next two months.

Chief operating officer Jonathan Cheah, 32, makes it a point to write regular e-mail messages to the staff to assuage any fears.

Such conscientious and constant communication is applauded by human resource strategy experts.

Nanyang Business School Associate Professor Chan Teng Heng says: 'Communication on HR matters is most important in times of recession, as it will confirm the fears of employees, so that they can make preparations in the worst of times, or they can focus on their work once that fear is dispelled.'

2 Devise cheap and cheerful rewards

AT INTERIOR furnishings firm Goodrich Global, chairman Chan Chong Beng, 55, is thinking hard about how to motivate his staff in these lean times.

For starters, he is rolling out more social activities for his 140 employees here.

'Visits to an old folk's home or riding the Singapore Flyer need not be expensive. Because people are worried and morale is low, we want to cheer them up. This is the best time to get people to bond and work closely together.'

Confectionery chain Polar has also added more recreational activities, like its first Staff Day last month, which featured relay events and treasure hunts at the Aloha Resort in Changi.

Its human resources department now looks out for inspirational clips and quotes to share with staff. Every Friday, 40 management staff huddle in a recreation room at its Woodlands headquarters to watch these motivational videos and share their concerns.

Polar's senior marketing executive Saint Lee says: 'This has helped them to see beyond their individual roles to the bigger picture. It also encourages employees to make personal connections with their customers.'

At the Singapore Marriott Hotel - voted one of the top 10 best employers by human resource consultancy Hewitt Associates last year - there are now regular movie screenings for the 480 employees. They have seen blockbusters like Madagascar 2 and the James Bond movie, Quantum Of Solace, at Lido.

The hotel also organises basketball tournaments, outings to Pulau Ubin and prawn fishing in Sin Ming Avenue.

General manager Greg Allan says: 'At Marriott, we live by founder J.W. Marriott Senior's conviction that if you take good care of your associates, they will take good care of the customers, and the customers will come back. This belief has served the company well and we continue to live it out in our business practices.'

At the year end, it plans to give staff Christmas gifts of grocery vouchers as a way of rewarding and recognising them in the current global gloom.

Dr Stephen Choo, regional director at management consultancy Hay Group, says when companies continue investing in their employees in a downturn, they send out a clarion message that they care and employees matter.

'These companies will be rewarded with increased organisational commitment, discretionary effort and staff loyalty, which is what companies need most in tough times.'

3 Beef up training and equipping

APEX-PAL International is taking advantage of the downturn to increase training hours in preparation for the upturn.

The company, which runs more than 90 Sakae Sushi and Crepes & Cream outlets in 12 cities worldwide, is developing training programmes for its 1,200 service and kitchen staff.

These will include soft skills such as handling difficult situations, delighting customers and body language.

CEO Douglas Foo, 39, says: 'We started our first Sakae Sushi outlet in September 1997 at the start of the Asian financial crisis. Since then, we have been busy expanding. This is an opportunity to take a step back, identify gaps and strengthen our weak areas.'

Each year, Apex-Pal spends about 3 per cent of its payroll on staff training, with each employee spending about nine man-days learning about service and food hygiene. Next year, it will go up to 12 days.

From next month, diner chain Billy Bombers, which used to use external trainers, will send two managers to learn to be in-house trainers at the Workforce Development Agency.

They will develop in-house training programmes in food and beverage entertainment, such as hosting, interaction and striking up conversations with guests.

It will cost $20,000 to kick-start this programme, but director Jessica Soh says it will be money well-spent.

'It is especially during bad times that we have to give better service,' she explains.

Indeed, Prof Chan says slowdowns are the best time to look at improving service processes, streamlining procedures, investing in infrastructure and improving customer service.

Economics professor Michael Gibbs of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business adds: 'This helps keep staff busy, and they are then ready to ramp up production very quickly when the economy improves.'

4 Offer flexible working hours

MANAGEMENT consulting firm Accenture practises what it preaches to clients by offering its own employees flexible time schedules and telecommuting arrangements.

An employee may arrange his schedules in such a way that he completes his weekly hours in fewer than five work days each week to free up time for his family.

When crunch time comes, one way to relieve payroll pressures is to introduce flexible hours or part-time work arrangements. 'In doing so, employers go beyond the pay cheque to meet other needs of their employees too, besides reducing expenditure,' says Mr Leonard Lai, talent and organisation performance senior manager at Accenture.

Working mothers at Hewlett-Packard Singapore - voted the employer with the best retention strategies by human resources magazine HRM Singapore last year - are allowed to work from home one day a week after returning from maternity leave until their child turns one.

Agilent Technologies Singapore, voted best employer in Singapore by Hewitt in 2001, is implementing a holiday shutdown during December or the Chinese New Year.

Employees have been asked to take a minimum of six days' paid leave. The last time this happened was during the 2001/2002 downturn.

Agilent human resources director Charles Chee said: 'A holiday shutdown is one way of reducing our variable cost and a viable alternative to layoffs. By retaining our staff, we are assured that when the upturn comes, we will be ready to meet the business demand.'

Prof Gibbs says employers who work hard to avoid retrenchments will enjoy better loyalty going forward.

'You treated your staff well when times were tough - they may reciprocate later.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 22 November 2008.