CAREERS MEDIA: Agencies get creative with staff perks in bid to beat the dotcoms - 'Non-financial carrots' the key to wooing talent

<p>Advertising agencies in Singapore are increasingly resorting to </p><p>"non-financial carrots" to retain staff in a bid to stave off dotcom </p><p>poachers, according to Morgan & Banks' third quarter job index </p><p>survey. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The most common type of non-financial benefits were family-oriented, </p><p>such as family medical cover, paternity leave and family travel </p><p>benefits. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Other enticements included leave entitlement for staff who had been </p><p>working away from home for an extended period and creative salary </p><p>packages to help reduce personal taxation bills. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With dotcoms offering extremely attractive salary and stock option </p><p>packages, agencies have been pushed into offering other types of </p><p>incentives in a bid to prevent key staff members from moving into the </p><p>realm of cyberspace. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Organisations most likely to offer such benefits were in the advertising </p><p>sector, with 85 per cent of respondents stating that they now provided </p><p>non-financial benefits, the survey for the July to September period </p><p>found. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Morgan & Banks regional director for South Asia Barry Vienet said that </p><p>staff retention was an issue of most importance in the ad sector since </p><p>advertising professionals were the people dotcoms sought the most for </p><p>their branding and marketing experience. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In the past, the prospective employee had to sell him or herself. </p><p>Today, that has reversed and the employer must sell the organisation to </p><p>the job-seeker. This is a significant shift and it is a recent </p><p>development," he told MEDIA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While Hong Kong still placed a higher emphasis on the monetary rewards </p><p>of the job, non-financial incentives were also being used, but not to </p><p>the extent in Singapore, Morgan & Banks regional manager, human </p><p>resources, Kevin McCormick said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Agencies in Hong Kong are now focusing more on informal rewards such as </p><p>recognition, increased opportunity to work on key projects as well as </p><p>being given the chance to work in overseas offices," Mr McCormick </p><p>said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This is all through increased communication, especially with key </p><p>personnel, but it's not across the board." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Overall, agencies in both Singapore and Hong Kong reported that they </p><p>would continue hiring more people in the third quarter because of better </p><p>economic fundamentals which is fuelling an increase in advertising </p><p>spend. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In Singapore, 84 per cent of respondents said that they expect to </p><p>increase staffing levels, and 14 per cent saying there would be no </p><p>change. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The figure for Hong Kong was 43 per cent and 57 per cent respectively. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>