“This downturn is an opportunity for organisations to re-evaluate and invest in initiatives on how to come back even stronger with a competitive edge, says Ronald Tan, executive director of Singapore Institute of Management (SIM). In a recent survey conducted by SIM where 750 respondents from all levels of management were polled, 66% of managers perceived their organisations to be both sound and respectable in business ethics. However, only 53% felt their organisations have good employee benefits, while half viewed their organisations to be well positioned for the future. Tan feels organisations can improve their employee benefits through work-life balance initiatives, which both give employees greater flexibility in how they work and offer organisations a competitive business edge in attracting, training and retaining employees. By taking a leadership position in offering employees structured work-life balance initiatives, Tan says 'organisations have the opportunity to set the ground rules as well as to position their company as an innovator in this area'.”

–Excerpt from ‘Marketing-Interactive.com,’ published 23 June 2009

Preparing employers to retain talent in the economic upturn

Until very recently, retrenchment was the trend and employers felt restricted in hiring during an uncertain economic climate. During this very recent past, there was not a perceived need to attract and retain the best talent. However, as the economy is poised to pick up in the near future, employers will once again face the problem of attracting and retaining the best people; without knowing how to do this, companies might lose their competitive edge.

Asia Pacific Employee Benefits (APEB) Conference 2010 will help prepare employers for the economic upturn in attracting and retaining talents through non-monetary benefits as employees today look beyond financial rewards to seek self-development and fulfilment in their careers. At the same time, companies of all sizes are being challenged by spiralling healthcare costs, increased financial pressures, changing legal obligations, and benefits communications issues. These concerns will force employers to reinvent their strategies and approaches, and find innovative ways to deal with emerging benefits trends. These are the key issues that APEB 2010 will address.

Who should attend

Corporate and business leaders, HR directors and professionals.

What you will learn


• New areas in employee benefits
  
• How to understand and respond effectively to innovative benefits
  
• How to design, orchestrate and/or update employee benefit strategies
  
• How to better exploit the strategic potential of employee benefits
  

About APEB 2010

The second annual Asia Pacific Employee Benefits Conference–APEB 2010 (previously known as Singapore Employee Benefits Conference–SEBC) is the first conference in Singapore and the region to focus exclusively on the latest developments and best practices in the use of ‘Employee Benefits’ (‘non-cash’ benefits) as an effective, long-term strategy to attract, retain and motivate employees.