Our narrative today is inspired by real events, but the story, all names, characters, and incidents are fictitious.
In the last 10 years, John has been flying high.
His entrepreneurial dreams saw him investing his hard earned savings (which included thankless hours part-timing as a waiter for 3 years) into a company with only one employee, himself.
After a handful of years with minor success, he hit the big one.
A project that required the hiring of more hands, feet and creative minds.
From one team, he expanded to two, and from one big project came another, and another, and another. John’s entrepreneurial dream was now a beaming reality.
But good things sometimes come to an end.
John is part of an industry that has been hit badly by COVID-19, and there just isn’t enough work to go around, with his employees getting increasingly restless and in some cases, redundant.
John loves his employees. They’ve been there for him, and him, for them.
But times are really bad, and his personnel have bills to pay.
So what can he do?
Here are 3 ways John can help keep his workers happy and company afloat during this crisis!
1. Allowing your employees to take on a part-time job
According to the Ministry of Manpower Website: When there is no work, employers should support employees with reduced work hours to take on a second job (i.e. part-time, temporary work) to make up for lost income. This will help them mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on their livelihood. There are a number of part-time jobs available during this period that would not only give your employees work that would help them tide over this crisis but also keep them busy.
John’s charges will not only be able to earn a paycheque to tide over these tough times, they may even learn a thing or two and develop new skills that could benefit John’s company.
Read Also: How Can SMEs Survive the Coronavirus?
2. Improve and upgrade your workers, so that they can rise up and return better
“Sitting still and wishing
Makes no person great;
the good Lord sends the fishing,
But you must dig the bait!” – Daryl Hoole
If you’ve always wanted to send your workers for upgrading or re-skilling, but could never find the right time… then this could possibly be “the time”.
With the government recently announcing the S$4 billion Stabilisation and Support Package and the S$48 billion Resilience Budget, there are a number of initiatives and support for companies to send their workers for upskilling. In fact from the month of May, all employers who send their workers for selected training programmes can receive additional support from SkillsFuture Singapore funding.
There is also Enhanced Support under the Adapt and Grow Initiative.
As part of the Stabilisation and Support Package, sectors directly affected by COVID-19 will get additional support. The affected sectors are: tourism, aviation, retail, food services. These sectors will receive support through redeployment programmes to help employers retain and reskill their employees.
Read Also: What SMEs Could Do Beyond Temporary Crisis Management
3. Adopt progressive HR practices for your company
If you’re like John, and have newly-hired PMETs and are worried about how to better manage and retain them, then P-Max Lite is for you.
A Place-and-Train Programme that aims to allow you to adopt progressive HR practices to better manage your existing staff, Non-hiring SMEs can enjoy up to 90% course fee subsidy!
