MANILA, Philippines, July 22, 2020 — In celebration of United Nations’ World Youth Skills Day, Certif-ID International and TUV Rheinland Philippines, a global leader in independent inspection services, joined forces to mark the World Youth Skills Day by launching the initiative ‘NEXT STEP SEAFARERS: SKILLS DEVELOPMENT TO EMPLOYMENT’ on July 15. This strategic partnership is aimed at supporting seafarers in returning to the workforce as quickly as possible.
Targeting COVID-19’s Impact on Seafarers
The pandemic has left over 50000 seafarers unemployed. 29000 Filipino seafarers were repatriated to the Philippines since March 15th and over 26000 are awaiting repatriation as of May 12, 2020.
To tap the potential of the unused labour force and support thousands of seafarers who lost their jobs due to coronavirus, Certif-ID brings to the forefront a dedicated skills community and a global networking platform built on blockchain technology.
Certif-ID offers next-gen tools like the SkillPass that seafarers can use to showcase their skills, record and share online interviews and store all relevant information in a digital portfolio secured with blockchain technology.
Combining their strengths with TUV Rheinland who has over 140 years of experience in technical training, Certif-ID plans to build a digital community for seafarers in the Philippines. To create credible online digital profiles, connect with jobs and seek guidance on upskilling.
In partnership, TUV Rheinland Philippines and Certif-ID will drastically improve recruitment accuracy and reduce the time and effort taken by professionals to find vacant posts across the maritime and associated industry sectors.
“Source Skilled Professionals For Key Industries And Services”
Commenting on this partnership and launch of the initiative, Timothy Miller, the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Certif-ID International, said, “we are unsure of when the industry will return to the pre-COVID levels. The labour market is changing and seafarers will need to differentiate themselves. SkillPass can provide that edge. One can securely share their details with recruiters and have them verified instantly, helping them land jobs faster as compared to traditional routes. Together with TUV Rheinland Philippines, we believe that professionals who choose Certif-ID should be able to progress their careers while making the best use of their skills.”
“We have been looking for a partner who can increase the visibility of skilled seafarers and simplify the talent sourcing process. SkillPass can provide an excellent opportunity for Filipino workers,” said Tristan Arwen Loveres, Managing Director at TUV Rheinland Philippines. “We believe that it will open new employment opportunities, make a striking impression on recruiters and differentiate skilled workers in the post-COVID job market.”
Joining Certif-ID and TUV Rheinland Philippines in filling this massive task of building an inclusive learning and career development platform for seafarers as well as promoting transparency of skills requirements are Vice President Leni Robredo, Republic of the Philippines; Mr. Aniceto “John” Bertiz III, Deputy Director of the General of the Partnerships and Linkages of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA); Mr. Joel B. Maglunsod, Executive Director of the Department of Labor and Employment – National Maritime Polytechnic (DOLE-NMP); Chief Engineer Artemio V. Serafico President of the TSM Maritime Services Philippines; Dr. Martin Henkelmann, Executive Director of the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI); Mr. Jesper Svenningsen, Executive Director of the Nordic Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines; Ms. Katerina Ananiadou of UNESCO, Mr. Pons Asidera, Growth Partner of SkillBean Inc.; Ms. Trixie Whyte, Founder and Chairperson of the Q2 Group of Companies; COMPASS Training Center, Inc.; and PTC Holdings.
About Certif-ID
Certif-ID is a dedicated skills community. It is a global networking platform built on blockchain technology, connecting technical training institutions, industry professionals and recruiters. On the platform, technical training institutes can issue digital certificates placed on blockchain, optimising their certification and placement processes. Technical professionals can build their SkillPass to showcase their skills, record online interviews, plan their learning journeys, store all relevant information in a digital portfolio and share their credentials with potential recruiters. Recruiters can screen and source candidates based on competency, verify their digital records and reduce recruitment efforts. Connecting key stakeholders in the technical sector, Certif-ID focuses on streamlining the sourcing process, bridging the skills gap between education and employment while establishing trust and transparency.
TÜV Rheinland stands for safety and quality in almost all areas of business and life. Founded almost 150 years ago, the company is one of the world’s leading testing service providers with more than 21,400 employees and annual revenues of 2.1 billion euros. TÜV Rheinland’s highly qualified experts test technical systems and products around the world, support innovations in technology and business, train people in numerous professions and certify management systems according to international standards. In doing so, the independent experts generate trust in products as well as processes across global value-adding chains and the flow of commodities. Since 2006, TÜV Rheinland has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact to promote sustainability and combat corruption.
In December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring 15th July as World Youth Skills Day. The goal is to achieve better socio-economic conditions for today’s youth as a means of addressing the challenges of unemployment and underemployment. The theme for 2020 World Youth Skills Day is “Skills for a Resilient Youth”. The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures have led to the worldwide closure of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, threatening the continuity of skills development. In post-COVID-19 societies, as young people are called upon to contribute to the recovery effort, they will need to be equipped with the skills to successfully manage evolving challenges and the resilience to adapt to future disruptions.
SEATTLE, July 21, 2020 — Zuper, a platform for intelligent workforce management, today announced its integration with Zendesk Inc. (NYSE: ZEN). This integration will enable organizations to better align their customer support and field service teams to provide the best possible customer experience. Zuper is already working with thousands of customers worldwide and has handled over Two million work orders.
As a Zendesk Technology Alliances Partner, the Zuper Workforce Management Solution is now available in the Zendesk marketplace. Zuper has built the world’s most comprehensive field service management platform which helps organizations to provide exceptional Customer Experience. Zuper integration with Zendesk empowers the customer support agent to directly schedule, dispatch and allocate the ticket to a mobile workforce to improve productivity, efficiency and offer the best experience to the customers.
“Zuper for Zendesk is a great solution for organizations looking to seamlessly connect their customer support and field service teams,” said Jerome Agnola, Director of Technology Alliances at Zendesk. “Zuper’s simple and scalable remote workforce management platform helps automate many complex tasks such as creating a service dispatch directly from a Zendesk ticket, or publishing status of a work order into Zendesk.”
“Service businesses are working diligently to keep pace with customer expectations that have changed dramatically during the COVID pandemic. One of the most critical challenges is to ensure that support and service teams are tightly aligned. This integration enables organizations to leverage Zuper and Zendesk in a customized fashion that is optimal for business success,” said Anand Subbaraj, CEO of Zuper Inc. “Our partnership with Zendesk is an important milestone to empower global organizations to provide the best customer experience.”
Zuper’s AI-powered, intelligent workforce management platform helps service organizations manage, modernize and transform the field and remote workforce. The enterprises and midsized businesses using Zuper across thousands of employees have benefited from significant operational advantages including a 50% increase in workforce utilization, 35% reduction in service turnaround time, 45% increase in customer adoption and profitability, and 30% reduction in costs.
About Zuper
Zuper enables organizations with field service teams to better organize and provide the best possible customer experience through its intelligent workforce management platform. The company’s white-label application allows businesses to efficiently manage their operations and workforces from anywhere and dispatch the right person with the right information at the right time. The company also helps organizations maintain COVID-19 compliance and create a safe environment for employees, customers, and the community through its ZuperCCPack. Founded in 2016, Zuper Inc is headquartered in Seattle and has offices in India and the Middle East. For more information, please visit https://zuper.co/.
SINGAPORE, July 17, 2020 — JobForesight, a startup that provides comprehensive careers information for students, has become the first Singapore-based venture to emerge from Oxford University Innovation’s startup incubator and launched Careershe, a career advice app.
Careershe, whose flagship product is a smartphone app that offers structured and transparent content about different occupations, was founded by Singaporean Oxford MBA graduate Steve Xie.
Developed during Xie’s MBA at Saïd Business School and with the help of Oxford University Innovation (OUI) – the University’s technology transfer arm — the app is initially being aimed at students in China.
Xie said: ‘The problem we are trying to solve is the lack of information available for young people about the types of career they can pursue. We can help them better understand what it’s like to be a lawyer, or a blockchain engineer, or to work in AI. Careershe offers a one-stop shop for students who lack access to high-quality career guidance.’
According to a study by the higher education consultancy MyCOS, nearly a third of graduates in China leave their first job within the first six months — almost 2 million students yearly. The current lack of career education provision in China, and its transition towards high-value industries, made it the ideal market, in Xie’s view, for the Careershe app.
Xie, who completed a degree in electrical engineering at the National University of Singapore before joining the building materials industry, has drawn on personal experience for this venture. He said: ‘The biggest problem was that I did not have a clue about what an electrical engineer actually does until the later stages of my degree course. Had I known about the potential career outcomes, I would probably have taken a different academic direction altogether.’
Co-founder Eddie Chng, a Singaporean businessman who is the CEO of the security technology company DiSa Digital Safety Pte Ltd, said: ‘The main reason I invested into this idea is because I have seen the human capital growth that has taken place in Singapore since the 1990s. This is exactly what is happening now in China, except that people in China are even hungrier for growth and progression.’
Guangdong-based Careershe helps students aged between 15 and 25 learn more about the world of work, providing them with guidance in the available pathways towards their desired careers. Valuable content such as required qualifications, typical working hours, likely salaries, and career progression can be found in the app.
Xie added: ‘One notable feature of Careershe is our plan to embed big data and artificial intelligence technology in the product, which will help us provide better recommendations for our users. We currently have around 5,000 registered users, and the early feedback — particularly from teachers — has been positive.’
Chandra Sekar Ramanujan is a Senior Licensing and Ventures Manager at OUI, whose incubator identifies promising student or staff-led startups and helps them to market. Ramanujan said: ‘We are very much attracted to Steve’s vision for Careershe, as well as the thought and market research that has gone into developing the idea. We have supported Steve in validating his business model and connecting with Oxford University’s world-leading academic resources — notably in big data and AI. At this time we are particularly interested in promoting ventures and partnerships overseas.’
Careershe is the first overseas-based project arising from its software incubator in which OUI will take a shareholding stake. Having built the product, launched to market and gleaned insights from users over the past year, the company is now focused on raising funds from investors and seeking partnerships — for example, with schools in China.
Within China, Careershe is affiliated with the TusStar startup incubator programme. Xie said: ‘We are delighted to be working with TusStar, given the strong support it offers to startups and its widespread presence and connections throughout China, Singapore and the UK.’
Educational technology companies are well placed to support the emergence of online education solutions after COVID-19. Moreover, digitalization trends in the future of work are expected to accelerate given the recent proliferation of work from home. Xie added: ‘Careershe can be a beneficiary of these trends, as long as we continue to be nimble and ensure our career database stays relevant.’
The OUI startup incubator is led by Catherine Spence. The incubator is aimed at members and ex-members of the University of Oxford. Spence said: ‘The OUI startup incubator was set up to support non-traditional Oxford projects. Careershe certainly fits that mould — breaking new ground and bringing further diversity into our portfolio.’
Oxford University Innovation (OUI) supports innovation activities across all University Divisions, managing technology transfer and consulting activities, creating a world-leading innovation ecosystem with Oxford University at its heart.
OUI provides access to technology from Oxford researchers through intellectual property licensing, spinout company formation and creation of social enterprises, and to academic expertise through our Consulting Services team. The Investments and New Ventures team works closely with investors to secure seed and follow-on funding, with more than 400mPound invested in the growing portfolio in 2018/19.
OUI’s Startup Incubator supports members and ex-members of the University who wish to start or grow entrepreneur-driven ventures that are not University spinouts, working collaboratively with the Oxford Foundry, Oxford Sciences Innovation and others.
Oxford University Innovation is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked 1st in the UK for university spinouts, having created over 200 new companies since 2000. In the 2018/19 financial year OUI completed more than 60 licenses and consulting agreements every month. For updates on innovations from Oxford, follow Oxford University Innovation on LinkedIn and Twitter or subscribe at ouinnov.co/contact
About Careershe
Careershe is a smartphone app product of JobForesight Pte. Ltd. (Singapore), focused on helping students between age 15-25 years old to learn more about the world of work and guide them in major life decisions — E.g. choosing university degree majors. Bringing in latest international research in career development methodologies, JobForesight hopes to help Chinese students find their desired careers.
JobForesight strives to bridge the gap between academic and careers world by providing transparency to students on careers, so that students can make a better decision during the academic pathways.Our smartphone solution allows students to access regularly updated information (requirements, incomes, future potential etc.) on different careers.
We hope to reduce youth’s anxiety and dilemma but, most importantly, reduce the social cost of students leaving careers after a short stint and realizing that they wasted significant time and resources acquiring technical skills that they do not use in the future. Most importantly, by providing transparency across careers and making it accessible to all students regardless of their economic status, we hope to level the playing field from the haves and haves not and also give students a sense of purpose and reason on why they need to work hard in their education.
Career Star Group announce ownership of innovative global outplacement platform via the asset deal of CareerArc by Gi Group.
LONDON, July 10, 2020 — Gi Group, one of the world’s leading companies providing services for global staffing needs, announced this week their acquisition of the CareerArc career transition arm. Gi Group is a historical member for Career Star Group, present in Italy and the UK with the dedicated outplacement brand Intoo, and Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and Bulgaria with Gi Group directly. The strategic partnership has been in place since the establishment of Career Star Group in 2012. The acquisition marks the success of long-term strategy securing ownership of the worlds’ most innovative and dynamic career transition platform within Career Star Group.
Career Star Group is the world’s largest outplacement and redeployment organisation, present in 102 countries. The digital global career transition platform provides instant access to localised resources, interactive support and training as well as an on-demand coaching feature with career transition specialists. The platform is currently available in English, Spanish, German and Italian with French available from August 2020.
”We are extremely excited to take the centre stage with our new global platform. We are taking outplacement to the next level with innovative solutions fit for the new normal and beyond. Having ownership of the platform allows us to innovate further and to continue developing our services for our customers and clients in the ever-changing world,” said Cetti Galante, Chair of Career Star Group board and Managing Director of Intoo Italy.
”Our strategic partnership with Career Star Group has furthered our mission to democratise outplacement globally via technology by increasing access to our state of the art digital platform across multiple countries. Being part of Gi Group and Career Star Group together is the next stage in our expansion strategy and we couldn’t be happier to be part of the family," saidYair Riemer, President Career Transition Services at CareerArc.
Career Star Group is a global organisation uniting the world’s leading career transition and outplacement providers. Present in 102 countries, Career Star Group provides multinational companies with access to the best career transition providers regardless of where workforce changes occur.
LTI Canvas leverages Microsoft technologies to help enterprises adapt new ways of working
MUMBAI, India, July 8, 2020 — Larsen & Toubro Infotech (BSE code: 540005) (NSE: LTI), a global technology consulting and digital solutions company has launched LTI Canvas, a modern software engineering platform that addresses critical need of enabling work from anywhere. LTI Canvas is an integrated platform that brings together various processes, tools and methodologies to drive technology and business outcomes in an environment where teams are operating in a distributed environment.
A resilient digital platform, LTI Canvas can help organizations improve their effectiveness and ability to innovate in a remote or hybrid environment. LTI Canvas is a bundle of Microsoft technologies and LTI solutions to help IT professionals across industries collaborate easily and stay productive. It is based on microservices architecture and leverages Microsoft platforms like Azure and Microsoft 365 including Teams, among others along with LTI’s Ways of Working solution stack. LTI Canvas streamlines processes like software development, support, transition, knowledge management, infrastructure management, and information security. It consolidates capabilities across Cloud, Agile, DevOps and Design Thinking leveraging AI/ML and analytics.
Nachiket Deshpande, COO & Executive Board Member, LTI said: “The pandemic has forced enterprises to rethink their approach to business continuity and employee productivity. With hybrid work environment gaining quick traction, we designed LTI Canvas as an integrated platform that allows software engineering to be delivered remotely. LTI Canvas drives impactful interventions and also enables upstream processes like solutioning, requirement workshops and transitions to be carried out remotely. LTI Canvas is our design for the future of software engineering.”
Meetul Patel, Executive Director, Strategic Growth, Microsoft India, said, “We are inspired by our customers and partners who are harnessing digital tools to navigate the emerging environment across industries and geographies. Microsoft Azure and advanced technologies will help securely accelerate tech intensity across organizations and enable the innovations that can reimagine the workplace. We’re pleased to partner with LTI on LTI Canvas, which has a unique layered approach to achieve the best outcomes for organizations developing work-from-anywhere capabilities.”
Going beyond Work from Home (WFH), LTI Canvas approaches Everything from Home (xFH) in five layers, each with a specific set of tools, governance and outcomes. The first layer addresses the core requirement to be ‘Operational from Home’ and enables swift and efficient remote working for employees. The next layer offers secure connectivity options to be ‘Secured from Home’. The third layer helps to stay ‘Engaged from Home’ and enables active collaboration with remote workforce. The fourth layer helps attain higher output levels and be ‘Productive from Home’. The final layer enables ‘Growth from Home’ at both, personal and organizational level to be able to scale appropriately.
About LTI
LTI (NSE: LTI) is a global technology consulting and digital solutions company helping more than 420 clients succeed in a converging world. With operations in 32 countries, we go the extra mile for our clients and accelerate their digital transformation with LTI’s Mosaic platform enabling their mobile, social, analytics, IoT and cloud journeys. Founded in 1997 as a subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro Limited, our unique heritage gives us unrivalled real-world expertise to solve the most complex challenges of enterprises across all industries. Each day, our team of more than 30,000 LTItes enable our clients to improve the effectiveness of their business and technology operations and deliver value to their customers, employees and shareholders. Find more at http://www.Lntinfotech.com or follow us at @LTI_Global
HONG KONG, July 7, 2020 — Happy customers drive sales. Recent research finds that customers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience (CX). As customers are no longer only comparing products and prices, CX is the key differentiator that businesses are competing on. But investing in the right software to improve CX isn’t easy when people take into account customer interactions across various channels and touchpoints. 96% of people think businesses need to improve communication.[1] Many brands are failing or falling behind due to poor touch point experiences, and it’s clear that a lot of desperate situations could have been avoided with better CX and communication tools.
maaiiconnect provides businesses with an all-in-one solution for customer engagement and internal collaboration. By choosing the right solutions and investing in the right tool, a business can strive for digital maturity and thrive for decades to come.
What should businesses consider? Start asking some hard questions to get to the bottom of the current situation.
1. What do customers need? What channels are they using, now and in the future? 2. Is there a need for external or internal communication tools? Or both? 3. Is there old/ current data and conversations to migrate? 4. What data and analytics are needed? How can these reports support the business decision? 5. What tangible impact will it have on sales and customer experience? 6. Is it secure? Where is the data stored, and is there end-to-end encryption? 7. What is the timeline for implementation? When is it needed?
Identify and prioritise the must haves, and need nots. Make use of free plans and trials to experience the tools first-hand before committing. maaiiconnect Essentials Plan is a free package with all the web-based communication features needed to create powerful customer experiences.
Use live chat to curate intelligent customer experiences, globally Customer satisfaction rates for live chat interactions are 98%, higher than all other channels.[2] As a touchpoint for online customer service, shoppers value the instant connection and users can leverage the additional data to design stronger experiences.
But not all live chats are created equal! maaiiconnect is a customer engagement software that combines telecom and digital channels. With a unique dashboard and insights, businesses can easily access data to transform customer experiences through a live chat widget that includes live chat, web call, video call, SMS, virtual numbers, and international toll free numbers.
Combine traditional telecom channels with the latest digital features Check whether the solutions can be integrated with other software/ systems that the business uses, and which communication channels are available; such as web communication, traditional telecom, and social media. If the staff may work from home, cloud-based solutions typically can be used anywhere and on multiple devices for team collaboration and customer engagement.
65% of employees are not engaged at work due to confusing communication systems and processes.[3] Don’t create new bottlenecks by adding more layers, as consumers pay the price with slow response times and shift business to competitors.
Companies that communicate effectively can see sales increase by 20% with a 4.5x increase in staff retention,[4] proving a clear link between strong team collaboration channels and better customer experience. maaiiconnect enables stronger team collaboration via rich feature-set such as voice call, file sharing, group chat, screen sharing, video conferencing.
Look for a secure business communications tool with one dashboard Using a single dashboard that converges all the telecom and digital channels the customers use, along with team collaboration tools, is an effective foundation to begin improving customer experience.
With many businesses using multiple international toll free numbers, virtual numbers, social media accounts, video conference services, chat widgets, SMS solutions, etc., costs pile up and staff get stretched juggling everything. A unified omnichannel communication solution such as maaiiconnect is the future of business communications, keeping costs down with customisable packages, and an easy to use all-in-one dashboard. The platform is backed by a proprietary infrastructure that is 100% compliant with telco and international security standards in data encryption, compliance, backup, and authentication.
Don’t wait until it’s too late! Register now and try the maaiiconnect Essentials Plan free of charge to transform your customer experience.
[1] Project.co: Communications Statistics 2020 Report [2] Customer Think: How Live Chat Can Impact Your Customer Satisfaction [3] Gallup: 4 Factors Driving Record-High Employee Engagement in the US [4] Gallup: The Right Culture: Not Just About Employee Satisfaction
About maaiiconnect maaiiconnect provides businesses with an all-in-one solution for customer engagement and internal collaboration. Leveraging an innovative multi-dimensional convergence model, maaiiconnect seamlessly unifies telecom and digital communication channels, such as PSTN, VoIP, chat & instant messaging, video conference, and social networks. It is device-agnostic, empowering employees to be more productive, as well as providing companies a platform to deliver a suite of multimedia experience to their customers anytime, anywhere, on any device. Learn more at www.maaiiconnect.com.
FAIRFAX, Va., July 1, 2020 — The final entry deadline for the 2020 (17th annual) edition of The International Business Awards® is Tuesday, July 28.
All individuals and organizations worldwide — public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small — may submit nominations to The International Business Awards(R).
The International Business Awards, one of the eight Stevie Awards programs, are widely considered to be the world’s premier business awards competition. In 2019 the competition attracted more than 4,000 nominations from organizations in more than 70 nations.
All individuals and organizations worldwide—public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small—may submit nominations to The International Business Awards. The final entry deadline this year is Tuesday, July 28. Entry details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.
Juries featuring more than 150 executives will determine the Stevie Award winners. The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced on September 9. Stevie Award winners will be honored at a virtual awards ceremony this year.
New this year are a variety of COVID-19 response awards categories that do not have entry fees. These aim to honor heroes of every industry including medical, education, food delivery, media, public service, business response, and more.
The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Categories include:
The IBAs feature more than 40 categories that do not require the payment of entry fees, including all 35 of the Company/Organization of the Year categories, and that there are many new and revised features of the IBAs for 2020, including:
Nine new categories to recognize singular business achievements in areas such as business turnaround, finance, revenue generation, and science and technology, among others.
The simplification of submission requirements in the Company/Organization, Corporate Communications & Public Relations, Marketing, and New Product & Product Management category groups.
About the Stevie Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in eight programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the new Middle East Stevie Awards. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.
*PR Newswire Asia is the Official News Release Distribution Partner of 2020 Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards.
Businesses and workers call for greater flexibility, questions raised over the hours-based contract, and a new empathetic leadership profile emerges
ZURICH, June 30, 2020 —
Workers demand greater flexibility after coronavirus, with a 50/50 split of remote and office time confirmed as the universal ideal
Questions raised over the hours-based contract, with 69% saying contracts should be based on results delivered rather than hours worked
Boom in digital skills an unintended consequence of lockdown, with tech knowhow improving for six in 10 (61%), and two thirds (69%) eager for further digital upskilling post-pandemic
Leaders need to reinvent themselves as more emotionally intelligent, but they are not prepared, as less than half felt equipped to support employees holistically during the pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in pivotal shifts in attitudes and expectations among workers and leaders, as both call for permanent changes in how and where we work, workplace relationships and future skills, according to new research from the Adecco Group.
The Adecco Group, the world’s leading HR solutions company, today unveiled the results of its latest study, Resetting Normal: Defining the New Era of Work, examining the expected short- and long-term impact of the pandemic on resetting workplace norms. Fieldwork was conducted in May 2020, with 8,000 office-based respondents (aged 18-60) across Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK and the USA.
The Adecco Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Alain Dehaze, said: “The world of work will never return to the ‘normal’ we knew before the pandemic struck. The sudden and dramatic change in the workplace landscape has accelerated emerging trends such as flexible working, high-EQ leadership, and re-skilling, to the point where they are now fundamental to organisational success. As many countries emerge from the acute crisis phase of the pandemic, employers have an opportunity to ‘hit reset’ on traditional workplace practices – many of which have remained largely unchanged since the industrial revolution. This research highlights that employee attitudes have shifted and gaps between workforce expectations and entrenched labour market processes have been exposed. As we step into the new era of work, now is the time to establish better norms that will enable a holistically healthy, productive and inclusive workforce into the future.”
Key research highlights:
The research revealed that the working world is ready for a new “hybrid” model, with three quarters (74%) of workers surveyed saying a mix of office-based and remote working is the best way forward. The universal ideal of spending half (51%) of their time in the office and half working remotely (49%) transcends geographies, generations and parental status. And company executives agree, with almost eight in ten (77%) C-suite leaders saying businesses will benefit from increased flexibility.
Another stark finding could signal the end of the hours-based contract and 40-hour week. More than two thirds (69%) of workers are in favour of “results-driven work,” whereby contracts are based on delivering against business needs rather than working a set number of hours. A high proportion of C-suite executives (74%) agree that the length of the working week should be revisited.
The pandemic has also demanded a new set of leadership competencies and these expectations are expected to accelerate a reinvention of the modern-day leader. Emotional intelligence has clearly emerged as the defining trait of today’s successful manager, but the soft skills gap is evident. Over a quarter (28%) of those questioned said their mental wellbeing had worsened due to the pandemic, with only 1 in 10 rating their managers highly on their ability to support their emotional health.
In a similar nature to flexible working, the findings demonstrate a universal appetite for mass upskilling. Six in 10 say their digital skills have improved during lockdown, while a further two thirds (69%) are looking for further digital upskilling in the post-pandemic era. A broad range of skills development were identified as important by the workforce, including managing staff remotely (65%), soft skills (63%) and creative thinking (55%).
Finally, the findings highlighted the importance of sustaining trust in the new working world. Companies have risen to the challenge of supporting their people during the crisis, and as a result, trust in corporations has increased. In fact, 88% say that their employer met or exceeded their expectations in adapting to the challenges of the pandemic. And with this increased trust comes increased expectations. While the future of work is a collective responsibility, 80% of employees believe their employer is responsible for ensuring a better working world post-COVID and resetting norms, compared with 73% who say the government is responsible, 72% who agree it is an individual responsibility, and 63% who believe it is in the hands of labour unions.
For more information:
Download the Resetting Normal: Defining the New Era of Work full report here.
Follow us on social #ResetNormal for updates
About the Adecco Group
The Adecco Group is the world’s leading HR solutions company. We believe in making the future work for everyone, and every day enable more than 3.5 million careers. We skill, develop, and hire talent in 60 countries, enabling organisations to embrace the future of work. As a Fortune Global 500 company, we lead by example, creating shared value that fuels economies and builds better societies. Our culture of inclusivity, entrepreneurship and teamwork empowers our 35,000 employees and we are proud to have been consistently ranked one of the ‘World’s Best Workplaces’ by Great Place to Work®. The Adecco Group AG is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN) and powered by nine global brands: Adecco, Adia, Badenoch & Clark, General Assembly, Lee Hecht Harrison, Modis, Pontoon, Spring Professional and Vettery.
StaffAny joins the fight against COVID-19 by waiving CICO Global’s download fees till end-2020
SINGAPORE, June 23, 2020 — Singapore start-up StaffAny, which offers workforce management tech solutions, has developed and launched a new mobile app, called CICO Global (Clock-in, Clock-out). As many regional economies are slowly emerging from lockdowns, businesses are carefully reopening. The app helps regional businesses and their employees reopen in an efficient and safe manner by leveraging digital solutions to encourage businesses to easily employ safety measures, such as contact tracing, safe distancing and staggered employee hours. CICO Global is ideal for businesses that require the recording of staff attendance (in particular, part-timers or hourly workers), such as F&B outlets, convenience shops, and retailers like supermarkets.
StaffAny CICO clock in and temperature logs mobile app flow
To help the Asia Pacific business community fight against COVID-19, StaffAny is waiving CICO’s download fees for regional businesses until the end of 2020[1]. CICO is also in line with Singapore’s recently announced Fortitude Budget as it helps businesses use digital solutions to reopen in a safe manner and encourages workers to comply with post-Circuit Breaker measures.
“We first developed CICO as the ‘lite’ version of our original StaffAny solution and launched it in Singapore to help businesses here reopen, providing employers with a peace of mind that their staff was complying with our local Circuit Breaker measures. We were greatly heartened by the number of sign-ups – hundreds in just a short period of time. We wanted to find a way to extend CICO and help the regional community to continue operations smoothly and safely, as we know many companies – especially SMEs – have been badly hit by COVID-19,” said Janson Seah, co-founder, StaffAny.
CICO Global is a workforce management mobile application that employees and their managers can use in the following ways:
Automated timesheets – Employees use CICO Global to verify when they enter and leave the business. After downloading CICO Global on their mobile phones, employees use the app to scan a QR code based at the work premise. CICO Global verifies the individual, time of arrival and departure, as well as the geo-location of their mobile. CICO Global then automatically tabulates the number of hours registered at work, including overtime. This removes the need for manual clock-ins (which can be easily mis-recorded) or outdated punch-cards. The contactless system also reduces the chances of any virus transmission. When employees clock in, they can also make a health declaration to confirm they have not travelled abroad recently or been in contact with a COVID-19 patient[2].
Dashboard for visibility – Managers no longer need to visit each outlet to verify staff have clocked in for work. Using the CICO Global dashboard, they can easily verify attendance and clock-in/out times. By tracking staff properly, managers can ensure staggered hours and that employees are not being cross-deployed to different outlets.
Notifications – When assigned staff does not clock-in, CICO Global notifies the manager so that necessary action can be taken. Notifications are also provided to employees to remind them of an upcoming shift. This helps prevent lateness and no-shows.
Record keeping – All records are within the app and can be easily exported. This eliminates time-consuming paperwork for multiple records, such as health declaration, temperature taking, or clock-in/out times.
“Clocking in for work was previously quite tedious – multiple clock-ins, signing many health declaration forms, and all the messy paperwork that comes with it. A couple of times, an employee would accidentally miss out on something and my team would need to constantly check. Now with CICO, things are simpler, faster, and neater. I have more time to focus on managing operations, in particular, sorting out deliveries and our new take-away initiative,” said Walden Ting, Operations Manager Brotzeit, a German bar and restaurant in Singapore.
See Annex A for details on some of CICO’s pioneering users.
Setting up CICO Global is simple, instant, and does not require any hardware. Businesses simply log on to CICO Global (https://www.staffany.com/cicoglobal) and sign up. Regional businesses that sign up by 31 July can access CICO for free till the end of this year (with StaffAny waiving the regular fee of S$39 per month). After signing up, businesses can start instantly by adding/importing their employees’ details in bulk. Employees will then receive an invitation from their employer via SMS to download the StaffAny CICO app and they would be able to clock in immediately. Businesses that continue using the app will pay the regular fee after the end of this year.
“As economies ease their lockdowns and businesses resume, we want to minimise chances of a surge in the number of cases of COVID-19. Because of this, it makes sense that some measures stay in place, including safe distancing, staggered working hours, no cross-deployment of staff, and contact tracing. This is why StaffAny will keep providing CICO Global for free to regional businesses until the end of the year. Hopefully, this will help everyone to stay safe and efficient at the workplace, as regional economies start to open up for business again,” explained Janson Seah.
Set up in 2018, StaffAny is a Singapore start-up company that aims to connect human resources and operations within organisations, for greater efficiency, productivity, and better communications among staff. The company is supported by NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore, incubated at BLOCK71 Singapore, and founded by a team of alumni from the NUS Overseas Colleges programme.
[1] Waiver of CICO Global fees until end-2020 is done as long as businesses sign up before 31 July 2020.
[2] The health declaration is optional. Should employees wish, the health declaration form can be removed.
About StaffAny
StaffAny is a workforce management solution for companies who engage hourly workers. The most common way to manage hourly workers today is to do it via clunky spreadsheets. The process is time-consuming and tedious and we believe more needs to be done.
At StaffAny, we make time for businesses to do what matters. We empower today’s connected workforce with a data-driven approach to managing hourly workers. We have brought smiles to hundreds of paying locations via our integrated scheduling and time tracking Software as a Service (SaaS).
Our job today is to connect HR and ops internally within organisations, and our vision is to enable businesses to be connected to the leaner workforce of tomorrow. For more information, please visit https://www.staffany.com/.
Annex A: Pioneering businesses using CICO
Juan Valdez Cafe
Juan Valdez Cafe, a global coffeehouse chain originally from Colombia, South America, has seven outlets with 30 employees in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. Since Malaysia’s Movement Control Order (MCO) was imposed on 18 March 2020 to curb the country’s COVID-19 transmission, it has been tough on F&B businesses as they could only do takeaways and deliveries. Although Juan Valdez Cafe’s revenue took a hit, the restaurant adapted its business and took the opportunity to give back to the community. It swiftly got on food delivery mobile apps like Beepit, foodpanda, and GrabFood, expanded its menu offerings, and started its own initiative called “Support Our Local Heroes” to distribute free drinks to frontliners such as healthcare workers, delivery riders, and news reporters. It also launched local favourites at affordable prices to let Malaysians continue enjoying these dishes while supporting local businesses and micro-entrepreneurs during this period of social distancing.
“It is crucial to make sure that our employees comply with all safety measures and come to work healthily, as this in turn helps us fulfill our responsibility towards our customers whose safety is our top concern. Originally, we were using a manual clock-in system where employees had to record attendance, take and log their temperature on a separate form and declare health status manually on paper upon arriving at work. This was time-consuming, inefficient and not hygienic with unavoidable surface contact made. Keeping these paper records was bulky and in order to have full sight of employees’ attendance, we needed to visit each outlet. CICO Global has helped in consolidating real-time data logged from all seven outlets onto a single platform, and gives me full visibility over employees’ attendance and overtime. Furthermore, it digitalises temperature and attendance logs in a contactless manner. CICO Global has saved us time, allowed us to become more efficient and have better control over operations and staff allocation. Although COVID-19 has affected our business, being adaptable and open to innovation has allowed us to improve and keep operations smooth, even with the additional measures that we have to comply with, due to the lifting of the conditional MCO,” said Mr Khalip Latif, Director, Juan Valdez Cafe, Klang Valley, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Starting in 2017 as a cafe based at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Foreword Coffee Roasters had grown to three outlets staffed by a team of 20. The company is a social enterprise, hiring individuals with disabilities and special needs, as the company recognises their potential and provides inclusive employment and training opportunities within the F&B industry. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Singapore, Foreword Coffee Roasters was forced to close two of its outlets. The remaining cafe only handles take-away orders and is located at the Centre for Healthcare Innovation in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. To boost its business, Foreword Coffee Roasters has expanded its online shop which offers handcrafted bottled coffee and other products.
“Healthcare safety has always been paramount for the F&B sector. Previously, employees had to perform SafeEntry whenever they passed any of the entry points at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, log in again later when they reached work, and then log into SafeEntry which was a hassle. Because of this, using CICO was convenient in helping to save time and reduce stress. We have seen a significant increase in our online sales since Circuit Breaker measures came into effect. Due to the popular demand of our bottled coffees, we have just launched a new subscription model, which offers customers discounts when they purchase in bulk. So, using CICO has been a great help for me, as it allows me to monitor who is on-site preparing the drinks, even when I’m not at the cafe,” said Lim Wei Jie, Founder and Director, Foreword Coffee Roasters.
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the F&B sector, and many companies have had to adapt quickly to the digital era to engage with their customers. Good Luck Beerhouse developed an online website, to allow customers to order take-aways from them, in particular their craft beers, which they sell in a 640ml take-away container. Owner Kevin Ngan realised that many of his F&B neighbours along Haji Lane would be in a similar predicament. He invited them onboard his online platform, and together they provide joint deliveries under the ‘Solidarity on Haji Lane’ campaign, so customers can enjoy a range of food items – from gourmet burgers to oysters, dim sum, and prawn mee – paired with their favourite craft beer.
“We’ve had to completely change our understanding of how the F&B environment operates. We kept our team lean, refined operations and spent hours designing new campaigns and fine-tuning our propositions, so the company could survive. And while the additional revenue generated from our ‘Solidarity on Haji Lane’ campaign has been marginal, the solidarity and support for one another is absolutely priceless! Because of this extra work required to keep the business running, we’re definitely grateful for the time saved with the integration of CICO and SafeEntry. Not only is this time saved, but there is greater peace of mind that we are complying with the various measures to stay safe, as we stay open,” said Kevin Ngan, Owner, Good Luck Beerhouse.
Like most businesses, Phoon Huat – a company that provides baking ingredients and supplies – has been impacted by COVID-19. However, in an unusual turn of events, it has actually led to an increase in B2C sales, as more people are choosing to bake as they stay at home. This has resulted in long queues for certain outlets, and Phoon Huat has had to deploy manpower to help out with queue management. The company currently has 380 employees and began using StaffAny’s enterprise solution mid- 2019 at one of their new outlets, to better manage staff rostering.
“Our employees – in particular their health and safety – are our utmost priority. When Singapore raised our risk assessment to DORSCON Orange, we rolled out StaffAny’s contactless time and attendance taking functions to our headquarters, which also includes our production and logistics operations, to reduce the need for staff to make physical contact when clocking in or out. StaffAny’s solution has been great – we can access all reports, and plan shifts more efficiently. Our original plan was to use StaffAny to get accurate timesheet data, but we are now using StaffAny for data analytics. This is especially useful, as we’ve had to adapt to a change in our business model, after seeing a significant increase in retail sales, and at the same time a drop in B2B sales. In addition, we’ve also had to put in place two teams working at different times in our production and logistics operations, as one of the safe distancing measures in the workplace. And because StaffAny integrates with SafeEntry, it has definitely made checking-in and out much more convenient for our staff. Together with StaffAny, we are doing our best to coordinate efforts, together with the whole nation, to combat COVID-19 together,” said Mr Lee Tjen Chew, CFO, Phoon Huat.
HONG KONG, June 19, 2020 — As companies in Hong Kong maneuver operations to tackle business disruption, SAP Hong Kong is reinforcing its support for them with HR technologies that address evolving challenges in recruiting, developing and retaining workforce. SAP SuccessFactors, a leading cloud-based employee experience management solution, has enabled a number of Hong Kong companies from diverse industries to accelerate HR digital transformation and optimize operations locally and remotely.
Fabian Padilla Crisol, Managing Director, SAP Hong Kong, said, “Smart companies understand clearly that HR operation is mission-critical to their success. They see that having a productive and engaged workforce contributes considerably to operational efficiency and sustainable growth. And they realize intuitive HR technologies, such as SAP SuccessFactors, help to remove HR operation friction and recalibrate processes in response to changing needs. SAP is well-positioned to support companies to power their HR operations in the long run.”
In Hong Kong, SuccessFactors has been an underlying HR infrastructure for many established companies in diverse industries such as hospitality, finance, property development, transportation, retail and many more. Some of the latest SuccessFactors customers which are tapping the solutions to make HR operations run better include:
As a leading global leisure, entertainment and hospitality company, Genting Hong Kong‘s core competency is to create indelible experiences for holidaymakers in its cruise lines and resort. To position the company for its next phase of growth, Genting Hong Kong developed a holistic HR digital transformation roadmap, with SuccessFactors at its core, and scheduled it for post-pandemic deployment. This technology-led transformation will support Genting Hong Kong in optimizing and enhancing its HR operations, in sync with its long-term expansion and to manage a 16,000-strong workforce that operates over a vast network of cruise ships and outports.
ICBC (Asia) is the flagship overseas bank of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, the largest commercial bank in China. ICBC (Asia) deployed SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll, Onboarding, Recruiting, Compensation, HXM Suite, Human Capital Management solutions in early 2020 in time to celebrate the bank’s 20th anniversary. With SuccessFactors, the bank increased productivity with self-service tools for over 3,000 employees, streamlined onboarding and recruiting processes, simplified processes and services, met industry compliance and security requirements, and integrated its pre-existing proprietary systems with SuccessFactors.
Industry-leading SAP SuccessFactors solutions help more than 6,800 customers around the world deliver comprehensive, exceptional experiences that keep employees engaged and businesses growing. SAP SuccessFactors solutions allow customers to integrate processes and systems within HR and across the business, while allowing them to capture in-the-moment insights from employees and link them with operational data to see what is happening in their workforce and understand why.
For more details about SAP SuccessFactors, please go HERE.
About SAP
As the Experience Company powered by the Intelligent Enterprise, SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software, helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAP® system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables more than 440,000 business and public customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.
