Fair and Progressive Employers in the Midst of Challenging Times

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the employment landscape had been in topsy turvy with employers trying to sustain their businesses, while keeping their employees safe and gainfully employed. The Tripartite Alliance Award (TAA) 2021 ceremony, organised by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), recognised 21 organisations and six individuals for their fair and progressive employment practices and keeping their employees at the heart of their businesses.

Hear from aAdvantage Consulting Group, TAA winner of the Fair and Progressive Employment Practices and Work-Life Excellence categories, on how they meet the needs of the business and its employees.

aAdvantage Consulting provides a workplace that meets the personal, career aspirations of employees and the needs of the business. The firm understands that its employees are at different life and career stages and has thus implemented policies and practices to accommodate these needs.

During recruitment, the business consulting firm ensures its job advertisements and hiring are fair and based on merit. Shortlisted candidates will undergo an online assessment, competency, and psychometric assessments before the interview. These assessments and conversations with senior staff and peers during the interview allow them to identify candidates with the knowledge, skills, attributes required, and right attitude and values to integrate into their culture. Thus, hiring decisions are based on data science, void of bias or non-conclusive data.

The firm also develops career tracks for analysts who can specialise in domain areas, exposing them to projects across various domain areas to uncover their strengths. Through regular conversations with the analysts, the firm strives to identify their career interests for further development and domain specialisation, with the belief that this would serve to keep the younger staff engaged and in a continuous learning mode.

Another area of strength is the flexible workplace that enables employees the space and time to achieve both their personal interests and meet the organisation’s outcome. The range of HR policies made available for employees includes flexi-place, flexi-time, flexi-work arrangements, and flexible benefits.

With a focus on progressive employment practices, aAdvantage Consulting successfully hired and retained quality talent with an average length of service of four to five years, which is above the industry standard. The diverse and inclusive work environment has resulted in an engaged and dedicated team of employees who would go the extra mile for their clients.

“We recognise that each employee has different needs, and we endeavour to address them with care and fairness to the rest of the team. Our work-life harmony and implementation of fair and progressive practices are all part of our strategy to provide our people a 'great place to do great work',” Ms Jacqueline Gwee, Director, aAdvantage Consulting Group.

This article first appeared in Human Resources Online Q3 2021 edition, and is the second instalment in a four-part series on how TAA 2021 winners implemented fair and progressive practices at their workplaces and excel as exemplary employers.

View part one of the series on how Aviva puts employees at the heart of the organisation, and its people initiatives. 

View part three of the series on how OCBC Bank helps prepare their employees for the future of jobs. 

View part four of the series on how Go-Ahead Singapore develops and retains their older workers.