More human resources managers are worried that pay and benefits packages alone will not be enough to attract the best staff,
The number one concern is the inability of pay and benefits to entice talented people, a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has revealed.
Last year, the same survey from CIPD put the concern in fourth place.
The recent study also found the inability of pay and benefits to retain talented people was another major concern, rising from 12th place last year to sixth place this year.
Charles Cotton of the CIPD says: "Raising pay might not be enough to keep people in organisations if they feel they have been treated unfairly during the recession. People need to feel loyal to an organisation."
He suggests organisations explain to staff why they had been forced to introduce pay freezes or cuts during the recession and to reiterate the career path on offer for individuals.
"It's not too late for employers to find out how employees are feeling about the organisation. It's time to start thinking about how to communicate with staff," he says.
Doctor package proposed
The Hospital Authority has announced the procedure for doctors to receive a full and final settlement of all claims for rest days, statutory holidays and public or general holidays.
This affects resident/medical officers, dental officers, senior dental officers, associate consultant/senior medical officers and consultants.
They need to be have been in full-term employment between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2009, with their last day of service at the authority on or before June 29 this year.
Affected doctors need to complete a submission of interest form and return it to their division's human resources office on or before October 8.
More information and the form can be obtained from www.ha.org.hk.
Gender gap widens
Men in Australia who hold a bachelor's degree are more likely than their female peers to be working full-time after graduating, and they often also earn more, a new survey has revealed. The "Beyond Graduation 2009" report, conducted by Graduate Careers Australia, examined the experiences of almost 6,000 higher education graduates three years after they finished studying.
Immediately following the completion of their course in 2006, 80 per cent of male graduates available for work had a full-time job, compared with 75.2 per cent of comparable women graduates.
This gap had widened to 6.5 percentage points last year. Meanwhile, women bachelor degree graduates earned an average annual salary of 6.8 per cent less than their male counterparts.
No significant earnings disadvantage was identified for bachelor's degree graduates from non-English-speaking backgrounds.
