So far this month, we have explored how Malaysian SMEs can attract and retain top talent, manage younger generations, and use digital strategies to attract and retain talent. But what do your employees want from you as an employer?

In fact, why should you even bother with trying to meet the needs of your employees and retain them? Well, because staff turnover (employees resigning) costs your company a lot of money.

There’s the cost from loss of productivity. This means there is no one doing the job (or not doing) enough of what the resigned talent was doing. There’s also the cost of hiring a replacement; ads or hiring agencies or HR costs for interviews.

So, what do employees want?

Malaysian employers — especially smaller companies — are facing a shortage of talent. 65% of establishments with job vacancies reported having difficulties in filling up certain vacancies, according to the National Employment Returns 2018.

Meanwhile, the average turnover rate in Malaysia is 20% and the expected turnover rate is 36%, the second highest in Asia. However, Malaysian employees are also in the top three happiest in Asia. This means that your employees will leave only if another company offers them what they want.