Well, it has been proven, Singaporeans are officially not fans of their jobs.
In a recent study, we learnt that compared to major Asian countries, Singaporeans were the least engaged in their jobs. Seeing how we have an (in)famous reputation for high living costs, perhaps our work motivation stems more from needing money than interest?
While there are plenty of solutions in the market, this startup believes they can take take things even further.
S$450k To Engage Employees
Singapore startup EngageRocket uses data analytics to help companies improve productivity and retain talents, and it has just raised S$450,000 to achieve that.
The funding is especially notable as they are the first startup of its kind in S.E.A to be funded. In addition, amongst the investors is Huang Shao-ning a.k.a co-founder of leading jobs portal, JobsCentral.
In the announcement, Huang emphasised that timely employee data would allow managers to “measure in real-time, team morale and address issues as they come up.”
She justified her confidence in the startup, believing that the co-founders have “the right combination of domain knowledge, industry insights and technical knowhow”.
So who exactly are EngageRocket?
From Ex-consultants To Founders
Co-founders Leong Chee Tung and Dorothy Yiu are ex-consultants from an American-based multinational consulting company, and so they come with a wealth of experience.
“In a market fragmented by geography, language and culture, there’s a large opportunity for data-driven solutions. We’re at the peak of a revolution in HR tech, enabled by data science, A.I. and an increasing pressure and openness to digitise,” Chee Tung shares.
Right now, the wave ‘people analytics’ companies is new in Southeast Asia. However, a 2016 report by Deloitte identified the market size as $300 mil with a 100% annual growth.
Multi-faceted challenges in the future of workforce demand informational tools, all to gain a better understanding of their employees.
“We’d like to think we have a first mover advantage now, but we don’t want to encourage our competitors to move faster either!” Chee Tung shares jovially.
EngageRocket
The name EngageRocket was crowdsourced, and the co-founders hope it’ll appeal to the younger generation.
It’s about ‘engaging’ employees, Chee Tung explains. Their software helps companies collect and analyse feedback to motivate employees. As such, they will be able to ‘rocket’ ahead much faster.
EngageRocket works by “pulling together the latest developments in data science with organisational behaviour and psychology.” The team promises insights throughout an employee’s life cycle in a company, which can help improve motivation and productivity.
“A work environment that engages staff contributes significantly to revenue and profit, improves talent retention by 59% and productivity by 21%. However, most companies lack the systems to do this reliably.”
Companies like Google and Amazon have already shifted to “more frequent, shorter employee surveys,” which allow the management to “calibrate programmes in a more agile, responsive way.”
EngageRocket simply seeks to make this system available for every company.
The Companies They Work With
Chee Tung shares that their client pool easily exceeds 50 across Southeast Asia, from Singapore to Mauritius.
“There are 3 types of companies that found us most valuable”, he shared. Companies growing/changing fast and who require high resolution data for decision making. Companies with a geographically scattered workforce as well as companies who prefer data-driven approaches to people management.
“As long as they fit any of the above, it doesn’t matter their industry. We are confident that we can deliver significant value to them.”
Bettering Employee-Employer Relations
The pair already have a working site, but for them, the product roadmap is a long journey.
“We have a grand vision for how [EngageRocket] can help companies,” Chee Tung shares.
“We’re using the funding to progress us further along that map, while ensuring that existing clients are served with excellence.”
Featured Image Credit: EngageRocket Team