As we approach 2024, the job market is buzzing with activity, offering plenty of new job options and changes.
Your top performers might be considering switching jobs in the new year, searching for better opportunities and exciting challenges.
75% of office workers intend to change their jobs after Tet. The first three months of the year provide an excellent opportunity for job changes, coinciding with employees receiving Tet rewards and reflecting on their achievements, failures, or dissatisfactions.
This creates the question: How do you ensure your team sticks with you, even after Tet?
To answer this question, we spoke to C-level experts from Amazon Web Services, Vietcetera, Curieous, Skills Bridge, VNG, and Dreamplex.
In this article, we’ll share their insights into why your top talents may be thinking about exploring new opportunities and ways to avoid them jumping ship.
While many believe organizations can’t interfere much with their personal decision, Mr. Abishek Marthur, Founder of Potential Lab and former Chief People Officer at VNG, provides a different point of view:
“Companies could trial distributing payments throughout the year, including Tet bonuses, while postponing merit increases until April/May. For top talents, their retention bonuses should be tied to tenure and performance, paid in quarters without Tet bonuses or merit increases.”
Mr. Mathur explained that doing so completely eliminates the current behavior of waiting for a 13th month or Tet bonus and then resigning.
Building on this approach, Ms. Ruby Nguyen, Founder at Curieous, adds, “It would be an interesting experiment to spread out Tet bonuses monthly/quarterly instead of giving them all at once. Having people stick around, quietly quitting, just for the bonus can harm the business.”
Another way to avoid resignations for short-term incentives like a salary raise at a new employer is to embrace longer-term rewards.
Mr. Mathur shared that additional long-term incentives are a retention booster:
“The strategic use of long-term incentives, such as cash or ESOPs, becomes crucial in extending retention efforts beyond the scope of annual bonuses.”
ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans) are still an untouched opportunity for most companies and employees.
The lack of popularity is in part due to challenging regulations around these shared ownership plans. An additional challenge is that employees don’t always believe in the long-term success of their company,
But as Vietnam modernizes, we’ll see more of these plans. At the end of the day, nothing aligns the interests of people and their company more than a significant shared opportunity.
Of course, the Tet bonus is not the sole driver of job changes.
Mr. Hao Tran, the CEO of Vietcetera Media, emphasizes the importance of a positive company culture and shared goals in retaining top talent post-Tet.
He says: “This year, the emphasis should be on fostering a culture of trust, open communication, and shared goals to ensure talent retention and organizational resilience.”
2022 MIT Sloan research shows that indeed, a toxic corporate culture is “by far the strongest predictor of industry-adjusted attrition” and is 10 times more important than compensation to predicting resignations.
McKinsey research supports the case for shared goals. According to the consulting firm, companies linking employee goals to business priorities are 84% more likely to have employees perceiving performance management as fair, a key contributor to talent retention.
Continuing the focus on togetherness during the years of economic uncertainty, Mr. Hao Tran stresses, “Performance is not as important as a sense of togetherness to get through difficult times.”
Mr. Eric Yeo, Country General Manager at Amazon Web Services Vietnam shares that retaining your top talent goes beyond just compensation:
“Retaining talented employees requires a comprehensive approach encompassing recognition, professional development, and fostering a safe and inclusive environment. Competitive compensation alone cannot guarantee talent retention; organizational culture and effective management play pivotal roles.”
As a leader supporting individual and professional development, Ms. Thai Van Linh, CEO at Skills Bridge, underscores the ongoing commitment to employee development:
“Top talent needs to feel appreciated, they want challenges to push their learning, and then, of course, they need to be rewarded. I don’t think there is any one thing that can be done, at the time of the bonus, to keep someone who does not feel like this job is helping to further their career.”
This holds especially true for Gen Z. In our Gen Z & The Workplace Study, 44% of Vietnamese GenZs said they value personal and professional development, and 57% of them responded with ‘tired and burned out’ when there is no room for development in the workplace.
A final aspect of Tet bonuses is how you treat these rewards.
While for many employees these bonuses are a mere expectation, companies that invest in creating a story around them, do better.
Ms. Zoee Nguyen, Managing Director of Dreamplex, notes that money is just one part of a valuable and engaging Tet celebration.
“For me, it’s all about the bigger story during Tet. Tet is a time for focusing on what matters, recognition and celebration. In our company culture of gratitude and celebration, we focus on the ‘why’ of the Tet rewards.”
Done well, she shares, Tet bonuses are more than just money, and actually can act as a strategic tool to engage teams more deeply.
“They are a reward for work well done, together, as a team. Emphasizing this makes it less of a reward to cap off the year, and more of another touchpoint in a longer journey we’re on together. I also emphasize what exciting opportunities the next year has in store for everyone, and make people feel excited to be a part of it,” Ms. Zoee Nguyen shares.
With Tet around the corner, it’s time for businesses leaders like yourself to think how to give out bonuses and strengthen their company culture.
Our experts suggest trying different ways of giving bonuses, like spreading them out over the year. This helps get rid of the wait for Tet rewards only to exit the company.
At the same time, everyone agrees that having a positive work culture, investing in employees beyond the Tet bonus is crucial. It means creating an environment where everyone trusts each other, talks openly, and works towards shared goals.
Our Ms. Zoee additionally shares that the Tet bonus can be used as a great storytelling device for the longer journey teams are on, and generate buy-in from team members for the next year.
As Tet approaches, these steps aren’t just good ideas – they’re essential for businesses to keep their best people and build a strong, united team for the coming year.
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