The Risk of Attrition in the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme

This report investigates the potential for attrition to discourage companies from participating in the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme in Singapore. The introduction provides an overview of the programme, highlighting its benefits for both graduates and participating companies, including financial incentives. However, the report identifies the risk of employee attrition as a key concern, as graduates can leave after training. A literature review examines existing research on SkillsFuture and related topics, including the government's initiatives, the importance of skills mastery, and the challenges of employee retention. The methodology section outlines the research philosophy, design, and sampling methods, including the use of positivism, analytical research design, and interviews with board of directors from various companies. The data collection methods include primary and secondary data sources, with a focus on face-to-face interviews. The report aims to determine the attitudes of collaborating companies toward the long-run viability of the Earn and Learn Programme and concludes with a discussion of the data analysis techniques to be employed, including qualitative data analysis. The findings will provide valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme.

Risk of attrition will discourage companies from supporting the SkillsFuture Earn and
Learn programme.
Introduction
The SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme is a work as you learn programme that gives
polytechnic graduates a head-start in careers related to their skill related courses.
Collaborating companies can recruit the local graduates and trained them for workforce in
25 sectors.
For individual gradates, they can gained job experience valued by the company and will
received a signing on fee of $5000.
For participating companies, they will be able to groom and retain suitable talent with the
relevant skills and aptitude to meet the needs of the company. Companies also receive a
grant of up to $15,000 per individual placed in the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme.
(SkillsFuture - SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme)
However, some companies may take advantage of the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn
programme to hire staff as they receive monetary incentives per individual trained in the
program. In a tight labour market situation, some companies may find workers leaving after
they complete their current training. Mover according to the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn
programme website, workers can keep the $5000 sign up grant if they continue in the
different company within the same industry. Therefore this will discourage companies from
taking up the new graduates from polytechnic who pursue the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn
programme due to the possible high attrition rate. (Attrition risk may put firms off
SkillsFuture. Today, 26 Feb 2015)
Literature Review
In the Journal of Asian Public Policy, J.J. Woo mentions the different components of the
SkillsFuture schemes. He shares about the provision of incentives, subsidies and
information. This helps to encourage individuals to take up skill training programmes (J. J.
Woo, 2017). This journal focus on the structure of the SkillsFuture scheme. However as it
was a 2017 journal article, it mainly shares about how the Singapore government attempts
to carry out SkillsFuture. The utility of the article in evaluating SkillsFuture is however
limited as SkillsFuture is a current program and therefore cannot provide quantity results to
prove its effectiveness.
In the second article Skilling the nation empowering the citizen, Carl Ng expands on the
SkillsFuture scheme by explaining how SkillsFuture is extended beyond the workforce to
young school children (Ng, C. J. W. 2018). This article shows that the Singapore government
is going beyond working adults for life-long learning. By extending the scheme to school
goers, it will set a culture of continuing learning and relearning throughout the lives of
Singaporeans. However the article is not clear as how SkillsFuture is implemented in young
school children as it states that $500 credit will be given to Singapore citizens above 25
years old (ibid).

From Lifelong Learning through the SkillsFuture Movement in Singapore: Challenges and
prospects, Charlene Tan brought up the context of SkillsFuture. This is noteworthy because
she researched that CEO of MNCs have observed that Singapore employees are weak in the
willingness to try new things (Tan, C. 2016). This provides a reason to support the Singapore
government’s program for lifelong learning. However the willingness to learn is not in the
DNA of Singaporeans, she states that Singaporeans lack the mind set and the appreciation of
need to learn-unlearn-relearn (ibid). Smooth execution of the Earn and Learn programme
might have some obstacles as individuals and companies may not be united in working
toward shared goals. Companies’ resources and expertise are not always available to
support the job-training, and that relevant job opportunities may not be offered to the
employees. Charlene Tan’s journal article provides an insight to a possible obstacle to the
success of SkillsFuture.
The article of Sing Chee Wong (2016) suggests that mastery of skills has to be achieved by
the Singaporean workers to get aligned with the standards of globalization and
technological advancement in the highly competitive economic situation. In Singapore the
early Chinese migrants were primarily the traders and the artisans whose employment
depended on the network and the kinship affiliation in the community. After the
independency of Singapore, the concentration was given on the cohesive multiracial nation
and the racial differences also downplayed. It became necessary to educate the people of
Singapore and develop the economy in order to advance their lifestyle. The merits of
individual were emphasized and the chosen to be the basis of employment. As a
consequence, the career planning and the development services have been made available
for the adults and the students regardless of the racial and other differences. In order to
ensure that their capabilities can be enhanced, there are many schemes which are also
available. The focus is always on the career achievement of the Singaporeans.
On the other hand, in the article of NG JING YNG the main emphasis has been put on the
attrition risk which may put the firms off skills Future. The author supports the imposing o
Bond on the trainees by the employers. It has explored the opinions of the firms. The firms
thought the incentive system for both the trainees and the participating companies should
be signed up for 12- 18 months. The companies may choose to impose one bond but it is
not compulsory. They concluded that there is a need to ensure their career progression and
the fair system of the remuneration which will be based on the skills and capabilities of the
individual in order to retain the employees. The employee training help to increase the
productivity of the corporation. The companies in this regard must incorporate the system
orientation, a collaborative approach, the problem solving, the experimental learning,
human values, contingency orientation and levels of intervention for better outcomes.
While creating the training programs the financial incentives from the government will
come in use. The employer must build a follow up program with the trainees in order to
ensure better experience.
Research purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine whether the risk of attrition will discourage
companies from supporting the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn programme.
Research question
What are the attitudes of the collaborated companies towards the long run of Earn and
Learn Programme?
Methodology
Research Philosophy
The research philosophy is process of analysing and developing and study with
utmost details. In research, there are three types of the research philosophies such as
interpretivism, positivism and realism. As per the views of Violeti (2016), the positivism
research philosophy supports to develop an insightful analysis of a particular study. As far as
interpretivism is concerned, it is the combination of the function and the management
activities. On the other hand, realism is a mixed type of philosophy of the other
philosophies. This study will make use of the positivism research philosophy for
investigating the issues in a critical way. It must be understood that the positivism research
philosophy has been extracted from the sensory experiences and the entire analysis is based
on the facts. The study will not use the other two philosophies because these depend on
each individual and there might be variations of perceptions.
Research Design
There are usually three types of research designs. These are the analytical, the
explanatory and the exploratory. The analytical research design usually helps to understand
the topic of the study as well as evaluate in the most descriptive manner. The exploratory
research on the other hand helps to understand the concept at the primary stage of the
research and the explanatory research is used to establish and develop a connection
between the two variables (Chuang, Jackson & Jiang, 2016). Therefore, the analytical research
design will be best suited for this study for gaining a detailed picture of the already available
theories. The other two research designs will be rejected as well.
Sampling method and the sampling size
The present research will use the probability and the non-
probability sampling techniques. Moreover, the simple random
sampling technique will also be used in this study for gaining better
understanding of the given topic. For the better conduction of the
research, almost 10 board of directors from different companies both
the MNCs and the start-ups will be used. They will be asked to
contribute their knowledge and opinion and requested to share their
perspectives on the present study. The purposive sampling method is
used for a judgmental, subjective and selective sampling. This non-
probability type of sampling technique focuses on the sampling

techniques where the units are based and investigated on the
researcher’s judgement (Bello et al.,2016). This method will be used for
focusing on a particular characteristics of a population which are of
huge interest. In the course of the qualitative research design, the
maximum variation sampling will be used. It will help to develop a wider
picture of the phenomenon. It is also called the heterogeneous
sampling which will be helpful in capturing an extensive range of the
perspectives that related to the topic of the research. The executives of
the companies will be from each level and 10 in number that would be
sufficient.
The target population of the research will be the multi-national
organizations from different countries to get and extensive picture. The
different perspectives of the different employers would have been
known and the study could gain a strong foundation (Chuang, Jackson &
Jiang, 2016). On the other hand, the accessible population of the research
will be 10 board of directors in the country of Singapore. It is that
population which will be derived from the target population for the
smooth conduction of the study. The accessible population which will
be used for this study will be used because of the limited time period,
limited resources and it will be easy to manage.
Data Collection
The study will be based on both the primary and secondary data
(Hughes & Stephens, 2016). The primary data will be collected by the help of
different sources such as the interviews and at the same time, the
secondary data will be collected from all types of printed available data
such as the journal articles, the newspaper and theory books too as well
as the online materials. Both the primary and the secondary sources
will be extremely helpful for conducting this particular study.
As an instrument for the collection of data, the interview method
will be used. The interviews are the best qualitative data collection
process for social research. As a research instrument, which are helpful
in gaining highly personalized data where there are opportunities for
probing to receive underlying factors (Jamali, El Dirani & Harwood, 2015). It is a
viable option for getting good return rate from limited respondents. The
main advantage is that, a complete description and analysis of the
research subject is obtained. Through the interview method, the
variables of the research will be described with an insightful approach.
Since the interviewees will be from the top –level of the organizations,
accuracy of the data will be maintained. The interviews of the 10 board
of directors will be conducted face-to face for 30 minutes each.
Appointment will be fixed beforehand through mail and in case of non-
response, nobody will be forced and the next person will be
approached. Examples of the questions to be added in the interview
are:

 What is your designation?
 How long are you working in this company?
 Does your company provide yearly or six –monthly learning and
development program?
 What do you think about the need for the skill Future Earn and
Learn program?
 According to you what is the best method for employee
retention?
 What do you consider to be the major reason behind employee
attrition?
Data Analysis
The data analysis is a technique to get a brisk and
comprehensive view of the collected data. The qualitative data analysis
differs from the quantitative data analysis method. It is primarily
because the qualitative data is based on the observations, words,
images and symbols too (Chuang, Jackson & Jiang, 2016). The data analysis of
the qualitative data will undergo few steps. First of all, the research will
get familiar with the data by reading or listening to it several times.
The data transcription can also be done when it is recorded in recorder
(Hughes & Stephens, 2016). Then the researcher will revisit the research
objective and recognize the questions which can be answered through
the data. Then a suitable framework will be developed and patterns
and connections will be identified. The present report will analyze the
data collected through the interviews with narrative analysis. It is a
method which will be used to analyze relevant content from different
sources. It emphasizes on applying the stories along with the
experiences shared by people.
Ethical Consideration
During the conduction of a research, the ethical concerns are
highly necessary. Regarding the primary data collection, no interviewee
will be forced to invest their time and consent from everyone will be
taken before approaching further (Choy, 2014). It will also be considered if
the participants want to keep their anonymity. Regarding the secondary
research, the authenticity of the references will be maintained and
there will not be any type of violation of the regulations and norms.
Limitation of the Study
Every research is bound to have a little percentage of limitations
regardless of how well it is designed. Taken for example, the time
frame is always a matter of fact which limit every research up-to certain
extent (Bello et al.,2016). The availability of the resources is another
important factor. In many cases, few resources remain unavailable.
The data collected from the participants are not always sufficient to

answer the research questions. Therefore, the entire research has to be
planned in the best possible way to address these possible gaps.
Proposed timeline of the study:
Activities 1s
t to
3rd
Wee
k
4th
to
10th
week
11
th to
13th
Week
14
th to
17th
Week
18t
h to
21st
Week
22
nd to
23rd
Week
24t
h
Week
Selection of
the topic

Data collection
from secondary
sources
 
Creating
layout

Literature
review
  
Analysis and
interpretation of
collected data
  
Findings of the
data
 
Conclusion of
the study

Formation of
draft
 
Submission of
final work

Fig: Gantt Chart
(Source: As created by the author)

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Attrition risk may put firms off SkillsFuture. Today, 26 Feb 2015
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Chuang, C.H., Jackson, S.E. & Jiang, Y., 2016. Can knowledge-intensive teamwork be managed?
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Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
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SkillsFuture - SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme
http://www.skillsfuture.sg/earnandlearn (date of access 4 Feb 2019)

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