URA

CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY 49 Attracting, Motivating and Retaining the Right Staff To ensure competitive remuneration is offered to attract, motivate and retain the right staff to support our mission, a consultant was engaged to conduct a comprehensive remuneration review for all jobs at Director level and below. A new salary structure was recommended and approved for implementation. Building an Effective and Engaging Workforce In response to the feedback collected from the Employee Engagement Survey conducted in 2016/17, a Staff Newsletter was introduced to improve internal communication. A new Staff Suggestion Scheme was also launched to invite ideas from staff members to improve work efficiency and effectiveness, and to enhance the sense of belonging. Among the 17 submissions received in Q3 and Q4 of 2017/18, five suggestions were assessed with positive impact to the organisation and has been / will be adopted by the URA. Planning Ahead With persistent demands from the community and rising expectations from external stakeholders, our staff continuously face more challenges. In a tight labour market, the need for an effective means to attract, retain, train, develop and motivate the right talent remains high. To cater for the changing operating environment, the URA will expand its training curriculum to cover technology training for staff at different levels. New management training, communication and self- development programmes will be launched in the coming year to reinforce the core competencies of staff. These programmes will enhance individual knowledge, communication skills and attitudes, stakeholder engagement, innovation, personal development, and leadership. To foster the skills and knowledge for succession assessment and career development, competencies are incorporated into divisional career ladders. The same competencies are also applied to assess potential successors and evaluate their readiness, and to help identify any gaps that may require them to engage in further development. As part of the succession scheme, four management t r a i nees we re rec r u i t ed i n 2017/18 and two management trainees will be employed in 2018/19. The URA also strives to groom urban renewal and development talent internally to support the sustainable development of the organisation. Building on recent success, Work Improvement Teams will be launched across the whole organisation again to promote a continuous improvement culture within the URA. The URA is named Manpower Developer by the Employees Retraining Board in recognition of the outstanding achievements in manpower training and development.