By Lester Hio

In a bid to attract talent and retain manpower, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore have started looking into various ways they can compete with the big companies by looking at creating a work environment that provides for a work-life balance.

SMEs' need to edge out their bigger cousins in providing a more flexible system stems from the multiple benefits that employees of multi-national companies (MNCs) often enjoy, which may be lacking in a smaller firm.

MNCs, for one, have the sheer size and money to provide attractive compensation packages to retain talent.

These include medical packages, dental benefits, or vacation plans.

Professor Brad Harrington, from the Boston College Centre for Work and Family, points to one particularly effective and reliable method that SMEs can implement which does not require a large amount of capital to be effective: using work-life integration and flexibility to differentiate the SME's core competencies from those of an MNC.

'Flexibility is a strong bargaining chip in the war for talent, which costs nothing but is much desired by today's workforce. So if you're having difficulties attracting and retaining talent, why not consider implementing it as a core business strategy?' said Professor Harrington.

This flexibility can be achieved by allowing employees to work from home, or through setting up a flexible work schedule that does not call for them to be in the office during work hours, as long as the job gets done.