The software development industry is known to be highly competitive with a predominantly young workforce. Titansoft is no different, with the average employee age of the company being 31 years old. The software development company which designs customised solutions for the online gaming industry understands the need to invest in its people and retain talent to ensure business sustainability.
Titansoft adopted the Business Excellence (BE) framework in 2013 to validate their practices in people management, and to establish themselves as an “employer of choice”.
Having achieved the People Developer certification, Titansoft’s talent acquisition efforts have been smoother.
“Especially in a competitive industry where the best talents are often absorbed by tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft, being recognised as a company which places emphasis on its people provides a strong justification to new talents seeking a progressive career pathway to consider joining Titansoft,” says Ms Jasmine Huang, HR & Operations Manager of Titansoft.
Gaining recognition through innovative HR practices
At Titansoft, the key principle of empowering staff guides the development of human resource (HR) policies and implementation of initiatives. For example, all employees are responsible for their own career progression through self-promotion – where they can apply for promotion every six months through a self-evaluation point system followed by a technical assessment and panel interview. For those who do not pass, feedback is given by the interviewers on areas of improvement for the next promotion cycle.
Employees are also given the autonomy to decide their own working hours within project teams, as long as performance outcomes can be met. These unique HR practices have also enabled employees to achieve organisation goals.
The BE assessment was timely in communicating and elevating the importance of Titansoft‘s vision and mission throughout the company. “We wanted Titansoft’s vision and mission to be something everyone could own and be responsible for. Thus, instead of it being top-down, our employees played a part in creating the company’s values. They can now better identify with Titansoft’s goals and vision and as a result of this alignment, overall employment satisfaction improved,” says Ms Huang.
Titansoft’s HR practices enabled them to achieve the People Developer (PD) certification twice – in 2013 and 2016, and the Singapore Quality Class (SQC) in 2016.
They also went on to be recognised as the “2017 Best Tech Company to Work for” by the Singapore Computer Society. It now has close to 80 employees in Singapore, having grown from just five employees in 2005.
Leveraging BE to fast track expansion into new markets
“With the SQC given out by a government body i.e. SPRING Singapore (now Enterprise Singapore¹), we get nods of affirmation when we present our SQC logo, especially within the technology community in Singapore and Taiwan. The certification has assured suppliers of our business sustainability and allowed us to negotiate for better credit terms,” adds Ms Huang.
“This helps to increase our cash retention which contributes to business growth.” Together with its office in Taiwan, Titansoft currently sees an annual sales turnover of $20 million.
Ms Huang believes that the BE framework will continue to help Titansoft build organisational capabilities and develop a winning formula to set up business in new markets.
“The certifications we achieved are a result of our past efforts. But what was invaluable to us was going through the BE assessment process. The insights gained from the assessors’ feedback is what will put us on a fast track when we expand into new markets,” says Ms Huang.
