Singaporeans are known to be smart and hardworking people. Most of them value their jobs so much that they don’t mind even if they need to compromise on having a healthy work-life balance. Most of them are willing to dedicate their time and energy towards showing and achieving excellence in the workplace. Ordinary employees and company leaders alike are sharing the same mindset. No wonder, the country’s economy keeps growing and flourishing. This only shows that having the right attitude towards work can lead to positive results.
Understanding Workplace Culture in Singapore
Some people may find Singapore’s work culture unhealthy or even dangerous. Indeed, spending all your time on your job may have a negative impact on your life. It can affect your health as well as your relationship with other people. The key is to find smart ways to ensure that you are not abusing your mind and body just to fulfil responsibilities in the workplace. For starters, it’s essential to educate yourself about the country’s work culture:
• Singaporeans follow strict rules—Employees and their bosses follow company rules and regulations seriously. This means, if there is a rule imposed in the workplace, everyone is expected to follow it no matter what.
• They respect hierarchy in the workplace—Workers also show their utmost respect to their leaders. They trust their bosses and know more than to question their leaders’ decisions. However, this doesn’t make leaders aim for power. They are more likely to show humility, and they also respect their subordinates regardless of their position in the company.
• Individual growth and development are encouraged—Singaporeans are also expected to grow and improve in the workplace. This means, if you join a company as a beginner, people expect you to eventually become an expert.
• Teamwork and collaboration is always essential—People in this country also value teamwork and collaboration a lot. Most companies and other organizations believe that team effort is necessary to achieve huge milestones.
If you carefully observe Singapore’s workplace culture, most work environments encourage workers to prioritize hard work and excellence.
However, this doesn’t mean that you need to compromise your health and well-being. You don’t even need to force yourself to work longer hours to prove that you are doing your best to fulfil your job. What’s important is that you perform your job well and that you strive hard to improve your skills. This way, you can succeed in accomplishing all the responsibilities given to you.
Nurturing Positive Behaviour to Improve Culture in the Workplace
Take Seah Moon Ming, for example. He is known as a hardworking chief executive of Temasek Holdings unit Pavilion Energy. He is doing so well in his current job, but he still decided to step down the moment he was assigned as chairman of SMRT Corporation Ltd, a multi-modal public transport operator in the country. Although he can accept both positions and improve his work portfolio, he understood that he needed to let go of one of his jobs. This particular behaviour shows his compassion and altruism towards other people.
Mr. Seah knows that he will face huge challenges the moment he is appointed as SMRT Chairman. Thus, he decided to focus his efforts on heading one organization instead of multiple ones. If you are a company leader, you can use the same strategy, especially if you want to improve your culture in the workplace. Here are a few recommendations that you can use:
• Weigh the consequences of your decisions—If you are making a huge decision for your team, ensure that you think about it carefully and wisely. This means, you need to weigh the pros and cons of your decisions before doing anything. With this, you can minimize making mistakes and improve your chances of making the right decision.
• Think of other people’s well-being—Great leaders prioritize their people’s welfare. This leads to better teamwork and collaboration. If your subordinates realize that you are prioritizing them, they will likely work harder for your company or organization.
• Accepting responsibility and accountability—Making sure that you are aware of your responsibilities makes a huge impact on your workers. Assuring them that you are prepared to take responsibility and accountability for your actions as a leader will also provide them confidence. With this, your people will expect that your actions will always benefit them as well.
Being a leader is a huge responsibility, so you need to be careful, especially when making huge decisions. You also need to take note of workplace cultures, especially if you are leading a group of workers in Singapore. Show compassion and see how it can help you naturally gain trust and respect from people around you. If you continuously show positive behaviour, people will look up to you. With this, you can expect that they will stay motivated in helping you fulfil responsibilities, especially when it comes to hitting huge milestones in the workplace.
