We unveiled the 2021 Singapore Best Places to Work™ in Technology List last week, and shared what makes them the best technology companies to work for in Singapore. Beyond this List, we also want to celebrate a larger group of companies in the information and communication technologies industry who are Great Place to Work-Certified™.
At Great Place to Work™, we define a great workplace as one where you trust the people you work for, have pride in what you do, and enjoy the people you work with. This is defined by three key relationships that the employee has with the Management, their Job and their Colleagues.
After analyzing data from the Great Place to Work® Trust Index™ survey and Culture Audit submissions, we have identified two common traits amongst Singapore Great Place to Work-Certified™ technology companies which enable them to build a high trust culture and facilitate innovation by all.
1. Demonstrating Respect and Appreciation
We found that certain leadership behaviors among Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies in the technology sector are key to building high trust cultures.
First, the leaders in these companies role model the desired values and behaviors that reinforce a culture of trust—they do what they say and they keep their promises. Employees are seen for who they are, for the multiple roles they play, not just as “workers”. Appreciation and affirmation are freely shown for the good work and extra effort. And employees in these companies say that this experience with their leaders is consistent at all levels.
To ensure that its values are effectively cascaded to all levels of the company, foodpanda leverages a multi-channeled approach using all internal avenues of communication to reach different segments of its employee population. They support leaders and managers to model values on a day-to-day basis. For example, it designed training content for new managers and skills-based training to be aligned with its values, including information on how values guide manager behavior and how they interact with team members.
World Wide Technology knows that work-life balance is essential to employees and their families. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, management encouraged employees to put their families first. To alleviate stress, employees could block time out during the day to focus on their kids and not worry about what others needed from them at work. Altering shifts also enabled employees to maximize productivity as they juggled homeschooling or childcare with work.
BitTitan knows that recognition is an essential driver for future success, and that sharing the achievements of others and establishing a benchmark provides a stepping stone for the next success story. It reinforces this through a quarterly “I Get Shit Done” award for employees who demonstrate sustained commitment to one of four BitTitan values.
2. Creating a Safe and Supportive Work Environment
At Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies, safety at work is not just measured by physical safety at the workplace. It also includes psychological and emotional safety. This is a key experience for companies in the technology sector, in particular, where innovation is part and parcel of daily work and a key driver of business success.
The employees in our community of Certified Companies liked that they are celebrated for trying new and better ways of doing things. Leaders have enabled this by recognizing honest mistakes as part of doing business. This allowed employees to feel safe enough to challenge status quo, experiment with new ideas and dare to try new ways of doing things, with the assurance that they had their leaders’ support.
Reinventing is integral to HP’s culture and employees are encouraged to reinvent what matters most—in their career, across the company, and for people everywhere. It commits to practicing a growth mindset, which is the belief that everyone is capable of lifelong learning and improvement. Employees are encouraged to focus on progress, not perfection, learning from setbacks and even failures. Managers recognize and praise creative approaches, positive attitudes, and persistence.
Microsoft wants its employees to be the thinkers and doers—the dreamers—to create and to enable others to create things that will have a lasting impact. As such, employees are encouraged to be willing to lean into uncertainty, take risks, and move quickly when they make mistakes, recognizing that failure happens along the way to mastery. All employees are empowered to speak up, share ideas, challenge old ways of doing things, and become involved in related work that inspires them personally and professionally.
AlphaLab views itself as “a band of risk taking nerdy renegades, or more seriously as smart people solving complex problems”. It aims to build a culture where all employees can thrive, through fostering a space where feedback is valued and there is a supportive environment that encourages employees to speak up. It believes that psychological safety is important to achieving successful teamwork, and cultivates an academic environment where candid discussions are encouraged so that everyone can learn.
These traits are what enable our Great Place to Work-Certified™ technology companies to build and reinforce a high trust culture and promote innovation by all. And these are also what gives them a clear advantage in the perpetual war for talent, which this sector is well-known for.
In these Certified technology companies, 84% would strongly endorse their company to friends and family as a great place to work, as compared with 43% for the average company in Singapore. 81% say they want to work in their companies for a long time, as compared with 48% of employees in an average company.
I would strongly endorse my company to friends and family as a great place to work.
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I want to work here for a long time.
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Clearly, the technology companies in the Great Place to Work-Certified™ community are doing something different and reaping the benefits. They recognize that authentic care and employee well-being need not be compromised for ambitious growth, and that it is possible to scale up quickly and responsibly. Their management walk-the-talk and consciously create a culture and work environment that enable employees to thrive and innovate. They support their employees, recognize that failure should not be the end of a spirit of innovation, and celebrate successes together.
Take your first step to joining our Great Place to Work-Certified community today. Visit our website at greatplacetowork.com.sg to find out more.
