Join us to hear firsthand how the leaders of the 2021 Singapore Best Workplaces™️ build workplaces that inspire purpose, engage people and impact lives.
Prudential Tower
This Workplace Culture Masterclass will shed light on the steps each organization can take to become a Great Place to Work-Certified™ company. The panel discussion will deep dive into how SMEs overcame challenges to build a great workplace FOR ALL™.
Site visit & Panel discussion. Admin Fee: $50.00 SGD
Manufacturing organizations have an unique set of challenges they face on a daily basis. This Workplace Culture Masterclass will shed light on the steps organizations in the Manufacturing industry can take to become a Best Workplace™. The panel discussion seeks to learn from Micron on its journey to becoming a Best Workplace™.
DHL has always stood firmly by a People First culture as part of their Business Strategy. From its transformational FOCUS strategy launched in 2009 to its “Strategy 2025 – Delivering Excellence in a Digital World”, Motivated People has been its main driver of service quality and business performance. Even when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, DHL Express Singapore continued to engage its workforce in innovative ways. As a result, it successfully navigated challenges posed by the pandemic and made its way to the top spot as the Best Workplace in Singapore in 2020 at the peak of the crisis, and subsequently in 2021. Find out from Christopher Ong, Managing Director DHL Express Singapore, how DHL Express Singapore turned crisis into opportunity to emerge stronger as an Employer of Choice.
In this 30-minute webinar we learned how creating a psychologically safe workplace leads to a high trust culture for Signify – ranked #1 Singapore Best Workplace™️ (Small) 2020/2021.
©2022 Great Place To Work® Institute Inc. All Rights Reserved.
GPTW INSTITUTE (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.
A former Swiss national Judo champion, Christian joined TC Acoustic in 2010 as its Sales
Director and rose to become the CEO in 2013. Before joining TC Acoustic, he founded his own
company and was the Singapore distributor of Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT), a brand of
footwear from Switzerland.
Christian has called Singapore home for close to two decades and has sunk his roots so deep that you might mistake him for a Singaporean over the phone. He is married with two Chinese-
Caucasian sons (who are convinced they are solely Chinese).
For the past 12 years, Christian, together with his team, has grown TC Acoustic from strength to strength – from a single showroom in Singapore to multiple distribution points across regional markets, including Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.
With his past experience as an entrepreneur, he has infused the team of young and vibrant staff
with an enterprising and creative spirit, spearheading innovative strategies that have propelled their brands to bestsellers on Lazada and Shopee online marketplaces; becoming a world-class ‘go-to’ partners sought after by offline and online retailers alike.
People Above Profits and Relationships Above Revenue are two of his favourite principles that have guided his leadership and management philosophies.
Under his leadership, he has also brought the company through various milestones, including
achieving more than 2000 5-star Google reviews, from the start of the pandemic season till now.
Today, TC is recognized as an agile and creative lifestyle technology market leader in its sector.
Shan Shan is the Lead, SME Ecosystem at Prudential Singapore. In her current role, she works closely Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in Singapore to understand their needs and develop a holistic ecosystem proposition that meets business needs. Previously, she has worked closely with SkillsFuture Singapore to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in Singapore to inculcate the learning culture and partner them on their journey towards upskilling. By working with stakeholders across different industries and sectors, she is able to share best practices to empower their business transformation. As today, she has helped over 100 SMEs to transform and upskill their employees to empower them to be future-ready.
Prior to joining Prudential Singapore in 2020, she was leading the Product Marketing team at a healthcare company where she played a pivotal role in launching new products, leads generation, PR media relations, development of app user journeys and ideation of marketing collaterals. She has also prior experience in cross-functional efforts to drive employees’ health and wellness initiatives across enterprises ranging from senior management buy-in, in-house campaign, pre-event marketing, logistics planning and dashboard reporting.
Shan Shan holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Nanyang Technological University. Outside of work, she spends her time volunteering with kids and exploring nature.
Walter began his career with DBS Bank, gaining unparalleled experience in the finance and banking industry, while also establishing himself as a respected Management Associate. He helped DBS set up its first Myanmar representative office in 3 months and managed 5 other representative offices (Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines) in Asia. He was also a relationship manager for large global corporations (Temasek/GIC/Alibaba) for 3 years and has closed $1bn worth of loans and transactions.
Driven by a love for entrepreneurship and purpose, he decided to give up his career in Banking to kick off a subscription service that sells healthy snacks – Boxgreen. As the Chief Pantry Officer, he specializes in sales, finance and marketing. Boxgreen is now a thriving B-corp certified business with an open hiring policy, employing ex-offenders, single mothers, and people with special needs. Under his leadership and commitment to create great impact, Boxgreen won the coveted Great Place To Work Award in 2021.
Lily is positively responsible for business development and the list process at Great Place to Work® ASEAN & ANZ. A natural and high-energy leader, she is passionate in helping organizations build a High-Trust High-PerformanceTM culture at their workplace. With more than two decades of experience in work-life consultancy, training, courseware development, culture coaching and engagement with organization leaders at all levels, she brings with her a lifelong belief in co-creating strategic impact in business performance that is values-driven and trust-focused. Lily has developed training modules in alignment with the competency frameworks under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) and is certified in DiSC Personal Profiling facilitation and the local Employability Skills System Training & Assessment. A self-described travel nut, Lily loves to take off to different parts of the world with her husband and teenage son to experience new cultures, landscapes, cuisines and to return home with fresh insights and experiences.
Lim Lee Yong is Micron Singapore’s Senior Director with 20 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, spanning across process and equipment engineering, process integration, manufacturing operation and quality management. She is currently leading a big engineering team in all aspects of process and equipment work. Her team manages the fab engineering functions to continuously improves the fab’s performance and achieve best-in-class performance of Micron’s products. She is always fascinated to build a motivating and high-performance team.
Lee Yong is an active steering committee member of Micron Women’s Leadership Network and the chairman of Frontend Technical Engineering Council Team. She has a vision to create and cultivate an inspiring culture promoting technical and managerial leadership. She is also serving as an industrial advisory committee member for SIT-TUM EDE and was invited to be the UWEE speaker to promote women in STEM.
Lee Yong earned a Bachelor’s degree (1st class) in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Nanyang Technological University.
Gianpaolo Mettifogo is currently Micron Singapore’s Vice President of Assembly and Test. He is responsible for aligning Micron’s goal, strategy and leadership for Assembly and Test at Micron Singapore.
Mr. Gianpaolo began his career with MEMC Italy as a Process Engineer in 1995. He moved to MEMC Japan in 2000 where he assumed roles of increasing responsibilities across different functions, from R&D to Process Engineering, Quality, and Manufacturing, eventually being appointed as President of MEMC Korea/Japan, where he led their new 300mm line start up. In 2011, he relocated to Malaysia to lead SunEdison Semiconductor Ipoh (formerly MEMC) in ramping the pilot line to mass production. He then honed his HR knowledge as the Senior Director for HR Global Operations in SunEdison before joining Micron in 2017.
After joining Micron, Mr. Gianpaolo led the Outsource Assembly and Test (OSAT) sub-contractor team as Senior Director and was responsible for leading Micron OSAT subcontractor partnership and developing strategic OSAT business plans. Subsequently, Mr. Gianpaolo took on the responsibility as MSB Managing Director in 2019 and has been leading the MSB team to drive excellence in operation and quality products for assembly, test and module/SSD.
Mr. Gianpaolo is a male ally of Micron Women’s Leadership Network (MWLN). He also serves as a sponsor for the Singapore Chapter of Micron PRIDE + Allies, an employee resource group supporting LGBTQ+ team members (and their allies) to thrive as their authentic selves in the workplace and community.
Mr. Gianpaolo holds a Degree in Chemical Engineering from Turin Polytechnic Institute (Italy) and a Certification in General Management Program from Harvard Business School (US).
Mr. Christopher Ong is currently the Managing Director of DHL Express Singapore, a position he has held since November 2018. Responsible for driving sustainable growth in this key market in Asia Pacific for DHL Express, Chris has focused the business on delivering great service quality for local customers. As the chosen location for the DHL South Asia Hub, Singapore is vital to the DHL business and aviation network.
A strong advocate of corporate stewardship, Chris has been invited to share his views publicly and at business forums on a variety of business topics including SME strategies, trade and logistics, e-commerce, digitalization and people engagement. He currently sits on the judging panel of the Singapore Business Awards, the nation’s most prestigious accolades in the business and corporate sectors. Under his leadership, DHL Express Singapore continues to be one of the most trusted name in logistics, having won numerous recognition in employee practices, customer service and information technology.
Chris first joined DHL Express in October 2006 as Vice President, Business Development at the Asia Pacific Regional Office and was responsible for Mergers and Acquisitions, Partnerships and Planning for the region. He subsequently took on additional responsibilities in 2009 to drive DHL’s First Choice (Six Sigma) and GOGREEN corporate programs for Asia Pacific. In October 2011, he was appointed as Country Manager of DHL Express Vietnam, a key growth market for the DHL network. In March 2014, Chris moved to Kuala Lumpur and took on the role of Managing Director of DHL Express Malaysia & Brunei, where he managed over 1,200 employees and 27 facilities, including 7 international gateways, spread across East and West Malaysia and Brunei.
In his time with DHL, Chris has been actively investing in people to ensure high levels of employee engagement and motivation. This focus on people has been recognized over the years at multiple awards conferred by organizations such as Top Employer, Great Place to Work as well as Aon Hewitt, which crowned DHL Express Malaysia as Best of the Best Employer in Malaysia for 2018.
In 2020, DHL Express Singapore was also named as the #1 Singapore Best Workplace by the Great Place to Work Institute. This was a climb up from #6 in 2018 to the top position in a span of two years. It was a notable win as 2020 saw unprecedented challenges in the logistics industry brought on by the pandemic, which was effectively mitigated under Chris’s corporate stewardship and strong belief in prioritizing the safety and wellbeing of employees.
Beyond people, Chris has also been championing initiatives to drive ever improving service quality while promoting cross-border eCommerce to SMEs. He has been spearheading strategies that led to improved delivery experiences for both merchants and buyers, increasing customer loyalty as well as targeting SMEs to assist them in becoming more competitive in the international market and ride the wave of global trade.
Chris is also a great believer in giving back to the community and has been actively pushing the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda. He was personally involved in supporting educational programs at SOS Villages Vietnam and Teach for Malaysia schools, where he co-taught classes with Fellows and mobilized colleagues to refurbish classrooms as well as improve the school environment for the students. He has also been active in driving climate change initiatives at both regional and country levels by advocating investments in energy efficient lighting, electric vehicles, solar powered facilities and the planting of trees.
Prior to joining DHL in 2006, Chris spent about 10 years with Temasek Holdings, the Singapore Government-owned Sovereign Wealth Fund, where he was responsible for originating, evaluating and executing investments as well as managing and restructuring companies around the globe. At Temasek Holdings, he was involved in transactions in the Transport, Logistics, Telecom, Media, Technology, and Manufacturing sectors.
Chris graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University, US.
Jitender has been with Signify since 1999 and has experience in varied roles in postings to four different regions. First, as a Business Development Manager in India, followed by a promotion to Commercial Leadership in the Middle East. He then proceeded to take on global responsibilities in the Netherlands in Marketing for Professional Lamps, before coming to Singapore in 2013 to head the company’s Professional Lighting business in Singapore. While doing so, Jitender has also taken up a leadership role for International Accounts across ASEAN Pacific. In January 2018, Jitender was appointed the company’s General Manager for Singapore and emerging SE Asia markets, to accelerate the growth and transformation in both professional and home lighting.
In Singapore, his passion has been to drive the growth of connected lighting systems and services. Under his leadership, his team has achieved the top rank in Southeast Asia for the fastest growth in smart systems and services, with doubling of sales in these areas in the last 2 years.
Jitender is trained as an Engineer with post-graduate qualifications in Marketing Strategy from Delhi University, India.
Jitender resides in Singapore with his wife and his two daughters.
ABOUT OUR METHOLOGY
To be eligible for the World’s Best Workplaces list, a company must apply and be named to a minimum of 5 national Best Workplaces lists within our current 58 countries, have 5,000 employees or more worldwide, and at least 40% of the company’s workforce (or 5,000 employees) must be based outside of the home country. Extra points are given based on the number of countries where a company surveys employees with the Great Place to Work Trust Index©, and the percentage of a company’s workforce represented by all Great Place to Work surveys globally. Candidates for the 2017 Worlds Best Workplaces list will have appeared on national workplaces lists published in September 2016 through August 2017.
ABOUT OUR METHODOLOGY
The Best Workplaces in Asia List
Great Place to Work® identifies the top organizations that create great workplaces in the Asian and Middle Eastern regions with the publication of the annual Best Workplaces in Asia list. The list recognizes companies in three size categories:
To be considered for inclusion, companies must appear on one or more of our national lists in the region, which includes Greater China (covering China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau), India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka and UAE. For the 2021 Asia List, companies ranked on the national list in the Philippines will also be included. Multinational organizations must meet the following requirements:
Multinationals also receive additional credit for their efforts to successfully create an excellent workplace culture in multiple countries in the region. The data used in the calculation of the regional list comes from national lists published in 2019 and early 2020.
