Commentary

Unleashing the diverse talents of women for organisational success

The need for greater gender diversity in middle management and corporate boards is a growing concern both globally and in Singapore. While women constitute half of the world’s population, only a handful makes it to the upper echelons of the corporate world.

Unleashing the diverse talents of women for organisational success

The need for greater gender diversity in middle management and corporate boards is a growing concern both globally and in Singapore. While women constitute half of the world’s population, only a handful makes it to the upper echelons of the corporate world.

Singaporeans, can you be bothered?

Despite the good things in Singapore, we still have one of the lowest employee engagement around the world. America has 29% engagement; the global engagement average is 13%; Singapore only has 9% engagement.

Will the National Jobs Bank end up a white elephant?

Will the new National Jobs Bank serve its purpose of encouraging employers to consider Singaporeans fairly for job opportunities? Or will it end up a white elephant and a waste of the country’s resources?

Are Singapore companies wising up to attract top Talent?

Ten years ago, no one gave much consideration to Employer Branding but a simple search for the phrase ‘Employer Brand’ today brings up around 4.3 million hits on Google. As the war for Talent intensifies, organisations now realise that they can’t just rely on their consumer brand to recruit Talent – they have to do more. HR today is tasked to find bright minds that will give their company ‘the competitive edge’.

Chicken Rice and a bad taste in the mouth

As you sit down to eat your Chicken Rice today you may be complaining about how much food prices have increased and, having heard how much money agricultural companies are currently making, this may leave a bad taste in your mouth.

5 points for Singaporeans investing in U.S. real estate

When I first moved to Singapore last October, I was amazed by the price of real estate. I arrived in Singapore from the UK, and London prices are also relatively high but I was still unprepared for Singapore condo rental and purchase prices.

A trial date provides a timely reminder to Singapore firms

On August 8th two foreign nationals will stand trial in China accused of illegally purchasing personal information about Chinese Nationals. This is a timely reminder to Singaporean companies conducting due diligence outside of Singapore to exercise caution.

Is the Jobs Bank fair to Singapore?

The Jobs Bank is now live in Singapore. This is a "Singaporean-first" policy for all companies where this didn’t exist before. It’s a great principle apart from the small fact that in many people’s view everyone who wants a job in Singapore can find a job. It may not be their dream job with that million-dollar salary, presidential title, and corner office overlooking Marina Bay but it will be a good job for a good firm in a great place.

What makes a good Singaporean bookkeeper

Being in the business of bookkeeping, we have often encountered people who have the wrong idea of the bookkeeping process. Bookkeeping is predominantly meant to record transactions pertaining to the business in the accounting system - and that is where bookkeeping ends.

3 ideas to increase employee engagement in Singapore

Despite high GDP, living standards, and quality of jobs, we are still one of the unhappiest workers in Asia and globally, according to a newspaper report in January 2014.

Fueling Singapore's Smart Nation drive with data

The days of science and technology being a niche subject are far over. Today, ask anyone why they use their smartphone model of choice and there's a good chance you'll get a lengthy exposition on the pros and cons of different operating systems, screen sizes, and the chips in the devices.

What Singapore companies need to know about workplace learning

Despite more training days, Singapore’s productivity growth has not improved. Over the past decade, Singapore’s economy grew by an average of 5% per annum, compared to paltry productivity growth of 1% over the same period.

Tasty branding strategies of Singapore firms

Singapore is a welcoming hub for international brands that seek to establish a base in Asia or specifically Southeast Asia. With the rise of competing products and service providers, it is imperative that businesses are able to distinguish their brands among their competitors.

8 ways to shake up Inventory Management as demand weakens in Singapore

An eternal struggle at the heart of effective supply chain management is how much inventory to hold. It’s an equation organisations continually get wrong. As demand flattens across Singapore it’s more important than ever before to get it right. This requires a complete shake up the way inventory is being managed.

Singapore's leadership role in food security

As food security becomes an increasing focus of concern among governments, multi-lateral lending institutions and impact investors globally, Singapore is well positioned to play a key role as a center for addressing Asian and global food security issues over the next decade and beyond due to its unique combination of assets and expertise.

Here are the skills in demand in Singapore right now

Project Accountants, Quantity Surveyors, and IT Technology Risk Engineers are just some of the professionals in high demand, but inflated salary expectations are pricing some Singaporeans out of securing their next job.