Never Grow Up - Best Business Culture Consultant

Singapore celebrates numerous festivals in a year. At Never Grow Up, we celebrate none of them at work. We still have a pretty good time - not despite this, but because of this. To start with, there are at least above 15 festive occasions that Singaporeans celebrate. Then there are all the different festive occasions that communities observe across religions and geographies not in that list. When was the last time you heard of The Hungry Ghost Festival being celebrated at work? For all the diversity that Singapore brings, we don’t do a very good job of taking the effort to educate ourselves about all our festivals or making everyone in the city understand aspects of each of these. When we choose to recognize just a few major festivals in the workplace, we deprive others of the opportunity to feel at home. Who’s to decide one festival is more important than another just on the basis of skewed diversity numbers? Observing holidays is not just a matter of treating employees equally. It’s

With rapid digitization and changing business models, over the years, employee engagement has gone beyond simple job satisfaction. It’s seen not just as a combination of commitment to the organisation and its values, but also a willingness to help colleagues. Before we get into the details about the trends of employee engagement in Singapore, let’s understand the meaning. An engaged employee is one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work and so, takes positive action to further the organisation’s reputation and interests. Forbes.com defines employee engagement as the emotional commitment the employee has to the organisation and its goals. The bottom line is that engaged employees do better at their jobs. Mercer studied more than 40,000 employees in Singapore and found that 81% of employees are proud to work for their companies, 80% are willing to go the extra mile, 73% are satisfied with the companies they work for and 68% would recommend their companies as good plac

People want to know what their employer thinks of everything from the economic climate of the country, to social issues that could potentially affect the company. We’re not just saying this. According to a 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer Report, 71% of employees expect their leadership to speak about the following four aspects: Industry issues | Political events | National crises | Employee-driven issues While it may not be possible for employers to regularly comment on everything going on in the world, the onus does fall on them to speak to their employees at least about things that directly affect them. The importance of internal communications is well known to anyone in a people manager position in a corporate. However, is it clear that this communication needs to be top-down? And if so, then why? Transparency and Belonging A 2018 survey on the State of Employee Engagement by HR.com showed that trust in leaders is the biggest influencer of employee engagement, with 77% of employees ra

In this modern digital era, social media has become indispensable for social connection, cultural contexts and professional opportunities. Not just that, building an employer brand on social media has become a standard practice among organisations. With over 3 billion people on social media networks, it’s the easiest way to start building your image as a company that is great to work for in a range of ways. Potential employees nowadays rely on social media to check not just the company profile itself, but also mentions of your brand, associations and partnerships, as well as your voice on things that matter in the world. Hence, it is essential for businesses to keep their social media presence top-notch. So, how can a healthy social media presence help you? 1. Social Media Establishes your Personality Your employer brand is your personality as an employer. And it is nothing without marketing efforts – Whether you want to highlight learning and development initiatives or demonstrate the

Employee feedback is crucial to any company. One of the key roles of a leader is to deliver effective feedback. But just a pat on the back or a few good words doesn’t work. There is a proper way of providing feedback consistently that will improve employee performance. The leader must not only know when to be direct, but also know when to be positive, and when to challenge them for best results. If delivered poorly, it can cause problems that can harm employee engagement and productivity Here are a few ways that one can offer employee feedback – it’s quick and will help the organisation get the outcome they foresee: Pay attention to frequency and tone Employee feedback should be regular, task-focused, crystal clear, and to the point. By giving regular feedback, employees feel supported, reassured, and guided. Giving general comments confuses them as to what aspect of their work is being questioned and if they need to improve something about the way they perform. So, be to-the-point. Re

Conflict is a part of the everyday work environment. Having a varied group of people, who have different personalities, all working in the same organisation, possibly under stress, can cause a certain amount of disruption for a leader, a team, or the entire organisation. A conflict can arise within an organisation due to many reasons including : Poor communication Incomplete, incorrect, or ambiguous data Numerous levels of reporting that end up distorting information and delaying processes Weak or autocratic management style Cultural, social or personal differences Inappropriate use of authority Unfair perceptions, in terms of recognition and reward Managing conflict is tricky. It’s about seeing opportunities that others don’t see. Until recently, workplace conflict was considered undesirable at many organisations. Now, conflict is viewed as both functional and dysfunctional. If the conflict resolution is seen as an opportunity, it can be not just a healthy enabler of growth for the or

The human resources team and the public relations team both have the same job functions. They plan events and schedule interviews. They manage requests internally as well as from stakeholders while keeping in mind the company's vision, mission, and goals. They are the information disseminators, and step in every time, in case there is news to be shared - good or bad. They present relationship building and strengthening strategies for their organisation's growth, to the leadership team. They aim to be well-liked, are approachable, good listeners, and communicators. The only difference - one team manages internal communication stratergy , while the other, external.  But both teams are just as crucial to all the communication that happens on behalf of the organisation. So why not get such efficient teams in the workforce to work in tandem?  Human Resources and Public Relations: Like Two Peas From Different Pods?  Both teams bring something valuable to the table. The HR team’s job

In a digital world, the opportunities are endless - more so for businesses. The volume of data and information available for business research, customer targeting, is unbelievable and can work wonders for the organization’s business growth. In fact, organizations now have the power to build a seamless experience at the workplace as well, with the help of employee data. By analyzing how employees work and utilize their time, what their output is, and much more, organizations can go into the depth of what drives success or failures for them. But this social listening at the workplace needs to be taken care of, responsibly.  Power of Employee Listening  Employee data is the most important asset HR has in hand. Available at their disposal, is data that reveals overall employee trends, what drives them, how productive they are, where their talents lie, and many other factors that determine how growth can be achieved. But the first and foremost step to be able to analyze and translate is lis

There is a talk in the boardroom. One that is often argued and championed by many people. One that we’ve heard and even tried to answer a number of times. What comes first? Is it business goals or people? Is it customer first or compliance? Should people initiatives run at a time when business is slow? What should the overall approach to talent initiatives be? While every company has to fend for itself when it comes to these questions, there is no right or wrong. There is but an approach.  It’s one we like to call the PFCF ideology or the People [First] to Deliver Customer [First]. While talent consulting experts will fight for people first and business leads might champion customer first, it’s not that simple. In fact, it’s more of a catch 22 situation. Should you invest in a slow performer or should you simply ask them to leave? Should you only reward people at the top while the average ones, the ones that really push the company forward remain anonymous? Research proves that happy a

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear ‘workplace diversity’? Surely, an image of an office with employees from different ethnicity or genders working together comes to the mind. But today, diversity at the workplace encompasses different political, social, religious beliefs, socioeconomic backgrounds, disabilities, and even sexual orientation. Companies all over the world are moving towards a more diverse and inclusive workforce, having realized that taking care of their people is more important than chasing numbers but Singapore is yet to catch up. According to a poll conducted by Kantar, Singapore is the second-worst performing nation on workplace diversity and inclusion practices out of the 14 developed countries included in the poll! A multinational company that is a purveyor of D&I practices is Accenture, which topped the Refinitiv Global Diversity & Inclusion Index. When a Fortune 500 company positions itself as the leader in the best employee pract

Social listening is one of the easier ways for brands to connect with their customers. Paying attention to social media can help in taking customer feedback and finding out the brand perception. Social listening might be an effective marketing tool but it has much more untapped potential. The rise of social media has seen employees have their own platforms to speak their mind and interact with colleagues in a much more involved way. For HR teams it might be best to change with the times and use social media to improve data-driven processes like hiring and employee engagement. According to a study from 2016, 94% of recruiters use social media for their jobs, only 39% of all employers use social media for recruiting and hiring. In a SHRM survey, 68 percent of HR professionals polled reported that their companies were using social media to engage employees. These numbers suggest the all-pervasive influence of social media and the scope for growth in its use for any organisation. Here are

The pandemic we’re in has changed the course of life. Some of us are still getting used to it, while some others have embraced this transition. If there’s one common thing that has come out of this, it’s the lessons we learned in empathy and open-mindedness - especially towards the current home-office scenario. For empathy to seep in, understanding employee state of mind is imperative, and doing that sans face to face interactions can be a challenge. Today, employees are thinking about their future more than ever - workplace, job roles, growth and the overall logistics of it. So how does an organization recognize what’s in their employees’ minds - particularly during what has been called the ‘crisis of a generation’? With a frequent employee pulse check.   What is Employee Pulse? In simple terms, employee pulse aims to understand what employees are feeling at the moment and this process relies on getting quick insights with the help of undemanding surveys. Just like regular health chec