Category Archives: Experiences

How to Manage your Former Peers After a Promotion?

  By hmteam • August 5, 2016 , ,

Being promoted to a new leadership role is a definitely a good reason to celebrate. But it is also a transition that requires adapting to a new behaviour along with other changes, especially with your former peers. It is possible that a former peer may resent you for getting the promotion that he or she wanted so badly. It is also likely that these colleagues will feel some amount of frustration and animosity as they report to you. So how do you deal with the situation without stressing yourself out? Here are some tips. • Monitor your behaviour: It’s never too early to establish credibility with your colleagues at every corporate level, including your immediate peers. That will save you lots of trouble later on because people will know what to expect from you in terms of planning, decision-making, and communication. So rather than attempting a rapid change, focus on building a character of integrity and authenticity as soon as possible. Be consistent with your work ethics and management style. For instance, don’t believe that your ex-peers will ever forget a habit of long coffee breaks or nasty gossip sessions. • Establish authority carefully: While you certainly need to specify your new role to the peers who will now be reporting to you, be careful about how you convey the information. Your tone of voice, facial expression, and body language shouldn’t portray the ‘I’m cooler than you now’ attitude. Just let them know that things have changed and that they will now be reporting to you. If it is possible, ask your company corporate communications team or a relevant senior to make an official announcement on your behalf. That could make things smoother. • Redefine relationships with friends: Some people you work with may have become close friends whom you like to spend time with outside office hours too. To handle the delicate situation, have a one-on-one chat with him or her. Be honest about how the relationship will be changing. Talk about your new responsibilities, but let the friend share his or her thoughts on it too. For example, you could ask them what kind of changes they foresee in the way they work now. Make it clear that you are there to provide support and loyalty and hope for reciprocation. Most importantly, mention that you don’t believe in giving friends special treatment at work. • Learn to detach from the old: Earlier, your daily life in the office must have been different. Other people, having regular conversations of a particular nature, and more personal with these peers, surrounded you. In fact, you may have even spoken negatively about your boss whom you will work with more closely after the promotion. Don’t be rude. Don’t ignore them. Be there for them when they need you, in case of family emergencies or illness or the like, but keep it to important things and waste less time on small talk. It’ll be hard but necessary to help you fit into your new role. • Get to know your new peers: It’s time to get better acquainted with your new peer group. Go for a lunch or coffee. Ask intelligent, pertinent questions about the department and projects. If something is completely new to you, like end of year performance reviews, ask about those. Still, keep the tone casual and include light personal conversation too such as favourite sports or hobbies. Fortunately, top business schools recognise the need to highlight these leadership role changes in their curriculum. The Nanyang Fellows MBA offers a course on Transformative Leadership that teaches you to deal with obstacles in leadership roles such as this. Check out the full list of courses here: http://www.nanyangfellows.com/about-nanyang-fellows/programme-structure/ So look at the big picture and enjoy the transition – it’s a learning process!

Being promoted to a new leadership role is a definitely a good reason to celebrate. But it is also a transition that requires adapting to a new behaviour along with other changes, especially with your former peers. It is possible that a former peer may resent you for getting the promotion that he or she wanted so badly. It is also likely that these colleagues will feel some amount of frustration and animosity as they report to you. So how do you deal with the situation without stressing yourself out?

Here are some tips.

  • Monitor your behaviour:

It’s never too early to establish credibility with your colleagues at every corporate level, including your immediate peers. That will save you lots of trouble later on because people will know what to expect from you in terms of planning, decision-making, and communication. So rather than attempting a rapid change, focus on building a character of integrity and authenticity as soon as possible. Be consistent with your work ethics and management style. For instance, don’t believe that your ex-peers will ever forget a habit of long coffee breaks or nasty gossip sessions.

  • Establish authority carefully:

While you certainly need to specify your new role to the peers who will now be reporting to you, be careful about how you convey the information. Your tone of voice, facial expression, and body language shouldn’t portray the ‘I’m cooler than you now’ attitude. Just let them know that things have changed and that they will now be reporting to you. If it is possible, ask your company corporate communications team or a relevant senior to make an official announcement on your behalf. That could make things smoother.

  • Redefine relationships with friends:

Some people you work with may have become close friends whom you like to spend time with outside office hours too. To handle the delicate situation, have a one-on-one chat with him or her. Be honest about how the relationship will be changing. Talk about your new responsibilities, but let the friend share his or her thoughts on it too. For example, you could ask them what kind of changes they foresee in the way they work now. Make it clear that you are there to provide support and loyalty and hope for reciprocation. Most importantly, mention that you don’t believe in giving friends special treatment at work.

  • Learn to detach from the old:

Earlier, your daily life in the office must have been different. Other people, having regular conversations of a particular nature, and more personal with these peers, surrounded you. In fact, you may have even spoken negatively about your boss whom you will work with more closely after the promotion. Don’t be rude. Don’t ignore them. Be there for them when they need you, in case of family emergencies or illness or the like, but keep it to important things and waste less time on small talk. It’ll be hard but necessary to help you fit into your new role.

  • Get to know your new peers:

It’s time to get better acquainted with your new peer group. Go for a lunch or coffee. Ask intelligent, pertinent questions about the department and projects. If something is completely new to you, like end of year performance reviews, ask about those. Still, keep the tone casual and include light personal conversation too such as favourite sports or hobbies.

Fortunately, top business schools recognise the need to highlight these leadership role changes in their curriculum. The Nanyang Fellows MBA offers a course on Transformative Leadership that teaches you to deal with obstacles in leadership roles such as this.

Check out the full list of courses here: http://www.nanyangfellows.com/about-nanyang-fellows/programme-structure/

So look at the big picture and enjoy the transition – it’s a learning process!

Investing in Your Employees

  By hmteam • May 16, 2016

Times have changed. Typical employee benefits no longer set apart organisations as they used to. Smart managers have realised that they need to invest more wisely to retain their employees. Continually interviewing and hiring and losing well-trained employees is not a sustainable process.

Here are some ways to keep your employees loyal and motivated.

  • Help Build Their Brands:

Every employee offers something unique to the company. As they work with your clients and build their credibility, they become more valuable. You can do your bit and educate them on using social media sites like LinkedIn and Twitter effectively. Guide them on increasing their web presence. Encouraging them to invest in their personal brands is as important as investing in the organisation. If customers know and respect each employee, they will develop a relationship of trust with them and hence, the company.

  • Allot Personal Time:

Time is money. So you need to devote a sufficient amount of it to your employees if you want success for your company. A big reason why employees quit their jobs is a lack of career progression. You need to ensure that they know that it won’t be a problem with you. Take them out for casual lunches where you can get to know more about how things are going at work and what could be changed to align their roles with their goals. Keep an eye out for career development opportunities for every employee that you manage. Invest in business trips and conferences that relate to their area of work so that they can pick up new contacts and the latest information. The idea is to keep a focus on the big picture while keeping every employee’s career development needs in mind.

  • Be Flexible:

Good companies recognise the need to be flexible – especially during major life events such as pregnancy or a family crisis. Being flexible with your employees builds employee trust and commitment and helps you attract and retain talent.

  • Look After Their Well-being:

An employee who is not in a good physical or mental health will not function properly at work. How about investing in a gym or reimbursing them for their gym memberships? Allow work breaks since research has shown that most humans can concentrate for periods of 20 to 90 minutes only. If you don’t like the idea of breaks, your employees will probably take them anyway by doing things like checking their personal emails or texting. It’ll be more conducive to their health to let them walk around, stretch and have a quick chat with colleagues. Some companies even invest in group initiatives such as marathons and feel-good activities like visits to a local charity in order to boost the team spirit. And stay alert on mental health issues because anxiety, depression and other illnesses can affect performance and harm people in the long run. A lot of companies invest in counselling services. Plus, if you think somebody genuinely needs a break, give it to them.

  • Support Their Educational Goals:

Once you know your employees’ goals, you can help them get there. Sponsoring or subsidising graduate school expenses or a certification programme can result in employee happiness and more skills on your team. You’ll already be investing a lot in on-site training but educational goals can be met simultaneously if you can work out a schedule. Another perk of sponsoring employee education is that they’ll remember the favour and add new value to your business.

Did you know that the Nanyang Fellows MBA programme has an entire course dedicated to talent management? Check out details here: http://www.nanyangfellows.com/about-nanyang-fellows/programme-structure/#talent_mn

So invest well. Avoid emotional and financial damage by retaining good employees. Give them the responsibility and be there for them.

Business Study Mission to Myanmar – The Last Asian Economy Frontier

  By #TOH SOU WEE# • June 3, 2014 ,

So we went to Myanmar for our Business Study Mission (BMS). Considering the other exotic places that previous cohorts visited (cue: Tokyo, Berlin, Copenhagen, etc), Myanmar does not exactly fit into the kind of exotic country that most of us had in mind. Nevertheless, we were looking forward to visit this Asian last frontier economy and see what it can offer.

Networking Dinner at Myanmar

I shall not bore you with the details of our trips. I mean you can expect the usual company visits, cultural site visits and networking lunches and dinners. And some of us ate the fried crickets over dinner as part of immersion.

But what really strikes me is the warmth and optimism of its people. Almost everyone we met believes their country has turned the corner and things will start to improve from now. There is the young banker who abandons his promising banking career in U.S. to join a Myanmar bank. There is the Singapore-born Australian who is happy that his decision more than 10 years ago to bring his business to Myanmar is starting to pay off and he has proved his early detractors wrong.

Well, after the BSM, I can certainly understand their optimism. Unlike Singapore, Myanmar today is essentially a SME-centric economy. While its economy remains highly fragmented and largely inward-looking, perhaps a consequence of the military junta’s rule previously, it is a cornucopia of exciting opportunities and inadequacies. Almost every business sector you can imagine offers growth or business potential even though the business eco-system is still lacking and resources are struggling to handle the spike in capital influx.

If I am to invest in Myanmar today, I will consider a hospitality training school. As tourism booms and more hotels are built to cater to demand, there will be a growing need for skilled labor in this area. The business can contract with hotels to provide them with the skilled labor or assist them to train their new employees. It can also run open recruitment to train students who are keen to pursue career in hospitality. I think this is a safe investment with relatively low capital and low risk. So call me if you are keen to talk more.

For me, the BSM was a success. It has achieved its objectives to enrich the fellows’ broad knowledge of global development and expose us to the cultural, social, political and business dynamics that form part of the larger regional platform. More importantly, it has inspired us to consider the vast potential in Myanmar.

Will I do it again? Yes, of course. And don’t say you hear it from me; the next batch is probably going to South America.

“Singapore Day”

  By Ang Jeng Kai • January 17, 2014

What a day it was for the class of Nanyang Fellows 2013/2014. Singapore Day was indeed a memorable and unforgettable day for most, if not all, of us. It was a break from tradition to organise an event lasting the whole day.  The day started with a visit to the Images of Singapore which showed Singapore’s transformation from a sleepy fishing village into the cosmopolitan and bustling city that it is today. Even Singaporeans got in on the act, reminiscing about the days when their grandparents used to cook with charcoal stoves.

After getting a better understanding of  Singapore’s development and progress over the years, the programme fast- forwarded our Fellows into the 21st Century with a visit to Universal Studios  Singapore at the Resorts World Sentosa. The thrilling rides such as “The Mummy” and “Transformers” kept adults and children fully entertained. Some Fellows even  got in on the act by providing their own scares for the Mummy ride, and interacting with Optimus Prime for Transformers. Our Fellows also had the opportunity to get up close but not personal with stars such as Frankenstein, and Kungfu Panda.

After a thoroughly enjoyable time in Sentosa, it was time to fill our tummies with food, food and more food. Peranakan cuisine, Satay, Laksa, Mooncakes and not forgetting tropical fruits such as XO and D13 durians and mangosteens were all part of the spread. While some steered clear of the durians, others gamely gave it a go!

S

Our South Korean classmate, Kang, even asked to bring back some more durians so that him and his wife could enjoy it back in their house! We then had Jason to explain the origins of the Mid-Autumn festival (also known as mooncake festival and lantern festival) to everyone present. His knowledge was even more extensive than our China classmate, who tried to confuse Jason with the wrong information. To protect him, the details of his spoof shall not be revealed here.

And, it was not all just activities for the adults. The kids got in on the fun as well, and they gamely posed for this superb picture. All in all, it was a truly exemplary example of all that Singapore is about: Singapore’s evolution and history, the modern Singapore, Singapore food, Singapore culture and lastly, Singaporean hospitality! Everyone really enjoyed themselves tremendously!

 

Orientation – Reliving Campus Life

  By Chiu Lee Ling • December 9, 2013

I am back in Nanyang Business School, my alma mater! I am fortunate to be given the opportunity to pursue the Nanyang Fellows MBA programme after graduating from NBS a good 16 years ago (oops, I just revealed my age!).

We started the programme with an Orientation from 3 to 12 Jul 2013. The first day was a Welcome Dinner for the Fellows at Raffles Marina. Besides meeting the Fellows for the first time and getting to know each other better, we also had alumni sharing their MBA experiences with us. Our group is small but diverse. We have Fellows from Singapore, India, China and Korea each coming from different background and experience. We had a good dinner and more importantly, a good start to our one-year long learning journey together.

The next two days of the Orientation were packed with very useful briefings by the Library and IT personnel and a familiarisation tour of the campus. We visited the Chinese Heritage Centre in NTU which was founded in 1995 to advance knowledge and understanding of the ethnic Chinese communities in different parts of the world. Mr Yap, our guide, brought us through a very informative tour of the Centre. We then had an amazing race around the campus. Gosh, NTU has expanded and changed so much over the years that is beyond my recognition. I could hardly remember the places I used to eat, live, play and study in and took great efforts to get from one place to another. Sadly, being an alumni didn’t give me any edge in the race but I had great fun rediscovering my campus.

The next day, we extended our amazing race outside of the campus to discover the culture of Singapore. We visited Kampong Glam, an ethnic district with a strong Malay-Arab influence, Little India in Serangoon Road and Chinatown. Indeed, not only did our International Fellows gained a better appreciation of the culture of Singapore, I personally learnt more about my own country. I didn’t know that Little India Arcade used to be a buffalo slaughtering house in the past!

We ended the day with a Singapore River cruise to truly admire the beautifully restored warehouses turned chic quayside dining and the modern development of Singapore represented by the skyscrapers of the Central Business District and Marina Bay area.

Orientation can’t just be amazing races right? We also had pre courses on Accounting and Finance to prepare us for the MBA programme proper and two days Teambuilding at Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) in Pulau Ubin. The teambuilding activities in OBS challenged us to work as a team to overcome team challenges and push individuals’ limit and resiliency. It was amazing looking at how a newly formed group of people could put our acts together to get our missions accomplished one after another. The trust, confidence and patience we have for each other will serve us a long way back in the programme. Indeed the Team has emerged stronger both mentally and physically and we truly enjoyed the Orientation period. We are ready for the real work!

Business Study Mission – Shanghai

  By Hedren Sum • September 11, 2013

Shanghai is the largest city by population in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the largest city proper by population in the world.

A beautiful city. The happening city.

China is the factory producing for the world and Shanghai can be called the gateway to Modern China. The Chinese do everything on a huge scale. Entering Shanghai on the majestic bridges spanning the Yangtze and Huangpu Rivers gives one a breathtaking view of the city.

Our two weeks in Shanghai were a lesson in the culture, ethos, and business acumen that is the Chinese.

The expertly structured schedule gave the Nanyang Fellows Cohort a close look at the opportunities that is CHINA.

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The US Segment

  By Hedren Sum • July 29, 2013

The US segment is an integral component of our programme.

Association with premier business schools, such as Wharton Business School and MIT Sloan, makes our programme unique, unlike any other graduate programme.

The excitement on everyone’s mind about attending best of the best was immeasurable and energy infectious. It was amazing to see all 21 of us and EMBA participants come together, taking different flights, turn up in the lobby of Steinberg Conference Center well before time on March 18, 2013. Surely, we guys love punctuality! Well, a sign of a responsible leader! We all looked forward to learning from the best of minds in the business world. Someone rightly said “Wharton is the box-office of business world”! Each day was a new experience and not just academically learning about Venture Capitalists, Private Equity, Granularity, M&A etc. but holistically.

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