ED 49: May-June 2013

Working for a
big company is
radically different
from being in a
smaller one on
so many different fronts: human
resource (HR) processes, financial
procedures and operational
workflows are all distinctly stratified
into self-contained departments in
the larger companies, while small
and medium enterprise (SME)
owners usually find themselves
handling the business from top to
bottom. Professionals, managers
and executives (PMEs) from big
companies usually find it difficult
to fit into an SME working culture,
an issue that needs to be critically
addressed given that 99 per cent of
all enterprises in Singapore qualify
as SMEs and these companies hire
60 per cent of the workforce.
The Max Talent Programme
launched April last year seeks to
help provide some discourse to this
situation. Adopting a two-pronged
approach, Max Talent helps to
job-match suitable PMEs with
local SMEs while simultaneously
providing training for those
PMEs to better integrate into the
SME culture. If the placement is
successful by at the end of the
designated timeframe, the SME
will receive a one-off $5000 cash
grant.
A key component of the Max
Talent programme is the Talent
Workshop: a three-day short
course that enables PMEs to learn
more about the working cultur in
SMEs and also to acquire skills
that will help them in the course
of their future work. The topics
covered during the practice-based
workshop include leadership skills,
management procedures and
the ability to multi-task, a crucial
aptitude needed in most small
companies.
One main trend that pervades
across all the Talent Workshops
conducted is the fact that many
of the PMEs are working in SMEs
for the first time in their career
developments. Some of these
PMEs are young, recent-graduates,
while others are pushing into
their fifties and have enjoyed lofty
positions in large companies or
government agencies. So why the
dive from the open ocean and into
a tiny pond?
It all boils down to the matter of
whether you want to be a big fish
in a small pond or a small fish in
the large ocean. Mr John Low,
currently the General Manager
for Business Development at
ServiceWorks Pte Ltd used
to be the Director of Industry
Development with the National
Association of Travel Agents
Singapore (NATAS) for 12 years.
Speaking at the sidelines of the
Talent Workshop conducted from
23 to 25 April 2013, Mr Low shared
that with his current company,
he is able to do more than what
he has done previously: “I’m not
confined to just the travel sector,
I also work with people from the
hospitality industry, spa & wellness,
the F&B and also retail sectors.”
He also said that the job scope in
an SME is more all-encompassing,
as compared to larger outfit with a
more focused job scope.
“Working in a smaller company is
challenging but enriching,” Mr Low
added, “It allows me to widen my
horizons.”
Echoing his sentiments was
fellow classmate Ms Suneetha
Prabhakaran. Hailing from an
advertising background with
some of the biggest boys in the
business including Oglivy & Mather,
Ms Prabhakaran spent 15 years
in MNC working environments
and therefore had close to no
experience in a SME setting.
Business functions were individually
classed, and she did not need to
know how each operated and if
they complemented one another. It
was during her stint in a small set-
Ma r k E t in t E l l i gE n C E
up that she had a hand in doing all
the seemingly trivial matters that
went into a company’s day-today
operations. In a nutshell, Ms
Prabhakaran got a shock when she
entered the SME working culture,
since things were done remarkably
different as compared to the
structured order characteristic of
MNCs.
“Smaller companies did everything,
while the big ones had individual
departments that took care of
specific functions,” she quipped.
Sent to the Talent Workshop by her
new company Deliciae Hospitality
Management, Ms Prabhakaran
was now able to relate to the
topics discussed and even identify
gaps in business functions.
The Workshop helped her to
understand the rationale behind
various management functions
and tools, giving her clarity and
also helping her to formulate
improvement strategies that she
could take back to her company
and upgrade its processes.
With newfound insight, an
upgraded mindset as well as
practicable knowledge directly
applicable to their job stints with
SMEs, participants of the Max
Talent programme can look forward
to gainful and satisfying careers
with their employers. For one, Mr
Steven Koh from Aquabella Water
International is heartened that the
programme is only for Singaporean
PMEs especially at a time when
the majority of workers made
redundant are PMEs. E
For more information on the Max Talent Programme, please visit www.maxtalent.org.sg.
May | Ju n 2013
En t r E p r E n E u r s’ Di g E s t
47