DPM Heng Swee Keat at the Singapore Best Workplaces Awards 2023

Mr Roland Wee, Board Chairperson, Great Place to Work ASEAN and ANZ,
Mrs Joni Ong and Ms Evelyn Kwek, Managing Directors, Great Place to Work ASEAN and ANZ,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening. It is a pleasure to join you once again for this year’s Best Workplaces awards.

Just a year ago, Singapore and the world were just emerging from the thick of the COVID pandemic.

As we returned to normalcy, we are also navigating new workplace norms and expectations.

For example – remote and flexible work arrangements were a necessity during COVID, but many employees wanted these to continue as a new norm. 

The stresses brought about by the pandemic has also grown collective awareness and action on mental wellness and well-being, including in many workplaces. 

So a year on, as the global economy seeks to recover and rebound, many organisations are also settling into this “new normal”, where flexible work and well-being initiatives have become much more widespread, and often cited as indications of caring and progressive workplaces.

While we have moved beyond the pandemic, the past year has showed us that the world has in fact become even more volatile and uncertain. 

Geopolitical tensions have risen have risen in many parts of the world – between the US and China, in Europe with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and now in the Middle East.

This has really exacerbated the lingering effects of the pandemic, supply chains have been disrupted, global inflation has rising and led to rising interest rates. 

While there are multiple factors contributing to the current state of affairs, one underlying cause for our current circumstances is a destabilising cycle of distrust.

Global strategic competition has precipitated distrust between countries, especially among the great powers. This has had a cascading negative effect on the global economy, with new lines drawn, and new walls erected. I was just at another event and the speaker said that he is very concerned that a global war might break out.

It reverses the decades of globalisation which has uplifted lives and livelihoods of many around the world. Today’s “slow-balisation” has created inefficiencies and higher costs.

Domestically, within many countries, there is a decline in trust among citizens of their institutions and leaders.

The 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer survey found that the global average trust in government, business, NGOs and media was 55 percent, down from 57 percent a year ago.

Notably, of the 26 countries surveyed, 14 showed a decline in trust in government in particular.

Faced with a lack of trust domestically, leaders may feel the pressure to take more maximalist positions in dealing with one another, further fuelling the cycle of distrust globally.

Amid this churn and dip in trust globally, it is appropriate that this year’s Best Workplaces Awards focuses on trust, and the role of leaders in building and preserving it.

In Singapore, trust is a valuable commodity. The Singapore Story is built on a bedrock of trust, both internal and external.

This year we mark the 100th birth anniversary of our founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Mr Lee was always very focused on building and preserving trust as the foundation of Singapore’s governance and global reputation. 

Externally, it is about being an honest and constructive player on the global stage and being reliable and dependable when working with businesses and partners. 

This is the only way a small country like Singapore could sustain relevance within the international system – by building connections and creating value. 

I remember being on a trip with Mr Lee more than 20 years ago which was during the Asian Financial Crisis and he was invited to speak to leaders from neighbouring countries who were quite badly affected by the crisis. They wanted to know how to get out of the crisis just as they were beginning to attract global investments. 

Mr Lee used an analogy, he said, you must build, whatever you promise, you deliver. Global investors are like birds circling in the sky, deciding on where to land. If the first bird that lands gets trapped, all the other birds will not come down and you will not be able to attract investments because the truest would be broken. Unfortunately, you still see this from time to time. 

Singapore as a small country has still been able to attract lots of investments, including in many new and high-tech areas because we have built trust and confidence in Singapore, whatever that we have said, we will deliver. 

Domestically, it is about building a social compact where citizens share in and trust the government’s plans and programmes to create broad prosperity and uplift Singaporeans and people living in Singapore.

It is also about sustaining trust and harmony within a multiracial and multi-religious population. Pew Research in America ranks Singapore as the most religiously diverse society on earth. And for us to maintain that is not easy but we have been able to do that. That is really because of the trust that the different religions and races have in one another. 

This foundation was tested and strengthened during COVID and has served Singapore well amid today’s global deficit of trust. 

Singapore’s stance of keeping our ports and airport open to facilitate the global flow of goods and cargo, including vaccines, gave assurance that we were reliable and trusted. 

Our open yet robust policies and regulations attracted new trade and financial flows, as investors sought to navigate barriers and uncertainties elsewhere in the world. 

IMD Business School’s 2023 World Competitiveness rankings placed Singapore number 4 globally, and the highest in Asia.

The Edelman survey I cited earlier showed that Singapore bucked the trend in two areas. 

First, the government remained the most trusted institution in Singapore unlike other countries where business leaders or non-governmental organisations (NGOs) commanded more trust. 

Second, whereas there was growing polarisation across the world, Singapore respondents did not feel that Singapore was more divided than in the past. In short, trust amongst our people remains very high. 

These are positive trends, and support Evelyn’s point earlier, that trust is real, tangible and more critical than ever today.

This is true for countries, governments, organisations, and people.

For the workplace in particular, trust is both the currency and the cutting edge. Trust raises employee engagement, which in turn fuels organisational success, and attracts talent. 

So how can leaders build trust, and build engaged, high-performing organisations? Allow me to suggest two ways.

First, leaders must always steward their organisations’ long-term interests.

When running profit-oriented organisations, leaders are often pressured to focus on immediate performance and wins. But the real legacy of corporate leadership lies in preparing and positioning your organisations for the long-term.

Key to this is being forward-looking and anticipating changes, rather than waiting for change to be imposed upon sectors and organisations. 

This is why we have, at the national level, developed and refreshed Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) across 23 industries to ensure that we stay ahead of the curve. 

Besides the geopolitical uncertainties that I mentioned earlier, two other issues that leaders everywhere need to prepare their organisations for, is technology transformation and climate change. 

Technology cycles are shortening and creating constant disruption. It will reshape economies, jobs, and organisations. 

Generative AI, for example, is a general-purpose technology that will transform the way we work and live. 

Similarly, sustainability issues are gaining momentum, and many organisations are making adjustments to the way they run their businesses to meet sustainability goals and targets. 

As business leaders, you will need to position your organisations and workforces well to adapt to new realities and seize new opportunities. 

This is not easy, because you have to manage the tension between short-term preoccupations and long-term transformation. 

But if we do not keep our eye to the future, we are doing a disservice to our employees and organisations, and this in turn, will diminish trust. 

Reshaping jobs, reskilling workers, re-imagining the workplace are difficult but necessary endeavours to ensure organisations and employees remain relevant and competitive.

Now more than ever, we need leaders who will bravely look ahead and ensure the long-term survival and well-being of their organisations and employees.

Let me share a story about my trip to Germany, I met a chairman of one of their SMEs who is a 16th-generation business owner. He explained that the company was started by two brothers who were engineers, and they created a set of rules. The first rule is that the company must remain an engineering company that will keep innovating as engineering is essential to all aspects of the economy. But that they will keep investing in research and innovation to always do better. Second, no family member can become CEO because they had seen other family businesses lose focus when they allowed a family member to run the business. Third, no member of the family can sell their shares to external parties, they can only sell it to other family members for it to remain a family business. Fourth, the family votes amongst themselves to elect a Chairman who has a fiduciary duty. They have a revenue of several hundred billions. 

This shows the importance of good governance and trust in a company to achieve excellence by being open staying focused. 

It is important to think long-term. I have spoken to many listed companies that have said that they cannot invest in research or people because I have a bottom-line that I need to show. It is an interesting lesson on how we need to think long-term. 

But as I mentioned, the work of preparing for the future is a difficult one. This brings me to my second point, which is that leaders must demonstrate honesty and empathy as you steward your organisations and steer your employees towards longer term goals.

Stewarding transformation and managing change is a huge responsibility.

We need to reskill our workers and help them keep pace in this age of AI and automation, where jobs are being reshaped, and some may even disappear. Every job and task will be reshaped and thinking about how we can make the best use of automation, AI to do our jobs and tasks better will be key to our transformation.  

This task has grown more challenging not just because of the accelerated pace of change, but also because employees are more demanding of their leaders. 

Talent is fluid and global these days. They seek organisations that align with their priorities and values, and leaders who can inspire and support their growth. 

This is why honesty and empathy are such critical elements of leadership today.

It is not just about doing the right thing, but communicating it effectively, in a way that rallies, motivates, and inspires action. 

Employees are not inherently resistant to change, but they must feel heard and supported during the process and believe that their leaders and organisations have their well-being at heart. 

Let me give you an example. In Singapore, many companies leverage our position as a Global-Asia node and set up their regional headquarters here.

This creates exciting career opportunities for Singaporeans, but it also means that the bar for leadership is higher, because one is expected to manage across different cultures and contexts. 

So one thing that we need do is to encourage our employees to do, is to gain that regional experience, so that they can access more developmental pathways and opportunities.

I was very heartened that a group of business leaders came forward to form an Alliance for Action on Business Leadership Development. 

Key amongst its recommendations, is urging employees to take up overseas postings to gain professional exposure in different regional markets, and position themselves for regional and even global leadership roles.

In fact, one of the interesting booths which I just visited is the Singapore Global Business Leader Network and it is a special programme in partnership with the HCLI. They are also looking cross country, to setup this special programme to bring people around the world to solve common challenges. In this age of globalisation, we should bring Asian and global leaders together. This will be very valuable because you bring different perspectives and backgrounds together, to build the best team. 

I am very glad that all these programmes have started and I hope that our companies can also think hard about how we can develop leaders and innovators across all parts of our organisations. 

The key to that is building a culture of trust so that you can anchor talented individuals to our organisations. Where they can find purpose, that this is a great place to work, because it is a meaningful place.

I am therefore glad that we are gathering today to commend and celebrate the best workplaces in Singapore. 

There are companies big and small; there are repeat winners, as well as first time recipients. 

Regardless of size, scale or domain, the leadership in these organisations has demonstrated the value of responsible stewardship for the long-term, with honesty and empathy.

It is proof that building trusted, engaged workplaces is within reach for any organisation. 

As Evelyn mentioned, it is not through grand gestures but everyday actions and behaviours. 

Besides steering organisations, leaders play an important role in setting the tone and shaping the cultures of the organisations.

I am thus glad to see that there will be a new “Leadership in Action” award to recognise leadership teams who have been “architects of trust”.

I understand that this is a surprise category, but now that we know of this new category, I hope it will encourage leaders everywhere to model the right behaviours and norms!

Let me conclude by warmly congratulating all the award winners for this year. 

Good workplaces do not happen overnight. The awards you are receiving is testament to the consistent investments and effort you have put in to build trust with your employees and empower them to achieve their potential. 

I hope that you can serve as role models and inspire the next generation of corporate leaders in Singapore to steward and enhance this legacy of trust. 

Let us build this together, with a great sense of responsibility to develop the people under your care, and contribute to a better society and world.

Thank you and have a wonderful evening and weekend.