Advertisement

Year in Review: Best places to work in Singapore in 2021

(PHOTO: Great Place to Work® Institute)
(PHOTO: Great Place to Work® Institute)

SINGAPORE — As companies continued to face challenges brought on by pandemic-related disruptions — such as operating under a hybrid arrangement of work-from-home and in-office — there were many that rose to the challenge and proved that despite these setbacks, they could still provide a positive and supportive work environment for their employees.

The rise in the number of winners on this year’s "Great Place to Work: Singapore’s Best Workplaces" list showed that more companies are recognising the value and importance of building a high trust culture and creating positive workplaces for employees. This year, 15 companies made it to the medium and large category from last year’s 10, while the small company category increased to 15 from three. They were chosen based on surveys distributed to 37,000 employees across various industries in Singapore.

Companies with more than 100 employees are categorised into the medium and large category and here are the top five companies.

DHL Express (Singapore) Pte Ltd

DHL Express retained its top position this year in the top 15 medium and large category. The company continued to provide a desirable, safe and purposeful environment for its employees resulting in 98 per cent of employees saying that DHL is a great place to work. This year, the company stayed close to its core belief of leading with head, heart and guts, and invested heavily in developing growth of its leaders. The company also launched its “Fit for Work, Fit for Life” health and well-being programme to benefit employees in and out of work. The programme focused on four key areas: physical, emotional, mental, and personal energy.

Cisco

Cisco is another company that retained its position as second on the list with 96 per cent of its Singapore employees saying that it is a great place to work. This year, the company focused its efforts on its employee well-being by implementing a global 5-month well-being journey. In Singapore, the inaugural well-being month was held in June 2021 and featured a variety of virtual activities, mindfulness sessions with personalised 1:1 consultation, and connect sessions for employees to chat with one another. It also launched “Managing Mental Health during COVID-19” training to ensure that its leaders are well equipped to support employees’ mental and emotional health challenges.

Salesforce

Salesforce has been a mainstay in the list since 2015 and retained its third position this year. This values-driven company had 96 per cent of its employees saying that they feel good about the ways the company contributes to the community. This year, Salesforce launched its “Go Give One” fundraising campaign in June to support COVAX AMC’s goal of providing vaccines to vulnerable populations in different countries. Saleforce employee needs were also valued and addressed when the company integrated employee feedback when planning its office reopening strategy — the company redesigned its physical workspaces to accommodate a more hybrid work style suitable for the current post-pandemic environment.

Adobe Singapore

A new entrant to the list is Adobe Singapore which held the “Kampong Spirit” close to its core. The company’s efforts in ensuring equality amongst its employees can be seen when it achieved its gender pay parity goal while it works towards its new goal of achieving opportunity parity across its demographic groups. A total of 97 per cent of employees in Adobe Singapore cited that they are encouraged to balance their work life and their personal life. The company was also active in supporting Singapore’s efforts to upskill its workforce to prepare for the digital marketplace by partnering with government agencies and customer organisations.

Red Hat

IT company Red Hat is also new to the list with 96 per cent of its employees saying they are proud to tell others they work there. The company’s initiatives to make it a great place to work included creating and continuously improving its diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy — one of the company’s core drivers. The company did this by equipping its managers and talent acquisition specialists with specialised training on unconscious bias to help identify and eliminate bias in its operations and procedures (such as in the recruitment process). Red Hat also sent its people managers on a 9-month learning experience to develop the skills and knowledge they would need to lead inclusively.

This year's top 15 Singapore Best Workplaces (medium and large category, 100 employees or more):

1. DHL Express (Singapore)

2. Cisco

3. Salesforce

4. Adobe Singapore

5. Red Hat

6. Micron Technology

7. Boston Scientific

8. Medtronic

9. Thoughtworks

10. Ingram Micro Asia

11. foodpanda

12. HP Inc

13. Abbvie Singapore

14. Microsoft Singapore

15. TDCX (SG)

This year's top 15 Singapore's Best Workplaces (small category, 10 to 99 employees):

1. Signify Singapore

2. TC Acoustic

3. Cadence

4. SIX

5. World Wide Technology

6. Insight Technology Solutions

7. Collective Good /Boxgreen

8. BitTitan SG

9. Liftoff Mobile

10. Openspace

11. Servier Singapore

12. RICE Communications

13. Teleperformance

14. Crowdstrike Singapore

15. Endowus

More finance news: