Shaping SGInnovate’s people-first culture

“Being a part of the HR (Human Resource) team places me in a privileged role to shape policies, processes and practices that positively impact our employees while contributing to the goals of the organisation,” shared Carrie Lim, Senior Manager of HR at SGInnovate.

Her role sees her partnering with various team leads to recruit, interview and hire to increase diversity or bring new skill sets to SGInnovate. This is on top of building a culture of continuous learning for SGInnovate through our training and development programmes.

For instance, one of the things that employees at SGInnovate can look forward to is a job rotation programme which enables them to move laterally within the organisation to another team. This fosters excitement and discovery, facilitates professional development and helps employees to identify their strengths and skills.

“It also helps to enhance our employees’ competency,” explained Carrie.

Open virtual courses are also available for the staff so they can broaden or develop their expertise at their own pace and time.

The idea is to spur people to constantly improve their capabilities to remain relevant and employable, Carrie explained. Hence, she is always on the lookout for ways to encourage staff to enhance their growth potential and that the goals of SGInnovate and the individuals are compatible and aligned.

“I genuinely care about the well-being and development of the people in my workplace,” she shared.

Tell us more about your proudest achievement so far at SGInnovate?

One of the things I do for the Learning and Development portfolio is to identify relevant and useful courses for our staff. We are committed to our staff and believe in their work so this is critical as it helps them to perform better, bridge gaps in the teams, and reinforce an engaging culture of learning at SGInnovate.

When I get feedback that the course or training meets the objectives and was beneficial in our staff’s work or career development, it is truly satisfying.

What are some of the challenges that the Human Resource team commonly face at SGInnovate?

We constantly strive to identify, develop, and retain talent in more efficient and effective ways. With the impacts from the pandemic, the mental wellbeing and health of our staff have been our priority.

We have hosted webinars with experts over the past year to spark awareness and education on health and mental wellness. We also promote positive mental wellbeing at SGInnovate by encouraging our staff to reach out for help if they are experiencing emotional challenges.

This is on top of answering questions about what Deep Tech is about to job applicants.

Describe SGInnovate’s culture in three words.

Innovative, Nimble, Respectful.

What is the best professional advice you have ever received?

“Let go of perfection.”

This advice was given to me by my manager in my previous role. It allows me to focus on the positives, set more reasonable goals, and be kinder to myself.

What do you like to do when you are not working?

When I am not busy chasing after my two-year-old toddler, I like to take quick walks in the morning at the parks near my home. Right now, I am trying to find time to take up aerial yoga again.