Daily Lessons from Life 19 August 2014 - PM Lee's call for culture shift lauded by employers, unions

CHC Trial Updates - It will be interesting to see how long can the trial last given that Mr Chew is spilling more beans on Mr Kong or Pastor Kong as he wants to be known? It is a nightmare unfolding in public. Exactly the scenario all truth seekers want. In the court of laws you are under oath and cannot lie.

"PM Lee's call for culture shift lauded by employers, unions - The Business Times Aug 19, 2014

SINGAPORE - Employers and unions applauded the Prime Minister's call to look beyond paper qualifications, but said stakeholders must find ways to offer diverse paths to success.

Singapore needs a culture shift that allows workers to advance regardless of whether they hold a university degree, PM Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday in his National Day Rally speech.

A committee that comprises government, employer and union representatives will be created to help Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and polytechnic graduates with job placement and career advancement.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam will chair the body, which will implement recommendations by the Applied Study in Poytechnics and ITE Review (Aspire) group set up in 2013 and led by Senior Minister of State for Education Indranee Rajah. Employers and employees welcomed the message.

Speaking at the sidelines of the launch of the Young Engineers Leadership Programme on Monday, union chief Lim Swee Say said Labour is fully behind PM Lee's message. Speaking in Mandarin, he said it is critical to create diverse paths to success. Workers who prefer to go back to school should have that opportunity, but companies should also offer in-house improvement programmes for those who are more inclined towards on- the-job learning."

Maybe it is just ME that think it is incredulous that we need the PM to say that 'non-graduates can advance in their careers in Singapore'. Or there are many more who shared the shock of learning this?

Lessons for me are:

1. when hiring, graduates will have an advantage over non-graduates while graduates from the so-called 'good' universities will have an advantage over those from the 'not so famous' universities. This is just how things work unless there are special direct contacts between the applicants and the companies. Why? When you have a job for a newbie, it is easier to sort through the resumes by separating between graduates and non-graduates, then by 'famous' universities' graduates from the 'not so famous universities graduates'. It is just expedient and efficient!;

2. so, which universities you graduated from for the 1st job DO matter. HOWEVER, once the applicants become employees, the paper qualifications NO LONGER matter. Job performance matters! How well the employees are applying their learning from the schools, how fast they learn about new situations, new knowledge and skills, how to use new tools, identify and solve problems working and leveraging on the power and wisdom of team, etc, etc Mattered! SHOULD this NOT be the ONLY MEASURE to promote people on the jobs?

Do the HR practitioners and the EMPLOYERS need the PM to tell them this is the way to go? I simply find this laughable. Seriously. A bit SAD!!

YES, I know a certain number of people in the hiring and promoting positions in Singapore's private, and especially the public sector, HOLD such view dearly. In fact, the government sector is the WORST culprits! YES?

3. anyway, given that the state of affairs is very sad and that certain number of people in position of power to hire, fire and promote held such 'if you are not a graduate or above, you are not going to have a good career', I guess it is NO HARM for the PM to be pushing this mind-set change!

However, if the HR practitioners are any good, this 'change or shift of culture' would not be necessary.

It pains me to see that we need a PM to push this agenda item.

In a case of many new and inexperienced applicants for very few jobs, the fastest way to help sort out the better candidates from the 'probably not so good' ones are through the paper qualification. After that ONLY on the job performance counts really. Simple rule.