Singapore Connection

10 November 2019

October saw our very own Jane Darlington travel to Singapore to attend the APAC Global Employer Services Conference, which this year carried the overarching theme “Connected!” Three intense days of plenaries, interactive workshops and breakout sessions followed, focusing on ways to make an impact with your company, mobile employees, peers, community and, most importantly, your own well-being and personal development.

Jane was there principally to deliver a plenary herself, which focused on the increasing importance of a positive communications experience for employees around the world. Referencing some of our recent successes, she highlighted our campaign to promote the launch of Weir’s global share award.

Her talk was very well received with an overwhelming number of social media posts featuring images from her slide deck (!) as well as lots of positive feedback from those in attendance. Our mantra about treating employees as consumers rang true for many, as they realised the seemingly simple, but often overlooked, fact that employees are what makes our businesses work. To undervalue them and treat them with less respect than you would your consumers would be short-sighted in the extreme.

Of course plenty of other sessions inspired interest and debate as well. A fascinating session ‘Human Capital Trends and the Workforce of the Future’, saw colleagues from Deloitte Consulting and Tax alongside client Mastercard talk about the way organisations are having to reinvent themselves with a human focus. They went through the seven disruptors in the future workplace:

  • Technology is everywhere
  • AI, cognitive computing, robotics
  • Tsunami of data
  • Jobs vulnerable to automation
  • Diversity and generational change
  • Explosion in contingent work
  • Change in nature of a career

and considered how best to restructure organisations and ways of working to address these challenges.

A recurring theme in many sessions were trends in mobility and where and how we can address future challenges. As organisations increasingly rely on business travel to stay connected, authorities around the world are focusing their attention on business travellers. The need to ensure mobile employees are compliant with all aspects of tax, immigration, social security and payroll while they are away from their home country has never been so critical. Discussion naturally turned to the best way to build a pathway to compliance and success, and of course designing effective and engaging communications will be vital to attaining this goal – something we at Stitch are working on at this very moment!

Of course there was a little bit of time to explore this amazing city and some of what it has to offer, not least the Botanic Gardens. Listed as a World Heritage Site, this tropical garden is 160 years old and boasts a display of more than 60,000 orchids across its landscaped slopes.

The conference highlight event took place at Floor 57 of the Skybar Celavia in Marina Bay. It was a great opportunity for everyone to come together in an informal setting, hang out with new friends and enjoy some amazing food and spectacular views across the city.

All in all, a pretty fantastic, informative and thought provoking trip. Yet another chance to make some great new friends and get connected with more of our Deloitte colleagues from around the world. And most importantly another brilliant opportunity to let people know all about Stitch and the work we do. Were you there too? Do get in touch and say hello if you were – we’d love to hear from you!

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Find out how we can stitch your story, connect you with your people and deliver real impact for your business.
Let's talk! Drop Jane, Charlotte or Harriet a line.

Jane Darlington

Stitch Lead

Charlotte Cooper

Communications Director

Harriet Shewring

Business Development Executive