Our biggest asset is our people. And a top priority here at EDB is bringing our people to their full potential. From day one, we will work with you to chart out a career path that is optimal both for you and the company. You will find yourself immersed in collaborative networks aimed at enhancing professional and personal development on the job.
You will have access not just to a strong and tested set of tools and skills, but will find at your disposal numerous structured training and learning avenues to continuously upgrade your qualifications.
Informal coaching and support is also an integral part of our work culture. This can take the form of mentoring from senior staff or networking with peers. In addition, there is plenty of scope to broaden career paths beyond Singapore through postings to our many overseas offices. You are also actively encouraged to gain valuable and varied experience across different divisions and roles through job rotation opportunities as well as through postings to related government entities.
Here’s how we at EDB invest in your development.
We develop leaders
At EDB, our goal is to attract exceptional people and nurture them into impactful leaders who Dream, Design and Deliver. Embedded within this is our holistic Leadership Development Framework, where we provide a host of enriching and exciting opportunities for growth and advancement, grooming our officers to be leaders at every stage. During the course of their career, officers typically progress through the following leadership stages:
Emerging Leader: This is the entry or foundation level where officers gain self-mastery and become competent individual contributors and peer leaders.
Practising Leader: This is the middle management level where officers become domain experts. They possess both depth and wider cross-divisional perspectives, and manage a team or a division.
Teaching Leader: This is the senior management level where officers are leaders with Whole-of-Government (WOG) perspectives. They mentor and inspire others, synergize across EDB and other agencies, and champion WOG initiatives.
We encourage outstanding staff to head up overseas operations
At EDB, we don’t just generate leaders who thrive on their home ground. We allow strong and motivated performers the opportunity to lead teams and chart new territory in foreign markets, offering them scope to enhance both their professional and personal horizons. A posting will usually be offered after a two-to-three year stint in one of our Industry Development divisions in EDB. Postings are typically around three years. You will be given foreign language training if posted to a non-English speaking country (e.g. Japan, France, Germany, etc) as well as concerted relocation support.
EDB has 19 overseas centres, stretching from developed economies such as the US and Europe to emerging economies such as India and China. If you take up an overseas posting, you will be at the front-line of our business and at the centre of some of the fastest-growing regions in the world.
An overseas stint is also a prime opportunity to interact with and gain insights from senior decision makers. As the ambassador for EDB and Singapore, you will lead the centre, working independently and often directly with EDB directors. You will also get to work closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies in that country. On your return, you will likely be placed in a managerial role and lead a team.
Job rotation
To help you grow in your career, we encourage you to explore different functional areas. These are broadly defined by four job families - Relationship Management, Business Development, Policy Development and Organisational Development. Each of these job families offers exposure to different operating contexts which strengthens an officer’s acumen in EDB’s core business. Rotating across these areas will enable you to broaden your perspectives and deepen your foundation knowledge.
As part of our rotation framework, officers are able to move to another division after spending two years in their present division. Officers may source available vacancies on the internal job portal and initiate discussions on a rotation.
On top of this, officers have the opportunity to be seconded to other agencies within the public sector, or to private sector companies to augment their on-the-ground experience.
With the open rotation culture and vibrant internal job market, officers are able to enjoy the autonomy of customizing their careers according to their aspirations.
We encourage officers to upgrade themselves through sponsorship opportunities
A distinguishing feature of EDB is that we are strongly committed to the long-term professional development of our people. Sponsorship packages are available to outstanding officers who wish to acquire further qualifications and skills. These officers would have the opportunity to pursue a MBA or other General Management Programmes (both locally and overseas) for which tuition fees and allowances will be covered.
We focus on both formal and informal learning
Learning is a big and ongoing part of life at EDB. It starts at the orientation programme and doesn’t stop until the day you leave. Learning takes place both on a formal and informal level. Under the former, we have in place specific training programs dedicated to developing specific skills at different stages of a person’s professional path.
Formal Learning Programmes
Milestone programmes These programmes address learning needs at specific junctures of an officer’s career. At the foundational level, you will go through an induction programme to gain a better understanding of the organisation and the work we do. On top of foundational soft skills training such as presentation and business etiquette, officers also attend the Business Management Programme, a comprehensive management programme that covers topics from Finance and International Economics to Strategic Marketing and Corporate Strategy.
At the middle and senior management level, you will also have the opportunity to attend Management Development and Leadership Development Programmes.
Core programmes We also have in place a suite of core programmes such as Client Engagement, Negotiation and Problem Solving which are tied to our seven core competencies. These competencies are job knowledge, analysis and conceptualization, decision-making and judgement, interpersonal skills, presentation and marketing, written communication, and service quality.
Functional programmes These programmes are officer-initiated and relate to specific roles or areas. They typically take the form of seminars or talks.
Informal Learning
We also recognise that a great deal of learning takes place informally at the workplace and on-the-job. Other than guidance from your direct reporting officer, you will be assigned a buddy on your first day. You will also be given the opportunity to join cross divisional project teams to study key challenges or opportunities in new areas. Additionally, regular one-to-one discussions will be held between your managers and you to discuss issues or concerns that you face.
