Learning Resources

With the current COVID-19 situation, many SMEs face an uncertain future. Global safe distancing measures and supply chain disruptions result in drastic reduction of demand from customers and slow payments. On the other hand, fixed overheads like rental, employee salaries, loan instalments and suppliers must be paid. Cash flow issues, if not resolved immediately, could lead to bankruptcy.

Fortunately, the government has shown strong support and unleashed numerous measures to help companies defer rent, loan repayment and defray wages. New lending schemes are also devised to help viable SMEs remain in business.

In this webinar, two financial experts will share with you useful insights and tips to improve your business and personal financial situation in these challenging times.

● How to tap on government support measures
● What do banks look for when lending
● How to show you are a viable business
● Personal financial management in uncertain times

Despite the progressive roll back of the Singapore’s Circuit Breaker in June 2020 that allows majority if not all of businesses to resume operations, the outlook for many organizations is still highly uncertain.

A recent survey by SSON in collaboration with Edgeverve, Assistedge and Infosys-BPM Ltd points out that businesses report 30% increase in delayed collection of sales revenue, 14% increase in cost of operations and 20% increase in gaps in back office service delivery. These statistics reiterate the difficulties for many businesses in “returning to normal” which in turn could impact hiring decisions and employment opportunities.

Among the working population, PMETs (Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians) forming more than 50% of the Singapore’s workforce is the group that faces greater risk to redundancy and retrenchment based on past years’ evidence.

The webinar shares strategies for PMETs on:

1. How to rise above this environment of uncertainty and volatility
2. How to differentiate themselves from the crowd at the workplace
3. What to do in times of such business uncertainty and employment risks
4. What are the the possible action plans if your employment has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

With no definite time-frame for a COVID-19 vaccine in sight, the road ahead of us looks to be long, winding, and fraught with uncertainties, difficulties, and challenges.

Sean Tan, a lawyer by training with restructuring expertise, is the Chairman and Director of the True Group, which operates 10 fitness centers in Singapore and 14 in Taiwan under the “True Fitness”, “TFX” and “Yoga Edition” brands. The fitness business has not been spared, and in fact, has been hit hard by the crisis.

Regarded widely as a global creative and innovative thought leader in the fitness industry, Sean will share how he has steered the business through the Circuit Breaker and has restructured his team and the business to meet the challenges in the future. Grab this opportunity to take a glimpse into Sean’s playbook for survival, where Sean shares practical tips on how you as a business owner, leader or manager can prepare yourself and then your business for the challenges that lie ahead, including protecting your cash flow, cutting costs and expenses, re-purposing staff and resources, and pivoting.

How will the audience benefit from the session?

Known for his straight-talking and hands-on style of management and leadership, Sean gives practical advice without the fluff. The advice is geared towards both the individuals (whether business owners, leaders, or managers) and businesses, and one can expect to come away with something that will either inspire, motivate or cause one to think critically of another way of doing things.

Join John Bittleston, Founder Mentor & Executive Chairman Terrific Mentors International and Yen-Lu Chow, co-founder, Asia Institute of Mentoring, in a fireside chat moderated by Lita Nithyanandan to explore one of the most pressing topics of our time: What We Want From New Leaders (in a Post-Crisis World)?

The leadership challenges of our time have been vividly exposed and accentuated by the current pandemic sweeping the globe. In this inaugural fireside chat organized by the AIM United Against COVID-19 (UNACOV) initiative, we explored many leadership (and mentoring) questions:

- What are some of the top qualities we expect from a leader during times of crisis and change?
- Do good leaders need to be good mentors too?
- Can mentoring help develop a good leader? How?
- Does a great leader equate to a great mentor? Why?
- How can we influence more business leaders to become mentors?
- How can we find a suitable mentor?
- What do you think of the ''pay it forward' approach to mentoring?

Sir John Bittleston is the Founder, Executive Chairman of Terrific Mentor International and the only honorary member of Asia Institute of Mentoring.
He's an active octogenarian who loves mentoring and the hero for Yen-Lu Chow (AIM's Co-Founder).
Sir John believes in AIM's 5 pillars: Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Career Resilience, Personal Well-Being and Parenting.

He shared his testimony on the launch of AIM 21 challenge about his personal mastery of mentoring, what it meant to him & how he advocates mentoring to everyone.

A video on the benefits of mentoring to partner with the article from http://learningyourdevelopment.com entitled Mentoring: A Win-Win-Win for Mentees, Mentors and Organisations at http://bit.ly/1gMMrBc

Although mentoring in the workplace has been there for a long time, the way it is structured is sometimes complicated.
Sometimes supervisors are required to be mentors and sometimes mentoring is really another word for managing performance.
What are the best ways to set up mentoring in the workplace?

Facilitators
-Lita Nithyananda
-Deepali Jain

“It takes a village to raise a child” is an African proverb that is very applicable to mentoring.

Our “village” has never been more necessary than it is today. We live in a fast-paced, instant information, and pressure-packed world.
Mentees also go through different stages in life, play multiple roles, that require different types of mentors, and at times more than one mentor for different parts of their life. Different mentors, with their own unique set of skills and mentoring expertise, can work with mentees to give them a well-rounded and multi-faceted mentoring environment.

This discussion is about collaboration and partnerships you need to build as a mentor with your peers to support your mentee in the best way possible.