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Growing local talent |
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Singapore companies that are keen
to go places strike a chord with G. Jayakrishnan.
After all, his work at International Enterprise
(IE) Singapore is largely about gearing up Singapore
companies for the international marketplace. And
on the side, he and his rock band are hoping to
make the cut at their public debut this year.
Jaya works with internationalising Singapore companies
to develop firm-level capabilities in areas such
as branding, design, manpower development, intellectual
property management and alliance strategy formation.
These capabilities are critical in differentiating
Singapore companies, their products and services
from the many other players in overseas markets.
“We function like a product development team
— creating new products and services such
as incentives, training programmes, events and advisory
services in these areas,” explained the assistant
director of
the Business Capability Division, who finds the
work motivating and
never dull.
“Learning first-hand from the senior managers
of these companies, working with them to devise
strategies and finding ways to address their competency
gaps are very interesting challenges.”
Months back, Jaya was also busy with setting up
IE Singapore’s new Customer Research Division,
which provides customised research services and
advice to the organisation’s customer-facing
groups.
Sharing why the work is satisfying, Jaya said: “Seeing
more Singapore companies succeed internationally
is very rewarding. It is especially sweet when you
have been involved at some stage of their growth,
and it definitely creates quite a sense of pride.”
Himself a “homegrown talent”, Jaya joined
IE Singapore upon graduating from the National University
of Singapore in 1997. His role then as account manager
in the Infrastructure Services Unit involved managing
and growing relationships with Singapore-based infrastructure
companies. Besides understanding their constraints
and providing help to address those issues, he worked
with colleagues locally and in IE Singapore’s
overseas offices to identify opportunities for growth
and business development.
In 2000, he was posted as Centre Director to IE
Singapore’s London office where he promoted
trade and outward investment by Singapore companies
in the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia.
Three years later, he returned to Singapore as Senior
Manager of the Business Capability Division, before
being promoted to Assistant Director in 2005.
Reflecting on his nine-year career, Jaya confessed
that he had not expected to stay so long in his
first job, but “from year to year, I had the
opportunity to take on new challenges, lots of cross-functional/divisional
projects and different portfolios. All of this has
kept the work fresh. And most of all, the work environment
here is a very friendly and encouraging one. Over
the years, I have made lots of good friends among
my colleagues”.
Unknown to many, Jaya has played in several rock
bands since his teenage years. In fact, this music
enthusiast released two albums with a band called
The Ordinary People in the 90s.
Jaya currently plays bass in a four-piece band named
“Strangebrew”. Hoping to stage its first
performance by this June, the band is currently
spending time in rehearsal studios building up a
repertoire of classic rock numbers from Deep Purple,
Bad Company, Jimi Hendrix, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rainbow,
Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, the Eagles, as well as
a handful of original compositions.
“I enjoy playing and listening to all kinds
of rock,” said Jaya. “Music is a great
way to relax, take your mind off work and all the
other stresses of modern-day life.”
When asked if he has ever considered becoming a
full-time musician, he said: “Perhaps when
I was 18, but I soon realised I was seriously lacking
in the talent department!”
Rock fans will soon find out if Jaya is just being
modest. Meanwhile, this up-and-coming public officer
is more than happy to help local businesses dreaming
of making it big overseas. |
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