Forward Singapore: The role of education

ASK any Minister for Education in the last decade and he will tell you whenever he speaks with businesspeople he is frequently told a variation on the theme “our education system is to blame.” This comment is made in relation to employee attitudes, capabilities and employability. What exactly are the reasons for these comments from local and foreign businesspeople alike?

One reason is employers find it harder and harder to find employees with positive work attitudes, with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels of a business and with the sensitivity to work effectively in cross-border and cross-cultural teams. None of this is rocket science but the fact so many employers complain about Singapore job candidates suggests we are not equipping enough people to be effective when they leave formal education and join the workforce.

It seems to me our society is still obsessed with educating children and students to pass examinations rather than really educating them – that is, equipping them - to lead effective, happy, productive and useful lives. Our society values the wrong measures. Here, high examination scores are still seen as a proxy for retained knowledge and the ability to apply it. As we all know, there is not always a direct correlation between these outcomes. High examination scores alone do not an employable citizen make. That being the case, things need to change to take Singapore and business forward.

At a very minimum, financial literacy needs to be taught together with computer literacy from primary school onwards along with the importance of good ethics, values and the benefits of good governance. Where the 3Rs -- reading, writing and arithmetic -- are the foundation of effective verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills. Where children and students are taught to be class- and race-blind and to treat all humans equally well. To judge themselves and their peers on the quality and timeliness of output above all else.

This all sounds perfectly rational and reasonable. It is these very same qualities and skills employers everywhere are crying out for. Product knowledge can always be acquired on the job, the ability to work well in cross-cultural and cross-border teams needs to be taught. Ditto the all-important communication skills which in many younger people are all too often lacking despite a tertiary education. Hence the employers’ complaints.

While no one can say Singapore’s education system has not evolved in the last 30 years and is still evolving, is its evolution on the right track?

One of the greatest problems in many companies is executives are promoted to leadership roles because they are good salespeople or good at operations, for example. No one is promoted because they are good at leading and motivating people to work together in teams. They should be of course but this does not happen because leadership of people in the corporate world is not taught. Here is a real opportunity for every school, and especially every business school, to address because it would enable great positive changes in businesses and in society at large by improving how people are led and how they experience work.

Leadership training is something which starts with self-leadership. This would be module 1. We all need to learn how to control our emotions to be effective in the workplace, to avoid being manipulated and to be of service to our teams. Selfless leadership needs to be taught.

Module 2 would be how to lead people by consistent authenticity, not by decree or dictat. There are still too many Alpha male and female so-called leaders who think nothing of undermining their people simply because they can.

That they can is entirely the fault of companies’ boards and senior leadership teams which have not put in place clear policies and procedures and penalties for non-compliance or, where they exist, they are not enforced. So many more businesses would be more commercially successful and so many more people happier and more effective at work if their companies had a positive workplace culture. There is no greater enabler of purpose than a work environment which is co-created and sustained by everyone who works in the business. All current talk of purposeful business is a case of the cart before the horse. It is empty rhetoric until every employee experiences the benefits of a positive workplace culture. We should be educating every worker and every board director, every senior leadership team and every people manager in this module 3.

A positive workplace culture is one in which the company’s values, and the behaviours demonstrating those values, are agreed by everyone and clearly and regularly communicated. Where no one is abused, bullied, sexually harassed or undermined. Where everyone who wants to be developed is given every opportunity. Where there are functioning whistle-blower mechanisms to report non-compliance with the agreed values and behaviours and where the penalties for non-compliance are applied regardless of seniority and revenue generation.

Education is a continuing, lifelong process. We need to move away from confusing high examination scores with ability, knowledge retention and the ability to apply knowledge. Instead, we need to focus on outcomes and how people are led in business for maximum commercial returns and societal benefits. Only then will the education minister and his successors hear a new tune, not a variation on an old one.

Victor Mills is chief executive, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce. The views expressed are his personal views as a Singapore citizen.