The Art of Blending in the Workplace

Introduction

Financial Literacy for Youths (FLY) is an initiative started by students, for students. We are dedicated to spreading awareness regarding the importance of knowledge in finance and how it can personally empower youths through the education of finance, economics, technology and investment. We aim to achieve our purpose via CSR Programmes, Journalism Interviews, Research Articles, Finance-Centred Seminars, etc.

To cater to the aforementioned objectives, we have organized an alumni event, “The Art of Blending in the Workplace” on April 29th, 2023 via Zoom platform. It consists of panel session, networking session and sharing session by Mastercard, to equip participants with the necessary tools to work with colleagues, negotiate, and thrive in the workplace. Besides providing valuable insights and practical strategies in the ever-changing landscape of the modern workplace.

Panel Session

The panel session featured two experts from people development, Mallory Loone of Work Inspires and Winnie Lim of Thriving & Solution Enabler which was moderated by Kellin Wong Kai Xin, Vice President of Continuous Professional Development at HEYA.

The session focused on various topics related to thriving in the workplace, including effective communication, building relationships, and conflict resolution which covered:

• Healthy relationship in the workplace
• Making friends while building professional responsibilities
• Dealing with difficult or toxic colleagues
• Needs to assert opinions and ideas in a discussion
• Common conflicts in the workplace and ways to mitigate

Key Takeaways:

To have a stronger bond and work harmoniously with someone, participants first need to understand the person who they work with in detail. Hence, they tend to adapt better with their work style when we know their character and background. Furthermore, knowing the insides of them would help us in breaking the ice as well as creating friendliness and trust. A super helpful acronym, F.O.R.M. has been shared in helping the participants to build up rapport with their colleagues and seniors namely Family (F), Occupational (O), Relationship (R) and Money (M). Participants can start their conversation with this acronym to find anything they share in common.

Friends and building professional responsibilities are equally important as we cannot survive in the workplace without a good team, friends and network. The right people will help to measure performance and provide feedback which indirectly supports our growth. Ways to create a closer friendship include giving compliments as well as sending gift cards, wishes and gifts.

“Never fight fire with fire, fight fire with water”. Participants should be able to mitigate any unnecessary dispute with toxic colleagues by identifying their personality threat, triggers, expectation and communication styles. Participants should adapt accordingly by being humble, taking note of timeline and work quality as well as seek help from 3rd parties when they are having their conversation.

Participants also have to analyse their strength and weakness in order to leverage those they are expert in. In a biased culture, we have to frame our idea to make it more acceptable. Keep trying and know ourselves better through experience. On the other hand, for introverts that do not want to be left out, start the conversation from opinion, from there we can gauge if people in the room are on the same page with us for us to continue adding our opinion.

Common conflicts are structural conflict, information conflict, external factor conflict and value conflict. Examples include changing of management team, what I say/know versus what u say/know, personal experience, mood, family and personal factors brought to the workplace and what I think we can do versus what u think we should do. Hence, we should set the meeting context first on the intention and shared goals in the beginning of a meeting. Furthermore, when conversation is getting heated, call it off and continue later on as we need to acknowledge that feeling will get into the way.

Networking Session

The networking session was led by 8 mentors from diverse backgrounds ranging from undergraduates to company Co-founders. Participants had the opportunity to connect with the mentors and learn from their experiences. The mentors also guided participants to solve a case study regarding conflict over performance expectations, workload, and company culture.

To have a stronger bond and work harmoniously with someone, participants first need to understand the person who they work with in detail. Hence, they tend to adapt better with their workstyle when we know their character and background. Furthermore, knowing the insides of them would help us in breaking the ice as well as creating friendliness and trust. A super helpful acronym, F.O.R.M. has been shared in helping the participants to build up rapport with their colleagues and seniors namely Family (F), Occupational (O), Relationship (R) and Money (M). Participants can start their conversation with this acronym to find anything they share in common.

Friends and building professional responsibilities are equally important as we cannot survive in the workplace without a good team, friends and network. The right people will help to measure performance and provide feedback which indirectly supports our growth. Ways to create a closer friendship include giving compliments as well as sending gift cards, wishes and gifts.

“Never fight fire with fire, fight fire with water”. Participants should be able to mitigate any unnecessary dispute with toxic colleagues by identifying their personality threat, triggers, expectation and communication styles. Participants should adapt accordingly by being humble, taking note of timeline and work quality as well as seek help from 3rd parties when they are having their conversation.

Participants also have to analyse their strength and weakness in order to leverage those they are expert in. In a biased culture, we have to frame our idea to make it more acceptable. Keep trying and know ourselves better through experience. On the other hand, for introverts that do not want to be left out, start the conversation from opinion, from there we can gauge if people in the room are on the same page with us for us to continue adding our opinion.

Common conflicts are structural conflict, information conflict, external factor conflict and value conflict. Examples include changing of management team, what I say/know versus what u say/know, personal experience, mood, family and personal factors brought to the workplace and what I think we can do versus what u think we should do. Hence, we should set the meeting context first on the intention and shared goals in the beginning of a meeting. Furthermore, when conversation is getting heated, call it off and continue later on as we need to acknowledge that feeling will get into the way.

Networking Session

The networking session was led by 8 mentors from diverse backgrounds ranging from undergraduates to company Co-founders. Participants had the opportunity to connect with the mentors and learn from their experiences. The mentors also guided participants to solve a case study regarding conflict over performance expectations, workload, and company culture.

Mentors featured: [1] Kellin Wong, Vice President of Continuous Professional Development of HEYA, [2] Valerie Kuan of CFA Youth Ambassador, [3] Evelyn Tay, Society Relations Senior Executive of CFA Society Malaysia, [4] Shirley Hang, External Engagement Executive of HEYA, [5] Wong Si Teng, Community Manager of Futurelab, [6] Alex Goon, Senior Manager- University Relation, Global Talent Acquisition of Micron Malaysia, [7] Lina Esa, Co-founder & Chief Talent Officer of Cult Creative & [8] Shaveetha Dianithi, Corporate Governance & Training Manager.

Sharing Session by Mastercard

In addition, there was a sharing session by Mastercard, featuring Shacind Ananthan and Tan Shing Yee from the company. They shared insights into the company’s work culture, best practices for creating a strong CV, addressing key requirements businesses need, the importance of internships, what to expect in consulting, and personality fit for the job.

Conclusion

The event was a great success, with participants gaining an improvement in confidence in communicating and collaborating with coworkers on projects or tasks. They also gained confidence in feeling comfortable about adapting to a new work environment and resolving conflicts with their colleagues productively and respectfully.

Overall, “The Art of Blending in The Workplace” was a valuable event for those looking to develop their skills in the modern workplace. The event provided valuable insights, practical strategies, and opportunities to connect with experienced professionals from diverse backgrounds. The case study and sharing session by Mastercard added valuable practical knowledge and skills for participants to apply in their future careers.

Written by Calvin Kwa, Speaker Series Executive 22/23