aAdvantage is a Culture Role Model (Culture Role Models)
Published on
1 January 2016
aAdvantage Consulting Group Pte Ltd is a unique firm whose business consultancy work exemplifies its core values: passion, people, clarity, collaboration and openness.
Established in 2002, the company has a team of professional staff who work on the company’s eight integrated solutions including Business Excellence, Business Facilitation, Change Enablement, Culture Development, Customer Experience, HR & Leadership, Research and Insights and Team Building & Development.
With a flexible work culture, Advantage empowers employees to achieve work-life integration without compromising on its business needs. This is accomplished through a commitment to certain rules of engagement including: be open, be accessible, be responsible, respect personal time and be clear. As a result, staff are able to continue with their work while at the same time attend to any personal needs which is especially important considering the various demands they have in the different life stages they are in.
Overall, the company offers a positive environment where the staff is empowered and enabled to do their best to deliver work that matters to them and to clients. The company is transparent, believes in the value of every contribution, has accessible leaders, an open office, and no bureaucracy. "A fun-loving bunch of people,” is how Consultant Clement Ho describes the group. “There is a learning and collaborative culture where we share project learning and experiences, and help each other, even directors.”
Team members are self-driven and motivated by their shared passion for the work. HR policies and systems are actively aligned to the corporate culture and aforementioned values. During the recruitment process, potential candidates are assessed not only on their competencies for the role but also on their corporate culture fit.The company also conducts a cultural values assessment every two years that measures the level of cultural entropy in the organisation. The current, healthy entropy score is attributed to the company’s active commitment to its values, and staff and intern feedback supports the notion that aAdvantage's culture and values are integral.
Making aAdvantage Consulting a great place to work has taken conscious effort on the part of everyone working there. But the efforts have borne fruit, evidenced by the testimonials from staff, interns and clients as well.
“My internship with aAdvantage was an immensely fulfilling experience. Supportive seniors who held back nothing in ensuring our growth, and opportunities to work on projects in our areas of interest really made a significant difference to me. There is a strong culture of collaboration and openness, where even an intern like myself was empowered to make important decisions. Thank you aAdvantage for this memorable internship stint!” – David Mok, a university intern in 2015.
Overall, the company's commitment to culture requires that they continually work to keep it strong and effective, regularly engaging in dialogue around any potential issues. Leadership commits to listening to everyone and exhibiting flexibility in order to do what’s right for staff, clients and organization. This is both an art and science, says the company's founder, and underlying the decisions are two additional values: Trust and Respect. With these on its side, aAdvantage continues to rise.
This article was first published in Culture Role Models on January 2016.
