I remember the jarring transition from supply chain and procurement to engineering R&D. Faced with numerous new challenges, I received the support of our leadership team at every step. I was able identify each problem and provide optimal solutions, whilst also being given adequate freedom to manage smaller project details. Dealing with each challenge that was thrown at me, I was able to eventually expand my own team, shaping and moulding it to what it is today, and setting myself on my own managerial career track.

With a larger team and bigger operation, the demand for engineering R&D talent increased in both numbers and required diversity. I began to support my team in logically prioritising daily tasks by habit, systematically categorising openings for talent and in how to perfect an optimised workflow. I ask my team to develop their own philosophy that evolves over time, which we then document together, to help train the team or our new hires.

Tip: If you run into an obstacle that cannot be dealt with alone, fret not! The team is here to help. Seek support from other team members, who could contribute to a solution with other strengths.

A ‘dream team’ is built upon a common understanding of what being a team truly means. We have a manual on building our dream team, which acts as the foundation of our collaboration. Our priority is performance – a fair and objective criterion that governs the allocation of internal resources and the award of professional promotion. The second principle is professionalism across the board, where each member on the team is expected to be highly responsible to our clients. This includes being dependable confidants of confidential information, being empathetic to our clients, being able to provide the right opinion and advice based on both clients’ and candidates’ qualities, as well as being authoritative figures in respective specialisations, with the aim of bringing the highest value to our clients. We also expect everyone on the team to be boldly open about sharing honest opinions, reducing unnecessary difficulties in communication. We highly value diversity and inclusivity, accepting different perspectives, preferences and approaches to problems, so that everyone can benefit from each other and move forward together. The last principle we uphold is a ‘work-hard, play-hard attitude’, striving for a work-life balance that fulfils every individual in both facets.

I am incredibly grateful for our leaders at Robert Walters – they always provide a familial warmth and have encouraged me at every point of my career journey, enabling me to push towards my goals. I am also grateful for my current professional family at Robert Walters. We work collaboratively together, and my teammates fight by my side, offering accompaniment and support that flourishes into victories we can all share and celebrate. I truly believe that our team and all future new joiners will continue to create many more of these precious moments, writing new chapters in our shared history.