Different Work Culture

It's my second month at work. Adapting to the working culture is a challenge here. Those who come from European or American firm will probably experience more of a culture shock. Below are some of the cultural tips given to us:

1) PUNCTUALITY is a must. 8.30a.m. means 8.30a.m. A biometric system is present to keep a record of your login and logout time. A report will be submitted to your boss every Monday.

2) Lot of PAPERWORK. Everything needs a 'hanko' (rubber stamp) for approval. You can imagine how much 'hanko' is required before a decision is made. Of course, you will also see papers flying here and there trying to get 'hanko'.

3) ACT busy. The natives will be the first to come and the last to leave. One of them once sent out an email at 1 a.m. However, we discovered that there are colleagues, who didn't stay late to finish up work. Instead, they are some good artistes hiding their talents in the company. They will pass time by drawing manga. And they are others who moonlights (trading on SGX) at work.

4) WastePAPER basket is meant for papers ONLY. No rubbish allowed. The GA will actually store those papers for days before trashing them. This is to prevent any incidents of missing documents.

5) FORMALITY depends on occasion. The natives will always wear a jacket at work to show respect. Or they are just there to show their faces. If they wear their jackets at dinner, that means they are treating the meal as part of work. These natives will only take out their jackets when they treat the event as a casual event. But if you're eating with your boss and he's not in his jacket, that doesn't mean he is not noting down everything you said about work.

6) CONFIDENTIALITY is an important word in the company. Any incoming and outgoing emails are audited. They will keep a copy of all these emails in the server, just like every documents in the company have a specific number of years to be retained as archives. Emails with attachments to external parties have to be locked with a password. And Internet access is only allowed to users, who needs it for work purposes. No thumbdrives and external HDD allowed. Any customer related information can't be brought out of office unless approval has been granted.

Beside the above, there are probably a lot more to be discovered by myself...