Make Your Best Career Move Yet: Choose an SME

Your best career move yet could be centred around working in a small-medium enterprise (SME). After Singapore faced headwinds in employment last year, opportunities continue to abound everywhere as industries work diligently to maintain progress amid the flourishing economy.

Despite some looming challenges, the city-state continues to ride on wins from a positive economic outlook last year: recovery held up in 2022 as the gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 3.8 per cent (a significant difference from the 4.1% contraction during 2020). It also reflects in how employers view their hiring plans: 42 per cent of companies have returned to pre-pandemic hiring levels, with one in two employers looking to increase their headcount, according to JobStreet’s 2023 Outlook Report.

And amidst the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where digital and physical life merge further and further, many businesses, including SMEs, are looking to innovate how they do things and adopt newer ways of working – opening more doors for those looking to get hired.

Sure, multinational giants offer tremendous benefits and perks, such as competitive salaries, stylish offices, and maybe even gym memberships, not to mention that "wow" factor to your resume. These sound good on paper, but if your primary focus is to grow your career, you must not overlook working in SMEs. These smaller companies give you more room to spread out – and shine – and offer immense training since you usually have a leaner organisational structure and are expected to juggle various roles.

SMEs in Singapore

When it comes to careers, bigger does not always mean better. SMEs carry their own set of advantages. Firstly, you have a better chance to flex your muscles at a smaller pond.

While several corporations have set up their regional presence in Singapore, you won’t have to worry about running out of job opportunities from SMEs. The Department of Statistics shows that 99 per cent of businesses in Singapore are SMEs, making up 71 per cent of employment in the country.

The idea of working for a multinational corporation can be sexy. On the other hand, smaller companies tend to be more agile and flexible, which can come in handy as they can immediately shift their business plans based on the economic outlook.

Smaller companies also tend to have a more tight-knit culture and a progressive outlook versus traditional conglomerates. These factors are especially crucial if you want to feel the impact you create at work and if you prefer working with an organisation whose values align with yours. Here are other perks of working in an SME.

Perks of Working for a Small Company

You get immediate and direct interaction with decision-makers.

Small companies or SMEs have a flat structure, meaning they have fewer or no levels of hierarchy thanks to its more streamlined team. This horizontal system lets you enjoy direct interaction with honchos such as the CEO – or even the company owner.

This benefit is particularly enticing if you do not like feeling like a simple cog in the machine – which has a bigger chance of happening when you work for larger production-driven enterprises. Within the smaller framework of an SME, you have greater access to the company's top leaders, gaining the opportunity to learn directly from them or showcase your strengths and abilities more clearly.

For example, you may have been hired to be an account director but you find yourself performing some project management duties or being introduced to some programming. You’re busier and the boundaries may be a bit more flexible, but you also learn so many things along the way.

Many SME owners and hirers have already had extensive experiences themselves, either from spending time at a large corporation or even running other businesses for a long time, lending an abundance of knowledge in the field. You have an opportunity to learn even more skills, build crucial and valuable work relationships, and develop other capabilities.

You have better and quicker opportunities to move up.

At a large company, it is easy for your work to get lost in the daily grind and shuffle – and your contributions may not be felt or others may easily overshadow you. Even if you strive to make an indelible impact, there is no guarantee that your effort goes beyond your department, particularly upper management. A big company means you must climb more steps to go up the corporate ladder. Moreover, transferring from an SME to an MNC might mean settling for a lower position. This isn’t always negative, especially if you had an epiphany and decided to pursue a different career path. Many people have even voluntarily chosen to downshift to prioritise work-life balance. However, it may affect your learning opportunities.

Working at an SME provides you with a fairer chance to be rewarded for your hard work. According to Entrepreneur, it is a platform for you to impact the organisation and its goals directly, whether it’s an independent firm, a family-owned business, or even a startup. At an SME, you usually work with a small team – with fewer people trying to get promoted. Working with a small company means you only need to prove yourself to be entrusted with more responsibilities and get your hard work noticed.

You can wear many hats and challenge yourself.

If you’re the type who wants to be challenged at work, then working at an SME may be for you. Because of its smaller organisational structure, many small businesses expect their employees to be flexible and wear different hats – a clear benefit for those who want to maximise their career potential by learning other skills. Finding hard-working people – a.k.a. unicorn employees – with a go-getter attitude and who are not afraid to roll up their sleeves, plus grooming them, is what helps small companies stay afloat.

Working at an SME offers you first-hand experience and insight into the different business aspects – access you may not be as privy to if you work at a larger company where you might work in silos against other departments. Here, job titles can overlap, and not all skills are directly taught. It is great if you want to continue upskilling yourself, building your career, or even fostering your entrepreneurial drive.

There is more room for creativity and experimentation.

While working at a large company can seem terrific at first, its hierarchical and often formal environment, with clearly defined roles in the organisation, may stifle your creativity. During the pandemic, the government found that smaller companies were much creative and nimble in coming up with survival strategies. Moreover, other research shows that small companies had more room for a creative corporate culture.

This isn’t to say that large companies don’t promote ingenuity. However,  they put less emphasis on the meaningfulness of work, communication, passion, and support and more on developing a safe working environment, cooperation, and responsibility. These are great considerations, too, which is why you must first determine what you value before signing up for a company.

Ultimately, it boils down to your personality. Many appreciate the order and clear organisational structure a large company brings, with roles that rarely overlap. But if you enjoy thinking out of the box, getting your hands dirty, and experimenting to see results, then an SME may be for you.

Working at an SME allows you to pitch and work on your ideas quickly. If you have a great concept or a proposal, you can immediately present them without struggling with too much red tape. Water-cooler ideas tend to manifest faster, especially since you don’t have to go through so much red tape. You also have more freedom to experiment at an SME. You’ll have plenty of chances to test new ideas – and you’ll be encouraged to do so.

SMEs usually espouse an employee-centric work culture.

Smaller and privately owned businesses have much more freedom to take creative risks and let strategies play out. Because of the tighter-knit community, junior team members have more opportunities to be heard.

The employee-centric work culture promoted by SMEs also leads to better rapport and cohesion among the team. As an employee, you may also enjoy higher job satisfaction in an environment that is more nurturing than large companies. It also means that owners or decision-makers will make decisions with you in mind, and not always the bottom line.

You may gain a better understanding of your industry.

Working at a big-name company may sound fancy, but your job title may limit your perspective of your industry. On the other hand, being part of an SME with a simpler structure and a flatter hierarchy means even junior employees have a better visibility of what goes on in the company — and lets you feel a better “pulse” of the industry, including serving niche segments. In the process, your knowledge of your domain expands.

Don't overlook SMEs when you're on a job hunt. You might just miss out on crucial career opportunities.#SEEKBettergrowth and enjoy a progressive working culture by searching for roles with smaller businesses on JobStreet. For more expert insights on building your career, visit the Career Resources Hub.