International Women's Day & Interview with Dorothy Yiu, Co-founder of EngageRocket Pte. Ltd.

1- Please introduce yourself and let us know how did you start your business.?I am Dorothy, and I co-founded an HR tech startup called EngageRocket in 2016. EngageRocket is a cloud-based software that empowers organisations to improve the employee experience at work through real-time people analytics. Before founding EngageRocket, I spent 5 years with a US-based HR consulting firm as part of their regional management team. During my time in consulting, I was lucky enough to have found an unmet need in a relatively big addressable market and also my co-founder. It was an opportunity I could not pass off. This was encouraged by the fact that I was from a business family. Both my parents ran their own businesses, and my grandfather was also in business, so starting one on my own was something I have thought about since young.?

2- What makes your business successful??EngageRocket helps improve an employee's experience at work, which in turn drives performance and retention for the organisation. It is a win-win solution and with over 3 million in Singapore's workforce and over 3 billion globally, EngageRocket's ability to scale as a business and drive impact on employees' lives is boundless.?

3- What’s your morning routine??I usually start my day at 6 am. After a quick shower, I will do my morning stretches, and my daily devotional as a Christian, and spend some quality time with my 2 young children until breakfast time which is around 8 am. By 8.30 am, I am usually done with breakfast and ready to start my day of work.?

4- You are undoubtedly very busy, how do you handle work-life balance and maintain good mental health??Instead of work-life balance, we are now in an era of work-life integration where we find ways to blend work and personal life with some degree of flexibility. I am grateful to be in a position where I can design the working arrangement of my company and EngageRocket offers 100% work-from-anywhere arrangement. As a working mom, I definitely benefit from this as it allows me to seamlessly transition between my multiple roles as a co-founder, a manager, a wife and a mother throughout the day to maximise my productivity. Having said that, I am still learning to find what is the best "balance" for me and I am continually trying out new techniques (e.g. the latest attempt is to block my calendar from 5 pm to 8 pm so I can be present for family dinners and my son's bedtime) to make sure I have enough focus on activities that fuel me.?

5- As a female leader, what has been the most significant barrier in your career??The biggest barrier for me is a personal one and it is the degree of self-criticism I lay on myself. Women are known to be more self-critical than men and in a study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, women are found to doubt their abilities and feel more anxious about their performance than men in the workplace. For me, while it has been valuable in driving my self-improvement and growth, I am learning to understand when the degree of self-criticism can become counter-productive and have also begun to appreciate the value of recognising my own achievements and not be afraid to give myself credit when it is due.?

5- Have you ever faced any gender discrimination in your business??Absolutely, it has not gotten any less common in the last decade of my professional career but I have learnt to deal with it better.

6- What is the biggest mistake that you have made in your career? What did you learn from it??Thinking that I need to delay starting a family to prioritise my career. I have come to learn that my family life and my career are not mutually exclusive, and I don't have to give up on one to have another. In fact, marriage and motherhood have made me a better professional and leader.?

7- Why do you think companies would benefit from having more women at the top??A good friend once said to me that she enjoys having female bosses because not only are they able to perform equally as well when compared to men, but they are also more empathetic and caring. I think companies would benefit from having more women at the top because firstly, there is already much evidence that points to the direct correlation between having more female leaders and the financial performance of an organisation. For example, a 2019 study by McKinsey & Company found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than those in the bottom quartile. Secondly, while the job scope differences between men and women in the workplace are now negligible, women still bear a heavier burden of caregiving responsibilities at home. This dichotomy in roles at the workplace and at home has given many women valuable skills and experiences that can make them better leaders. Skills like time management, communication, emotional intelligence, problem-solving and adaptability will definitely benefit companies especially for navigating complex business challenges and the rapidly changing market environment companies have to grapple with today.?

8- What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders??Embrace the discomfort, it is when you feel uncomfortable that you know you are growing.?

9- How should women support other women in their organizations??Adam Grant has pointed out that the Queen B phenomenon, one where women are keeping other women out, isn't a cause of inequality but a response to inequality. When you limit the number of roles to women, women will hold other women to higher standards and think their gain is another's loss. So women who have risen to leadership positions have a responsibility to change that scarcity by offering more opportunities and changing the concept that this is a zero-sum competition. We should also deliberately celebrate one another's success and build a culture of support and recognition for women in the workplace.??

10- How does SCCCI/YBSC help you along the way??It has given me access to a network of experienced and seasoned entrepreneurs who not only inspire my own entrepreneurship journey but I can learn valuable age-less business lessons from them.?

11- What is your message to your female audience for International Women's Day??You are powerful and capable and you make a positive difference in this world. Whether you are a leader in your community, a trailblazer in your industry, or change-maker in your company, or a caregiver in your family, your contributions are valued and appreciated.?