GoGlobal: What brought you to where you are today with GoGlobal, and what is your role?
Yee Ling: After over a decade working for my family business, I moved to Taiwan with my husband. With limited transferable skills on my resume, it meant starting at the bottom in my next career move, whatever that might be. I had no idea what I could or wanted to do. Back then, finding remote work was always at the back of my mind; I did not want to be caught in the same circumstance ever again, where relocating for family reasons meant losing work or having to start from a blank slate.
Career change is difficult and expensive, at times a lonely and disheartening process. But I am so happy to have found this role at GoGlobal doing HR Research Writing. I support the Operations and Compliance team in ensuring that we are kept up to date with employment regulations in countries that we have a presence in globally.
GoGlobal: How did you start with becoming a writer?
Yee Ling: I began writing pro bono to build a portfolio. It has taken a few years to catch up, and after a year-long maternity break, I found my dream job at GoGlobal. As a new mother, flexibility is key to achieving productivity.
GoGlobal: What do you like most about working for GoGlobal?
Yee Ling: The organization is respectful and transparent which, speaking for myself, are the most practical motivators in driving commitment and dedication. Whilst many companies around the world are battling The Great Resignation, precipitated by the pandemic, I feel appreciated at GoGlobal.
The management team at GoGlobal exemplifies horizontal leadership. To be resilient to the impermanence and unpredictability we all face today, horizontal leadership is a necessary dynamic in forward-thinking organisations. However, for the GoGlobal management team, it wasn’t an adaptive process. It is a core value of the organization, intentional from the get-go. And this value is constantly being demonstrated as we go about our daily work, as I realize that as an employee, I am empowered to contribute, knowing that my voice will be heard and suggestions will be embraced so long as it is to better GoGlobal and its people.
GoGlobal: How do you envision remote work and the future of work?
Yee Ling: The pandemic provided a window for employees to realign their values – rebalancing their relationships with work and personal lives to achieve meaning and fulfillment. Thanks to technology and globalization, working life will only become more volatile. For every benefit that exists with remote work, there will be a cost. The freedom and flexibility of remote work comes with knowing how to define your boundaries, manage working independently while establishing effective communication with your team and ability to make a judgement call of when to step up and take ownership. There’s no such thing as a free lunch – most situations are a double-edged sword.
GoGlobal: Do you see a future working with GoGlobal?
Yee Ling: Yes, definitely! I see the possibility to constantly reinvent myself with a progressive and supportive organization like GoGlobal. Technology, the enabler of remote work, when used consciously and purposefully, should increase productivity and promote work life integration. I now cherish the opportunity I had in reinventing myself, because the harsh reality is that if you cannot, you run the risk of becoming dispensable.