Life outside the workplace: Making work-life balance part of the Zühlke culture

• Understand how work-life balance plays a part in Zühlke's culture.

• Learn how Zühlke is supporting employees to pursue personal and professional development at work, and also to lead fulfilling lives outside of work.

• Discover how the unique diversity of nationalities contributed to a rich cultural exchange.

In today’s unpredictable and fast-paced business world, we have learned that it is no easy task to achieve work-life balance. As we grow increasingly connected through technology and social media, the line gets more blurred between separating work from our personal lives.

With more flexible and hybrid forms of work, it is also becoming more apparent to many that this shift can affect one’s productivity levels, quality of work, mental health, and workplace satisfaction.

That is why it is important for us to make work-life balance a part of Zühlke's unique culture. We believe that everyone needs variety and respite to do their best work. We always emphasise the importance of intentional learning in everything we do and encourage our employees to lead fulfilling lives outside of work too – be it taking good care of mental wellness, staying connected with friends and family, and also enjoying hobbies and personal passions in everyday life.

From sourdough baking to cross-stitching, lockdown in Singapore meant a renewed focus on passions and hobbies that inspire. It also meant a focus on cultural exchanges that kept the social side of work blooming, albeit virtually.

As one of our fastest-growing offices, Zühlke in Singapore relies on engineering talent from other countries across the group to keep pace. So, with today’s globally distributed work model, what happens outside of work becomes just as important as the nine to five.

Creative inspiration happens anytime, everywhere

As a Great Place to Work certified company, 94% of our people say that they are encouraged to balance their work-life and their personal life. One form of it is in the adoption of the 80-20 rule where our teams are encouraged to allocate 80% of their work time on client projects, while the other 20% can be used on personal leave, internal projects, or training and development.

The system is based on trust and is a determined move away from micromanagement to bottom-up empowerment. Under the Zühlke Growth Mindset model, employees are empowered to manage their time and resources effectively, such as through the introduction of the “ARTE” principles on: Autonomy, Responsibility, Transparency, and Evaluation.

In our Singapore office, which boasts a diverse mix of over 20 nationalities and counting, our employees are making creative use of this learning and team development time with exciting activities.

Their interests inspired some of our most successful projects, such as Zühlke’s sticker competition, where employees were asked to design a branded sticker logo for laptops. Instead of commissioning official merchandise, we supported some of our most technical engineers to engage their creative side, which resulted in some unique artwork we’re proud to use.

Learning happens anytime, everywhere

Relaxing can come in the form of doing hobbies that we like, or sometimes in the form of social coding nights where engineers get together after work to explore new tech. For others, it may be enjoying a yoga class to wrap up the workday.

For one of our HR employees Clare, it meant teaching herself crocheting on YouTube and making her own clothes. While for Software Engineer Chester, it meant painting a watercolour of every meal he ate and sharing it on Instagram.

Our teams in the Singapore office also take pride in sharing our passions and hobbies, like organising group cycling adventures that has now become a mainstay of the office, a hobby inspired by other Zühlke colleagues. Singapore may not have the cycling climbs of Switzerland, but it has more than enough points of interest for a ride along, and it’s been a great way for people to explore more of the city.

Feasting on a new culture happens anytime, everywhere

With its multiracial population, melting pot of ethnic cultures, and diverse religious traditions, Singapore is a city that epitomises the beauty of multiculturalism. There are plenty of festivals and celebrations to share every year, such as the annual Mooncake festival, Dumpling festival, Christmas, Deepavali, Hari Raya, and more!

But the ultimate Singaporean local test? Trying out durians, a popular fruit in Asia that can be best described as a mix of distinctive aroma with notes of sweet fruitiness and savory soup-seasoning. It’s an acquired taste, to say the least, but also an adventurous and fun way to introduce an international team to local delicacies. There are only two reactions to the taste test: you either love it or can’t understand why anyone would go near it.

Either way, it gets people talking — and there’s nothing like this "king of fruits" to bring people together and get conversations going.

As we have more opportunities to travel and return to the office, we’re taking pride in doing work that matters, but also showing how much our people matter. A big part of that is encouraging them to do what they love, whether that’s being adventurous in trying something new or just painting a picture of it.

Meet our employees as they share a little more about their hobbies and outside of Zühlke: