Professional Diversity, People and Rewards

Shell Graduate Si Yng with her mentor Tanya Lam in a conversation

Professional diversity; professional people; and professional rewards across a diverse range of global projects – these are the stand out reasons why Tanya Lam, Finance Manager loves working in Shell Singapore.

“Professional diversity; professional people; and professional rewards.” For Tanya Lam, these are the three stand-out reasons why she loves working at Shell.

“As a financial professional, working on cross-border projects for a major global company like Shell gives me the opportunity to develop a wide range of skills across finance, business and leadership areas. I have expectations about my remuneration which I’m pleased to say Shell meets. Plus: I get great satisfaction knowing that improvements my team and I make in projects can have a positive impact on Shell’s bottom line.”

“Shell provides good career progression and a variety of work.”

While Tanya, Finance Continuous Improvement Manager, believes the prospect of high future earnings is important for most graduates, what the working environment is like should be a major factor in choosing an employer. “Shell has a friendly work culture where you get to work with professional people across a diverse range of projects. Shell provides good career progression and a variety of work. It is important that you enjoy your work. At the end of the day you want to go home with a smile on your face: which I do.”

Tanya’s role as mentor to Si Yng supports her reasons for loving her work at Shell. “Mentoring is all about learning and developing professionally. Both Si Yng and I benefit from our Shell mentor/mentee relationship; it flows two ways. Of course what’s also great is the friendship we have cultivated. We are open with each other and discuss all sorts of topics, including about food - a favourite topic of conversation here in Singapore.

“My own career path at Shell has been influenced positively by my Shell mentors over the years. For me, being a mentor, is a way for me to give back.”

Shell Graduate Si Yng enjoys a casual lunch together with her mentor

Concerning Si Yng as a mentee, Tanya said her early suggestions were for Si Yng to learn as much as possible about how Shell works; how the company is structured; and how it functions within that structure. “Si Yng was able to leverage that knowledge to better focus on learning new skills and be open to opportunities within Shell.”

At a personal level, Tanya said Si Yng was a fast learner and a hard worker. “These are important qualities. We worked together to build on them so Si Yng could be more proactive in putting herself forward more. We discussed that to take on something new, sometimes you just have put your hand up and say ‘count me in!’ Si Yng is becoming more confident in herself and, as a result, more confident professionally.”

Tanya has been with Shell for 12 years and her current role is Finance Continuous Improvement Manager. It’s a challenging global role which continually seeks innovative ways to improve Shell’s finance function. Her role consistently calls upon her Masters in Finance from Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia.

“Mentoring, especially coaching in problem solving, has given me insights to my own career development within Shell. It has helped improve my leadership and influencing skills. While technical skills remain important, mentoring helps for a clearer focus on my leadership competencies and how I can improve them. That’s good for me and, ultimately, for Shell.”

Asked what kind of person is a good fit for the Shell Graduate Programme, Tanya was very clear. “If you have strong critical thinking; are open minded to new challenges; and are willing to invest time and effort into your technical, teamwork and leadership skills, then please think about Shell.”

“We just might share an exciting future together,” she said.