In the high-stakes world of power generation, stability is usually a virtue. But for Joey Kwek, head of division, HR and Corporate Services at Senoko Energy, stability in the workforce can be a deceptive metric.
As global markets fluctuate and economic cycles compress, a new phenomenon has emerged in the corporate landscape: job hugging. Employees, wary of external volatility, are staying in their roles longer than ever. While this might look like a win for retention on a spreadsheet, Kwek views it through a more critical lens. To her, the danger is not that people are staying; it is the risk that they might stop growing while they do.
Kwek is spearheading a fundamental shift in how one of Singapore’s leading energy providers views its people. For Senoko, workforce resilience has moved far beyond the simple goal of keeping seats filled.
“Workforce resilience is not simply about ensuring that people do not leave the organization,” Kwek told HRM Asia. “From an HR point of view, workforce resilience is about three key factors: how quickly people can adapt to new conditions; how easily they can be redeployed across plants, portfolios and functions; and how continuously they refresh their skills.”
See also: ‘Job hugging’: Why all HR leaders should worry about this trend
In practice, this means operators are not just operators; they are mobile assets capable of stepping into digital analytics or leading a team through a volatile transition. This philosophy was codified in 2022 when Senoko Energy launched a company-wide cultural transformation. By unveiling core values like “We Take Charge” and “We Embrace Change,” the organization signaled that the “steady state” was a thing of the past.
Kwek is clear that the business case for this adaptability is tied directly to the bottom line. She notes that adaptability protects revenue and boosts reliability, particularly because a multi-skilled workforce can shorten response times to outages and reduce the sting of delay penalties. By building internal capability for emerging technologies, Senoko reduces its reliance on expensive contractors and emerging hiring in a market where specialized talent is increasingly scarce. This proactive approach mitigates the risks associated with knowledge gaps during critical projects, ensuring smoother transitions and long-term efficiency.
Perhaps most provocatively, Kwek sees internal mobility as the ultimate antidote to the stagnation of a “job-hugging” world. She argues that low turnover can often mask quiet disengagement. To counter this, Senoko utilizes job rotation systems and “cross-skilling academies” to ensure that long-tenured employees remain an active, flexible talent pool.
“Mobility is an engagement and culture lever in a ‘job-hugging’ world: Low turnover can hide quiet disengagement and skills stagnation; whereas visible rotations, project gigs and cross-skilling academies can turn long-tenured employees into a flexible internal talent pool instead of a fixed cost,” she says.
By bringing together members with diverse expertise for cross-divisional projects, the organization creates a culture where employees are constantly learning from one another, ensuring that latent potential is activated rather than left to settle. This activation is particularly critical when managing the “irreplaceable asset” of institutional knowledge. In the energy sector, losing a veteran engineer can mean losing decades of nuance regarding complex power systems. Kwek’s strategy is to turn an aging workforce into a strategic competitive advantage by engineering systems that force communication between the old guard and the new.
This includes formal “knowledge owner” roles where successors shadow veterans during critical investigations and plant turnarounds. It is a structured passing of the torch that ensures innovation does not come at the cost of operational wisdom. One of the most innovative aspects of this intergenerational bridge is the use of reverse-mentoring councils. In these groups, the traditional hierarchy is inverted.
“We’ve seen the benefits of reverse-mentoring councils: creating standing groups where younger digital natives mentor senior leaders on new tech and customer expectations, while seniors mentor on systems thinking and risk,” Kwek shares.
This creates, she says, a “safe, trusted and non-judgmental environment” for professional development. By formalizing on-the-job training, Senoko ensures that experienced employees are not just performing their roles, but are actively imparting their expertise to ensure new joiners start on the right footing.
As the global energy landscape pivots towards decarbonization, Kwek is also focused on closing the sustainability skills gap. She believes that the organizations that will successfully embed “green skills” are those that recognize that change must start from within. This led to the creation of the Learning Fiesta, a biennial event designed to encourage employees to take charge of their own upskilling. While the 2023 edition focused on the energy transition, the 2024 fiesta targeted digital transformation in the green economy, specifically looking at how AI can drive efficiency.
Kwek is adamant that leaders must “walk the talk” if these green initiatives are to take root. Senior stakeholders at Senoko participate in workshops to align their expectations with Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) requirements, ensuring that the push for sustainability is not seen as a top-down mandate but rather as a shared mission.
“Successful organizations are those that view sustainability as a long-term investment—not an expense—and understand that real capability building takes time. Patience and consistency will ultimately distinguish leaders who genuinely embed green skills from those who remain reactive,” she remarks.
A connected future
Looking ahead to Singapore’s 2030 workforce, Kwek identifies a critical leadership blind spot: the tendency to manage digital transformation and workforce changes in silos. When these challenges are treated as separate projects with different owners, it creates “transformative fatigue” and conflicting priorities. To bridge this gap, Kwek advocates for a leadership model rooted in “systems thinking.” This involves the ability to see the interconnections between technology, the workforce and societal change, driving a cohesive strategy that balances all three dimensions.
Redesigning leadership for the next decade requires more than just technical savvy; it requires a commitment to cross-boundary collaboration and a shift in how leaders communicate. Kwek envisions a world where leaders build partnerships across unions, government and industry, while maintaining an open, two-way dialogue with their teams.
“Leaders should be open to feedback and engage in meaningful dialogue with all of their teams, refraining from simply broadcasting decisions or instructions,” she insists.
By fostering this ecosystem of transparency and continuous learning, Senoko Energy is not just surviving the “job-hugging” era—it is leveraging it to build a more resilient, green-ready and kinetically charged workforce for the future.
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