Reflections from a DXO Stint at Nexus (part of Defence Policy Group, MINDEF) - Anonymous employee MINDEF Singapore Employee Review

Steep Hierarchy. Almost everybody bent backwards daily to outwardly please the boss and to create ample chances for them to show that they are boss. Before a meeting began, for example, the team would reserve the center chair at the meeting table for the boss to seat at when he came in (boss would always be the last to enter the meeting room). When the meeting started, since the boss would typically have very high power distance, everyone attending a discussion would concur with whatever the boss said or proposed. Blind Spots. Since whatever the bosses said was regarded as correct, this creates an organization where groupthink is prevalent. A boss could propose any random idea which he feels is a great idea, and then we would all have to implement his idea. After a meeting, we would all busy ourselves with finding selective data and research which would validate the boss' idea. Nobody dared to veto for fear of appearing disrespectful and being black-listed. The Boss is "God". The deeply-entrenched practice of elevating the bosses to an almost god-like level was evident in our monthly management meetings. The monthly meeting was called "Prayers", which implied that we the employees had to go to the meeting to seek the god's advice and blessings for proposed plans. At a particular time in each month, we would all be scrambling like mad to prepare flashy and sophisticated-looking powerpoint slides for Prayers. Lack of Streamlined Workflows. What hindered my ability to work effectively was the lack of streamlined workflows. For example, when I wanted to write a simple outreach email to principals, my email had to be edited about 12 times over two weeks before it could be sent out. (In my previous job, I only had to clear important emails an average of one time with my boss. Currently, I don't even have to clear any high-level emails with my boss). Such a speed and habit of working was unacceptable for me because it signaled a low level of productivity in Nexus, and I was not able to harness my full effectiveness. Low Transferable Skills to Private Sector and Other Government Agencies. As the work which DXOs do tends to be highly specialized in terms of its knowledge domain, it is hard for any DXO to get a next job after staying in MINDEF for too long. DXOs do not gain any functional skills which are recognized by the private sector as well. When I was preparing to exit Nexus and was going for job interviews, the stop-dead question that I inevitably got at interviews was "Nexus? Oh, it's part of MINDEF? What do you do exactly?". Not long after my answer, the interviewer would politely say "Ok we will call you if we find you suitable". DXOs are Second-Class to Military Personnel. DXOs in MINDEF are treated as second-class to military personnel. This is evident from the vast number of military personnel who are parachuted to be department and team heads in DXO outfits, and also from the fact that DXOs have no planned/guided career progressions (unlike the military equivalent of the tour of duty). Should a DXO want to excel, he/she would have to plan, anticipate and fight very hard for opportunities against military personnel and DXO scholars. Highly-Regimented Culture. At one point, my supervisor shared feedback with me that a military colleague whom I normally worked with wanted to convey the message for me not to call him by name, but that I should address him by rank and name instead. While I regarded military colleagues as fellow professionals and strived for a healthy level of informality, most military colleagues would prefer a strict code of regimentation to be adhered to - right down to explicitly acknowledging their military rank in all written and verbal communication. Therefore I found myself expanding energy trying to please the highly-regimented culture much more than being able to direct my attention to real work. Final Sharing to Anyone Considering a DXO Job or Career. If for whatever reason, you would like to apply to work in Nexus or MINDEF, I would suggest that you ensure you have a sound exit strategy first. Once you get into Nexus or MINDEF, you would most likely be stuck there for a while because the real working world would not want you so much thereafter. We know that in a fast-moving economy, solid transferable skills and alternative career choices are the currency of success in today's workplace.