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She’s moving ahead in her career despite working fewer hours, raising baby
Company’s skills development culture and flexible work arrangements lets physiotherapist nurture her career while caring for her child
Moving from the public to private healthcare sector, Ms Farha Nisha says it was important to have a balance between work flexibility and upskilling opportunities.
PHOTO: THARM SOOK WAI
Jeremy Theseira, Content STudio
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Ms Farha Nisha, 34, was torn between two worlds – her passion for healing others and a mother’s love for her new-born baby.
That was seven years ago. Today, she is no longer torn; you could say she’s re-born – with renewed vigour to improve her skills and career prospects, while revelling in the joys of motherhood.
A physiotherapist at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), Ms Farha and her cyber security consultant husband, 36, had, in August 2017, just welcomed their first child.
Following the delivery of the baby boy, a dilemma: The paediatric specialist felt it would be challenging to balance her career with being actively involved in her son’s formative years.
Would Ms Farha have to sacrifice one for the other?
“I was happy at the hospital,” says Ms Farha, who joined KKH in 2011 after attaining a diploma in physiotherapy from Nanyang Polytechnic and, a year later, a degree from Australia’s Curtin University.
“But I also wanted more options in terms of flexibility. I wanted the ability to spend time with my son while developing my area of specialisation.”
In 2020, she found her win-win solution. Ms Farha left her full-time job at KKH to join Physio & Sole Clinic, a local private practice specialising in physiotherapy and podiatry.
The clinic offered Ms Farha a role as locum therapist – a certified healthcare professional who is engaged on a part-time, contract or ad-hoc basis.
She now works 28 hours a week, down from 42 hours in her previous role. And she is making strides in her career.
Two years ago, she had the opportunity to develop and manage a new department that specialises in physiotherapy for women and children.
It was mutually beneficial. By expanding its expertise and services, the clinic helped Ms Farha grow professionally.
“I love working with children, so it was an area of interest for me,” she says, adding that it was a collaborative initiative, rather than a directive from the clinic’s management.
“It’s not a very common area of specialisation in the private sector and it has really helped to develop my clinical expertise.”
Groom to grow
Ms Farha now serves in management as a senior partner at Physio & Sole, which has nine outlets in Singapore. She trains and mentors younger, less experienced therapists at the clinic’s outlet in Katong, where she is based.
Critical to her career progression, Ms Farha shares, is not only the knowledge, skills and experience she gained over the years, but the clinic’s emphasis on helping employees acquire new skills.
Ms Farha was drawn to healthcare from a young age, inspired by her experience with St John Brigade in secondary school, and her mother, 58, a former nurse.
PHOTO: THARM SOOK WAI
It offers all employees, including locums, an annual training development grant of $1,000, which can be used for a range of internal and external courses. More than half of the clinic’s 67 employees are therapists.
The grant affirmed her decision to join Physio & Sole. “It was important that there was something available to continue developing myself and upgrading my skills.
“Things change all the time in healthcare, and to provide the best clinical care for your patients, you need lots of skills in your toolbox.”
Her employer shares that belief. “We started our company training system at inception, in response to evolving industry demands and with a commitment to nurturing employee growth,” says company director and co-founder Fiona Hu.
Initially, she adds, it was to address skills gaps and equip employees with competencies to excel. “Over time, as the company expanded, we embraced a more comprehensive approach to employee development,” says Ms Hu, 37.
The clinic’s training for its 67 employees focuses on two aspects:
- Technical training for job-specific skills, tools and systems required for various roles within the company, and;
- Soft skills enhancement to improve communication, teamwork, and other interpersonal skills.
Training programmes are done through on-site workshops, seminars and e-learning platforms, and last from a few days to a few months.
Providing diverse learning methods, Ms Hu says, is key to the clinic’s robust training programme. “It caters to varied learning preferences, ensuring flexibility and accommodating different schedules.”
To further identify skills gaps and craft-tailored training programmes, Physio & Sole adopted the Skills Framework for Healthcare by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), which launched in 2019.
Jointly developed by SSG, Workforce Singapore and the Ministry of Health, it serves as a comprehensive guide to help companies identify industry-specific skills, and map out training and development pathways for employees.
Physio & Sole also conducts monthly on-the-job training sessions to help employees adapt the skills learnt to their respective roles.
For example, Ms Farha – who also specialises in scoliosis (curvature of the spine) treatment – has attended courses on paediatric development and spinal exercises, and even became certified to teach clinical pilates as an exercise to manage scoliosis.
“These training opportunities are very important to me,” she says. “I always make sure I’m signing up for courses that are relevant to my work, so I can help my patients.”
They gain when companies train
- This senior housekeeping attendant has worked at the same hotel since 1991. Over the years, as the hotel transforms, so does she. At the age of 73, she becomes software savvy.
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Recognise, retrain, reward to retain
Ms Hu says it is also crucial to recognise employees’ efforts to grow and develop, along with upskilling and training initiatives.
“Worries about staff leaving after undergoing programmes is a common concern, especially among small and medium enterprises,” she says.
To retain talent, the clinic complements training with career development paths and competitive compensation packages to “foster an environment where continuous learning is rewarded”.
For cultivating a workplace that supports and recognises growth, Physio & Sole was a Gold award recipient at the 2023 SkillsFuture Employer Awards. The annual award honours organisations that champion skills development and a culture of continuous learning at the workplace.
Of the clinic’s supportive culture, Ms Farha says: “If you’re interested in taking courses, you don’t need to write a three-page justification or anything like that.
“If I think acquiring these skills would help my patients and is good for my clinical practice, my bosses will say ‘go ahead, do it’.”
Award bolsters retention
The SkillsFuture Employer Awards recognises outstanding employers that excel in building a lifelong learning culture, recognising skills and mastery when hiring and in the career development of their employees. These efforts also align with national manpower objectives.
Presented by the President of Singapore, the award gives recipients an edge in attracting and retaining talent.
It is open to all Singapore-registered entities, including small and medium enterprises, corporations and voluntary welfare organisations.
- The SkillsFuture Fellowships and SkillsFuture Employer Awards 2024 are now open for application until March 20.
This is the second of a two-part series produced in partnership with SkillsFuture Singapore
