Granting Your Wishes: A Guide to 3 Major Business Grants in Singapore
Running a business and ensuring that it remains competitive is challenging, especially in light of the recent global COVID-19 recession. People issues are always near the top of the agenda for business leaders. This is particularly true for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups, who face resource constraints when it comes to hiring and retaining talent. Fortunately, in a bid to help local companies, the Singapore government has introduced a range of grants to improve the HR capabilities of businesses in Singapore. Here, we highlight the 3 most impactful grants that can help SMEs overcome their HR challenges and show you why you should apply for them now!
- Enterprise Development Grant (EDG)
- Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG)
- Global Ready Talent (GRT) Programme
Enterprise Development Grant (EDG)
Administered by Enterprise Singapore since 2018, EDG supports projects that help Singapore companies of all sizes grow through capability building and internationalization under 3 pillars:
- Core Capabilities
- Innovation & Productivity
- Market Access
This is done by funding up to 70% of business project costs for SMEs, and up to 50% of qualified costs for non-SMEs, and covers third party consultancy, software and equipment, and internal incremental manpower costs. In response to the COVID-19 recession in 2020, the funding has been raised to 80% of project costs until 31 March 2022. This means that after reimbursement, you pay only 20% of the project fee!
To qualify for the EDG, the business owner needs to:
- Be a business entity registered and operating in Singapore
- Have a minimum of 30% local shareholding
- Be in a financially viable position to start and complete the project
EDG empowers companies to grow and tackle core challenges. For example, under the Human Capital Development section of the Core Capabilities pillar, EDG projects can tackle issues such as:
- Compensation & Benefits
- Employee Engagement & Communication
- Employee Value Proposition
- Job Redesign
- Learning & Development
- Manpower Planning
- Organisation Culture
- Performance Management
- Recruitment & Selection
- Talent Management & Succession Planning
An example of the services covered under the EDG would be HR consulting services by consultants such as TalentKraft. We have helped companies like yours answer critical HR questions, such as:
- How do I attract better quality applicants for my jobs?
- Can I grow my team without spending all my time doing interviews?
- What can I do to increase employee satisfaction without spending more?
- How can I keep good people in my company for longer?
- Vendors keep coming to me with tech solutions — which ones should I use?
- How do I attract better quality applicants for my jobs?
- Can I grow my team without spending all my time doing interviews?
- What can I do to increase employee satisfaction without spending more?
- How can I keep good people in my company for longer?
- Vendors keep coming to me with tech solutions — which ones should I use?
If questions like these are always on your mind, take advantage of the 80% reimbursement and solve your headaches now!
Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG)
Launched in 2018 to assist businesses in their transformation journey, PSG supports companies in their journey to adopt specific IT productivity solutions or equipment. Different companies have different grant caps — you can check yours here.
To qualify for the PSG, the business owner needs to:
- Be a business entity registered and operating in Singapore
- Be purchasing/leasing/subscribing IT
solutions/equipment/consultancy service to be used in Singapore - Have a minimum of 30% local shareholding. (For selected solutions only)
- Have at least 3 local employees at the point of application (For selected solutions only)
PSG covers both sector-specific solutions (e.g. in retail, logistics, financial services, etc.), as well as broad-based solutions that cut across all industries (e.g. customer relationship management, human resource management systems, etc.). For example:
- Hubspot, a suite of customer management tools that generate leads and streamlines processes
- StaffAny, an e-scheduling system that frees up time spent on issues like staffing and attendance tracking.
- Payboy, a payroll software that manages leaves, claims, rostering, etc.
The appropriate IT solution can help you spend less time on administration, and more time on growing your business. Click here to find out more!
Global Ready Talent Programme (GRT)
The Global Ready Talent (GRT) Programme seeks to build a pipeline of global-ready talents for Singapore enterprises by exposing Singaporeans to internships and work opportunities (both local and overseas), where they will gain the crucial skills and knowledge to navigate challenges in the global market. Even if you don’t have operations overseas or immediate plans to go international, you can still benefit from the GRT!
To qualify for the GRT, the business owner needs to:
- Be incorporated in Singapore with a minimum 30% local shareholding.
- Be in a financially viable position to sustain the internship and MA programme for its entire duration.
- Possess strong HR practices (especially in areas of learning & development and talent management).
- Be committed towards talent and leadership development,
- For enterprises offering overseas internships: Have existing overseas operations, good business outlook and growth plans.
SGTech, together with TalentKraft, has put together a list of companies that utilised the GRT and benefited from it. Through the GRT, companies like Arcadier and Inspire-Tech with offices overseas could offer twice the normal number of internship opportunities. The benefits extend beyond short-term internships — for example, Arcadier’s dedication to employee’s growth has resulted in 80% of their interns converting to full-time employment after their internships!
If you ever find yourself in need of eager young talent, and are able to provide mentorship and guidance, consider applying for GRT subsidies to grow your intern pool here.
Preparing for the future
Apart from these 3 most commonly-used grants, Enterprise Singapore also offers a whole suite of financial and non-financial assistance to support different businesses.
Running a business is tough even in the best of times. People issues are often a big part of the challenge and most SMEs have difficulties accessing resources to solve them. As a Singapore company, you have the unique opportunity to improve your HR capability, processes, and technology with significant financial support from the government. Have a chat with our experts today to see how we can help!
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