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Tan Mui Sim, Group CHRO, Alliance Bank, shares how the organisation strives to be not just a place to work, but a place to thrive for all employees.
In today’s dynamic banking landscape, creating an outstanding employee experience is more crucial than ever. At Alliance Bank, this commitment is woven into every aspect of its operations, with the organisation believing that a high-performance culture, driven by a strong sense of purpose and strategic alignment, is the cornerstone of its sustained success.
Through its Alliance DNA and employee value proposition (EVP), encapsulated in its INSPIRE framework, the Bank aims to cultivate a workplace where employees are not just motivated and aligned with its goals but are also proud to belong, says Tan Mui Sim, Group Chief Human Resource Officer.
In this interview, HRO speaks to Tan to learn about the employee experience strategies that she affirms make Alliance Bank not just a place to work, but a place to thrive, earning the organisation five awards at the Employee Experience Awards 2024, Malaysia:
- Gold:
- Best In-House Candidate Experience,
- Best Workforce Innovation,
- Best Employer Branding,
- Best In-House Recruitment Team.
- Overall win: Overall Talent Acquisition Award
Q How would you describe the pillars of your employee experience strategy, and what are the principles you have taken into account to develop this?
At Alliance Bank, we aspire to foster a high-performance culture to achieve sustained success and growth. It’s one where employees are empowered, motivated and aligned with the Bank’s strategic goals. At the heart of our high-performance culture is the strong alignment to our Alliance DNA and EVP. Our DNA defines the Bank’s Vision, Mission, Values, and Customer Promise that guides our direction and actions, while our EVP encompasses the benefits, opportunities and experiences that we offer to our employees.
Ultimately, we want to nurture a workplace where our employees are proud to belong to. In line with this, our refreshed EVP, known as INSPIRE focuses on three key pillars:
- Culture: A shared sense of purpose that guides the Bank in achieving common goals.
- Career: Where we aim to attract, develop and retain the brightest minds in building a workforce that is agile and future ready.
- Well-being: Prioritising employees’ well-being through various initiatives that focuses on physical, emotional, social and financial well-being.
This is a holistic approach that aims to make Alliance Bank a workplace where our employees and future new joiners are proud to belong to, further reinforcing our brand purpose to be "The Bank for Life".
Q In a world propelled by rapid change, what measures do you have in place to maintain a people-centric, human approach to your EX as it evolves?
Expanding from INSPIRE, we aim to build and empower a community that focuses on improving the lives of not just our customers, but our people as well. Measures such as continuous feedback and ‘voice of employees’ (VOE) survey were established to understand our people’s needs and build a community that fosters a positive, enriching culture. More developments were implemented to build the capability of our workforce, ensuring that employees are agile and future ready.
Comprehensive well-being initiatives were created, covering various aspects for our employees such as physical, financial, social and emotional well-being. In the face of rapid change, developing a resilient and engaged workforce is a key to increasing the employee experience.
Q What initiatives do you undertake such that the delivery of employee experience is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders in the organisation?
The Bank uses a top-down approach, ensuring that senior leaders visibly champion and prioritise employee experience. They are equipped with the skills to foster a positive employee experience, thus setting an example for the Bank and its people.
Employees are empowered to take ownership of their work and contribute to initiatives that improve the workplace environment, delivering their skills and results, thus providing them a platform to be recognised and rewarded accordingly. These accolades are prominently featured via our ‘Alliance Heroes’ and ‘ManCo Appreciates You’ recognition platforms.
The ‘Alliance Heroes’ platform empowers employees to award appreciation Badges that represent our organisation’s core Values to anyone within the organisation for exemplifying the right values and behaviours in their daily actions. ‘ManCo Appreciates You’ is a platform for senior management to recognise and appreciate exemplary employees who go above and beyond to deliver innovative solutions that showcase our speed, service and personalisation.
Q Do you have words of wisdom to share with others in the industry on the best ways to keep your employee experience consistent and beautiful?
At Alliance Bank, we believe that consistency is essential for creating a positive employee experience. We ensure that our actions align with our values and beliefs to maintain message consistency.
We emphasise empathy and active listening to foster transparent and open communication, building trust and engagement among employees of all levels.
Additionally, we provide extensive professional and personal development opportunities to enhance the well-being of our employees.
Recognising the importance of digitisation, we recently launched ‘Connexion’, a new HR system designed to provide seamless experience and further elevate employee engagement. We are committed to cultivating a culture that aligns with our organisational values.
Q Finally, what is the positive impact of employee experience that you’ve seen on the business as well as the workforce?
From a business perspective, our employees are more engaged and motivated, resulting in greater impact and outcomes. Additionally, we have experienced a reduction in employee turnover, which has led to cost savings related to recruiting and training new hires as well as the retention of valuable institutional knowledge. Our supportive and collaborative workplace culture encourages teams to share ideas, leading to innovative solutions.
From the workforce perspective, our well-being initiatives, professional development opportunities, and recognition efforts – embodied in our INSPIRE pillars – have resulted in higher levels of job satisfaction and productivity.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!
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