share on
The focus is on enabling employees to apply their knowledge and skills to support the underserved, as Ong Siok Peng, Talent Leader at Deloitte Singapore, tells us.
With over 175 years of operations, Deloitte has grown to a workforce of an estimated 415,000 personnel across 150 countries and territories.
At the Singapore HR Excellence Awards 2023, Deloitte Singapore took home the bronze award for 'Excellence in Employee Volunteerism'.
In this interview with HRO, Ong Siok Peng, Talent Leader, Deloitte Singapore, shares with us the initiatives that brought the organisation to its victory.
Q. Congratulations on your top performance at the HR Excellence Awards! How has your HR and people strategy contributed to your success this year?
At Deloitte, we are committed to our purpose of making an impact that matters for our clients, our people and our communities. As the largest professional services firm in the world, we believe that we have a responsibility to be a force for good and lead the way in tackling the increasingly complex challenges that we face in the world today.
Given our large pool of talent, we recognise our ability to contribute to the communities around us and emphasise a culture of giving back by encouraging our people to participate in various volunteer opportunities organised by our CSR team. Our range of initiatives, guided by our shared values, which includes taking care of one another, has enabled us to receive the bronze award for 'Excellence in Employee Volunteerism'.
In Singapore, Deloitte’s employee volunteerism is managed through Deloitte SG Cares – our CSR arm. Our people are encouraged to make an Impact Every Day through volunteering opportunities throughout the year and to use their passion and skills to support the communities where we live and work. In addition to our year-round activities, we also have an annual Impact Month, where we dedicate a month to bring our people together to engage in various volunteer opportunities.
Q. Looking back at your achievements, what aspect of your HR initiatives are you most proud of and why?
With our involvement in community initiatives and efforts to encourage employee volunteerism, we are proud of being able to build a caring culture among our people. The implementation of our employee volunteerism strategy is unique – volunteering for us is not just about taking time off to contribute on a one-off basis. Our goal is to cultivate a culture of volunteerism by actively encouraging our people to apply their knowledge and skills to support the underserved.
Offering volunteering opportunities and platforms to support the community around us also serves as a way of creating a more fulfilling talent experience for our people, which will enable us to attract and retain the best talent.
Q. During your HR journey, what were some significant obstacles you faced, and how did you overcome them to achieve excellence?
In order for our strategy to be successful, we needed to ensure that we had leadership support, as many of our volunteering activities require taking time off work.
Over time, we have built a culture of giving back, with our leaders being more supportive, and our people spending some time away from work for volunteering opportunities has become accepted as part of our talent experience.
Due to the nature of our work, which involves working with clients and colleagues across the globe, we may have some of our people sign up for volunteering opportunities but end up not being able to make it due to sudden work commitments. This could be an issue for the organising team, which may have committed to a fixed number of volunteers with our community partner, and this gets especially complicated when there are numerous volunteering opportunities running concurrently. To combat this, we ensure that we have a volunteer “wait list”, with volunteers who can be activated if necessary.
Q. How does your organisation measure the success and impact of your HR initiatives?
We measure the success of our employee volunteerism initiatives by tracking key statistics such as the number of volunteers, number of volunteer hours, and number of beneficiaries impacted. These metrics contribute to our global targets, such as our WorldClass initiative which aims to improve educational outcomes, develop job skills, and expand opportunities for 100 million people worldwide by 2030. We also receive qualitative feedback from our volunteers, many of whom have continued volunteering year on year.
Q. In what direction do you see the HR/people function evolving in the future, considering the emerging trends?
Based on Deloitte’s 2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, many Gen Zs and millennials seek out employment opportunities at organisations that have values that align with their own. They also want to be empowered to drive change within their organisations and influence social impact. As such, we believe that our focus on building a culture of employee volunteerism will continue to play a role in differentiating our organisation as a great place to work and enable us to stand out among our competitors.
We hope to continue attracting talent that recognise the privilege of being part of a large global firm, are socially conscious, and want to contribute to society. This way, we can make an impact that matters for the communities around us, as well as provide a well-rounded talent experience for our people.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets' section!
Lead image / Provided by Deloitte Singapore
share on
