On 5 October 2015, Coca-Cola Singapore Beverages (CCSB) announced that it would be shutting down its bottling plant in Tuas. The decision affected 200 workers. Majority of the workers were released in batches between December 2015 and June 2016.
While retrenchment is never regarded as good news for anyone involved, CCSB’s people-first approach stands out for the way the management was sensitive to the feelings of affected employees.
“Planning how to approach the retrenchment exercise was centred on how to help workers deal and cope with the change. We wanted people to move quickly into the new beginning. They have to move ahead, and we have to help them.
“It’s a broad statement, but at the end of the day, what was important is that all the employees had been here for so many years. We had to respect that,” said the company’s HR Director Gaurav Sharma.
Heart In The Approach
Respect. Dignity. Fairness – These were the fundamental values that guided CCSB’s approach towards the retrenchment exercise.
The company also consulted the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU), the Ministry of Manpower and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) in its decision-making process.
“We were very transparent about what we wanted to do and took all the inputs from the various agencies into consideration,” said Mr Gaurav.
The company also took measures to be transparent in its communication, with CCSB CEO Stephen Lusk taking a personal stake in the process. He addressed all employees and detailed how the company will be there to support them through their transition. Group and one-to-one counselling sessions were also arranged for employees to ensure that they understood the support, while translation was made available to ensure all were aware of the situation.
“Our job as good leaders was to quickly move people from hurt to heal. We would be fooling ourselves that if we communicate adequately, people will heal. We need to support our employees and recognise how difficult this change can be,” said Mr Gaurav.
Pillars of Support
To achieve the tangible outcome of helping the affected workers transition through the change, there were four key pillars which CCSB looked at.
A very strong retrenchment package benchmarked to be competitive with the market
The package considered the needs of the different groups of workers and included additional medical insurance for six months and union membership for a year.
A very strong reskilling, retraining, re-employment programme
CCSB worked with NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and FDAWU to identify possible industries and jobs where workers could move into. They also organised Employability Camps with e2i and paid for training courses to reskill workers. A $500 training incentive was also given to each affected worker.
Job fairs and job matching to get people employed
The company organised exclusive job fairs in partnership with e2i. Some 25 different companies offered over 300 positions for the affected workers.
Psychological support
Besides one-to-one counselling at the point of retrenchment, the service was also made available for an additional six months after the staff’s last day.
“From the word go, the union and Coca-Cola Singapore Beverages’ management were aligned in our common desire to ensure that affected workers and members were accorded a fair package and were exited with dignity and empathy.
“Negotiations kick-started way in advance and this enabled the union to bring on board partners such as NTUC's e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and the National Council of Social Service to provide additional support to the workers in terms of training, placement and counselling. These efforts encouraged workers to stay positive - keeping their morale up and making this a less traumatic experience for them.” - Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union General Secretary Tan Hock Soon
