As I ploughed through the names of NTUC’s women union leaders to feature for in our special series, one name that popped up was Michelle Teo Lee Yen from the Healthcare Services’ Employees Union (HSEU).
I managed to fix the interview to take place at the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital where Michelle was bringing her son for speech therapy treatment.
It was most obliging of her to set aside time even though she was on family care leave. It goes to show the seriousness to which she takes her union work.
Michelle left her son in the care of her helper and we headed to the nearest café for the chit chat.
And true to her words that she likes to be a voice for her colleagues, she eagerly opened up to me about the various roles she plays in life and at work.
A Union Leader
Michelle’s journey with the union started in 2002 when her manager at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) asked if she could be the hospital’s representative in HSEU. She was already a union member then.
Michelle can be a quiet person at work, but she will not hesitate to break her silence.
“My manager chose me because during our work meetings, I tend to speak up and voice my views,” she recalled.
The 45-year-old has an interest in industrial relations and solving grievances which probably stems from her liking for people management.
She has 28 staff under her charge and interacting with them daily gives her the chance also to tackle staff issues within her own department.
In the course of her 13 years of union work, she has dealt with many cases but one of them remains vivid in her memory - a case of staff sabotage .
“This almost warranted the termination of a staff. We stepped in, and during our investigations, we found out that the action was a result of cumulative emotions due to some misunderstanding between two of them. We also found out that the supervisor was aware all along that the relationship was not good, but did not take action and the problem escalated to sabotage".
“Through the union involvement, we managed to lighten the punishment for the staff guilty of the sabotage. He also managed to retain his job. The second person was given a warning,” said Michelle.
She added that the art of solving problems amongst her colleagues has personally helped her to mellow down in life.
“In the past, I used to be very quick-tempered,” Michelle admitted.
“I was once dealing with a grievance case and the union member was not an easy person to handle. In the course of handling the matter, I became speechless, emotional and broke down".
“At that time, I was also pregnant. When I returned to work I carried the emotions with me. On that day, when my staff had brought some work-related feedback to me, I just ‘blasted’ the staff. Subsequently, I did apologise to the staff concerned,” she added.
In fact, Michelle has the union to thank for improving her management style as she has attended the leadership courses they provided.
An Employee
In her daily job at TTSH’s Department of Laboratory Medicine, the senior medical technologist handles client services and deals with patients and their family members.
She also attends to enquiries from doctors and nurses on laboratory-related issues. Much of what is doing today was learnt on the job, said Michelle who has a diploma in chemical process technology and a degree in management.
Michelle, who has been in this job for 26 years, understands the importance of her work and takes a very firm approach in communicating it to others. In fact, her simple mantra to her team is this: put yourselves in the shoes of your patient.
“I tell my staff, especially the technical assistants that any mistake they make will have a huge impact on the patient. The doctors rely on our work and the results of the tests to give the proper treatment to the patient. Treat the patient’s blood sample as if it is yours. How do you want people to treat your blood sample? Do the same thing when you handle others’ samples,” explained Michelle.
A Mum
At home, Michelle spends most of her time with her two-and-a-half-year-old son Shaun Tay.
“My son has some delay in his speech. I will need to spend more time with him to improve his speech".
“At work I may get frustrated but at the end of the day when I see him, I feel happy. For the next two to three years, I will spend more time with him,” she shared.
She dedicates most weekends to bonding with her son.
“He loves cars, so I'll play toy cars with him. And sometimes I bring him out for shopping and swimming. I let him have the freedom to do what he likes and once in a while educating him with a stern look when he makes mistakes,” said Michelle as she happily posed for a picture for me with her son.
