GREETINGS
Assistant Secretary-General of NTUC
Vice Chairperson of NTUC Women’s Committee
Member of NTUC Central Committee
Director for NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat
ABOUT LITTLE ONES @ WORK
Little Ones @ Work is an employee support initiative, started by NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) in 2009.
The programme aims to promote work-life integration by encouraging companies to designate at least one day in a year to allow their employees to bring their children to their workplaces.
Quote from SMMWU, Women Leader, Ms Sue Goghari
Through the session, the children are able to understand and appreciate their parents’ workplace and working life better. The session definitely promotes work-life integration at the workplace. The entire experience not only help parents bond with their children but also help the employees feel a stronger sense of belonging to the company.
What was done differently from the past two years was the inclusion of a drawing segment. From June to October this year, participating companies included in their programme a one-hour drawing segment for the children, whereby the children were encouraged to draw out their aspirations – “When I grow up, I want to be…”. We collected a total of 887 drawings, and as you can see here, they are put together to break the Singapore Book of Records on “The Biggest Logo Made of Wish Cards”.
Tonight is not only about breaking records, it is also about appreciating our companies, employees and their children for embracing the work-life initiatives, in wanting to create a win-win-win situation for all parties involved. It is also about recognising companies who have walked the Little Ones @ Work journey with WDS since 2009, when it all started.
STATISTICS ON LITTLE ONES @ WORK
2009 - 39 companies, 1900 children
2010 - 61 companies, 2900 children
2011 (until end October) - 39 companies, 1650 children
2009 - 2011 (until end Dec) - 150 companies, 6800 children
4 IMPORTANCE ON WORK-LIFE INITIATIVES
The Tripartite Committee on Work-Life Strategy was set up in 2000 to drive the promotion of work-life harmony in Singapore.
The Singapore National Employers Federation conducted a study on 11 Singapore-based organisations before and found that for every S$1 spent on family-friendly programmes, the company reaped a return of S$1.68.
Work-life strategies have been found to lead to:
In today's competitive economy, a company's performance is increasingly intertwined with the well-being of its employees. Employees with less worry in their personal lives are more likely to be committed and engaged at the workplace, thus enhancing the company's business performance.
The implementation of a Work-Life strategy is key to achieving such a win-win situation for both employers and employees. It also plays an important part in attracting and retaining talent.
In a downturn or a better economic situation, workers need support in keeping a healthy balance between work life and home life. This support becomes even more important in times of a downturn as workers are impacted in various ways.
People are still required to do their best. And they will only perform their best if they are able to take care of both their needs at work and at home. Thus, employers should keep in view of their long-term goals and that human resource policies must be sustainable and not for imminent and immediate needs of a company.
Based on a survey done with 200 companies in Singapore in 2008, NTUC WDS found out that employees appreciate and look forward to better work-life integration at work. Around 75% employers said such programmes helped boost employees’ motivation and morale. About 70% felt that such programmes had a positive effect on employer branding and 66% felt that such programmes produced happy employees.
“The separation between home and work is often an artificial one. What happens at work impacts on our home life and similarly, what happens at home affects performance at work,” quoted Mdm Halimah Yacob, former NTUC Deputy Secretary-General.
WDS WORK-LIFE INITIATIVES
- Flexi-Works! Funding Programme
Started since 2008, the Flexi-Works! Funding programme has engaged over 300 companies to implement and offer more than 7,600 jobs on Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA) basis. The current Flexi-Works! 2011 Funding programme, targets to create 1,500 jobs on flexible work arrangements (FWA) basis.
We hope to encourage more employers to allow their existing workers to be on FWA so that more women can remain in the workforce and do not have to choose between their career and family.
- Research Efforts
Earlier this year, WDS embarked on research with over 1200 men and women to determine the areas of help that will enable women to remain in the workforce. The research also studied expectations of women by both men and women as well as the level of satisfaction with their lives. Adequacy of support was considered in three areas namely – family, employer and government. A complete report will be published and launched at a later date with voice of advocacy for more to be done.
WDS will be translating the survey results into actionable programmes to better address the needs of working women. One such programme is the Work-Life workshop which seeks to empower working women with the skill of preparing and presenting a viable business proposal to be on flexible work arrangement so as to help them better balance their work and family responsibilities.
- Work-Life Workshops
One of the new work-life initiatives this year is the “Work-The-Talk” programme which is aimed at raising the awareness and importance of maintaining couple hood, parenthood and work-life harmony. This programme will identify the areas and challenges that working people face, both at home and at work.
Through this one-hour talk, employees will learn how to communicate and better manage their expectations so as to prevent possible conflicts with the people around them. By end of the year, 50 companies are expected to have participated in this programme, benefitting more than 2,000 employees.
Research done by WDS earlier this year on the support needed by working women showed that having FWA is perceived as the most desirable form of support for working women with family care responsibilities. As such, earlier this month, a work-life workshop targeted at working women PME was piloted.
With a focus on retaining female talent in the workforce, the workshop discussed the mindset required prior to asking for a conversion to FWA. Based on scenario planning exercises, participants were provided with some basic tools on how they can request for their current full-time roles to be converted into FWAs.
BROAD DIRECTIONS – MOVING FORWARD
NTUC WDS will continue to work with our partners to explore creative work-life initiatives and programmes to achieve the WIN-WIN situation for both employees and employers.
Specifically, WDS is working to get more companies on board and sustaining the Little Ones @ Work for many years to come. The programme aims to help in bonding between the staff and their children as the latter understands more about their parents' workplace, and can also set the stage in inspiring the little ones on what they want to be when they grow up. The visit to the workplaces inculcated positive work ethics in the children and helped them better understand their parents’ work.
Quote from FedEx Express Singapore, Sales Manager, Ms Ng Jin Jin
My daughter, Megan’s interest in FedEx caught on quickly with our constant sharing about our school and work day. She always looked forward to meeting my FedEx team members and love popping into my office whenever I needed little extra work done. She would excitedly point out to FedEx vans or couriers whenever she sees them on the road. So, when there was the opportunity to show her more about FedEx, we immediately signed up. After the tour, she was so impressed with FedEx, the employees and operations, that she said she wants to grow up to be a FedEx CEO! I was surprised with her dream but also proud at the same time.
CLOSING
I would like to applaud the companies who have organised the Little Ones @ Work and with special mention of the five companies who would be recognised later for walking the Little Ones @ Walk journey with WDS, namely City Gas Pte Ltd, Feoso Oil (S) Pte Ltd, Mercer, NTUC Club and Stats ChipPAC Ltd.
People especially women have multiple roles. They do not stop being parents when they go to work. So by helping them to manage their family commitments and giving them the peace of mind is an important strategy in enhancing efficiency and productivity.
This is part of an overall strategy. What companies need to know is how to adopt a holistic approach towards helping their workers manage both their careers and families. Companies must be interested in developing sustainable models of business and adopting the Little Ones @ Work programme is one of such.
Thus I would like to strongly encourage companies who have not come on board the Little Ones @ Work Programme to learn from fellow companies on how to manage and work around operational challenges to bring about a more memorable and positive learning journey for their employees and children.
Quote from Swissotel Merchant Court, General Manager, Mr Rainer Tenius
I think it is very important for the little ones to see their parents’ workplace in order to understand better and relate the statement “Mum/Dad is goin to work” to reality. It will make them proud too. I would encourage fellow hospitality organisations to participate in this meaningful programme as the employees’ children will be more appreciative of their parents’ workplace and efforts. Making the employees feel proud of their organization will help foster a stronger sense of belonging.
Thank you.
