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Being part of New Asia means we’re plugged into the dynamism of Asia while remaining rooted in our heritage.

New Asia is our identity, purpose, future.

The humility to serve, the confidence to lead – we respect tradition but do not conform for conformity’s sake. New Asia pushes the envelope!

New Asia means we dare to be different; to take risks and take on a can-do attitude.
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Special feature
One Bank, One Team,
One Heartbeat
Emails from management, quarterly staff briefings on the bank’s performance, business unit off-sites to build team-work and department gatherings? The year 2006 featured all these and more – much more.
 
 
 
 
DBS staff have never been so prominently featured in a region wide campaign before...or seen anything like the townhalls that took place throughout 2006...or taken part in quarterly pulse of-the-staff surveys and later to have the findings shared at the very next quarterly staff briefing...or had the Chairman address their questions, worries and opinions directly and individually.

Starring the DBS family!
What was going on? Townhalls in four countries – Hong Kong first, followed by Singapore, India, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and ending with one in Jakarta (see picture on page 27) – saw thousands of DBS staff from all over the region come together to celebrate the bank’s New Asia spirit.

The energetic celebrations bowled over and invigorated the staff. For many, it was the first time they have ever gathered in full force to hear their senior management speak about DBS being “One Bank, One Team, One Heartbeat” and how every staff was to play a part in building that bank. Judging from the sea of coordinated red and black attire and their enthusiastic cheering, staff embraced the bank’s vision with gusto.

In another invigorating move to make staff proud of being part of DBS and take ownership of the bank’s future, many DBS talents showcased their New Asia spirit in DBS’ first ever regional brand campaign that saw their faces adorn public buses, taxis, branch posters, our internet banking website, DBS diaries, calendars and even outdoor billboards all over Hong Kong and Singapore.

Having work-life balance, being part of the community
DBS was one of the first local banks in Hong Kong to implement a five-day work week in 2006, aligning our Hong Kong colleagues with the rest of the our network around the world. A forerunner of work-life balance practices, DBS offers a flexible scheme allowing staff to choose their working hours, subject of course to the bank’s business needs. DBS also gives employees in Hong Kong and Singapore up to two days of “pro-family” leave a year.

Asia being at risk of a pandemic avian flu outbreak was not lost on DBS either. Contingency measures were put in place across all DBS offices to help deal with a potential outbreak – flu vaccinations were made available at the local doctors; staff monitoring and emergency response plans were set up; and personal protective equipment for staff were stockpiled.

Close to a hundred social and recreational activities were organised across Asia last year by the DBS Recreation Club in Singapore, DBS Staff Club in Hong Kong, DBS Indonesia and DBS India. Visits to homes for the elderly, fitness classes, blood and bone marrow donation drives, walkathons and family days kept the volunteers busy while promoting camaraderie, friendship and a strong community spirit.

Learning and developing at DBS
DBS takes people leadership and development seriously as no organisation can successfully deepen its bench-strength unless it focuses on talent management, training and career development.

In 2006, the DBS Learning Centre was revamped to provide staff with better equipped learning systems and facilities, and access to a wider range of resources.

The DBS Management Associate Program (MAP) was established in 2003 to serve as the leadership pipeline for the bank. It was relaunched last year as an 18-month regional leadership training program. The latest cohort comprises high potential associates hailing from China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and Singapore. The MAP provides a dynamic environment for growth and continuous learning through an intensive and structured training programme focussing on three broad areas – on-the-job experience, education-based on-campus learning and relationship-based development including a mentoring scheme and senior management networking.

Crisis management workshops were developed in 2006 to better equip DBS managers with skills to help their colleagues deal with work stress and the challenge of facing today’s competitive environment.

Going to the heart of the matter
There is a serious intent behind all the glossy posters, townhalls and talent management programmes. An extensive multi-market discovery and forward positioning research programme that took place in the second half of 2005 pointed the way forward for DBS – to embody the modern, vibrant and confident spirit of New Asia and at the same time embrace the region’s rich heritage and values.

The research showed there is a groundswell of pride and confidence in the future of Asia that speaks of a new dynamism and passion, coupled with a deep appreciation of Asia’s heritage.

And for a regional bank focussed on Asia, our success depends on DBS living and breathing this New Asia spirit. This could never come close to reality if each and every one of DBS’ 13,000 employees did not epitomise this dynamic can-do spirit with a deep sense of belonging, purpose and pride when they come to work each day.

We made encouraging progress last year in communicating to our colleagues DBS’ New Asia mindset and going by their own definitions of what “New Asia” means – as seen in a sample of their quotes on these pages – they have begun to identify with and imbue that aspiration with real meaning. In 2007, as we continue to transform DBS into one of the most respected and admired financial institutions in Asia, we shall further embed this spirit into all that we say, think and do.