Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.
Personal development refers to the betterment of the self. That’s why many seek out pursuits like yoga, known for helping to still the mind in our ever-changing world. OCBC Bank editor, Jill Alphonso, has been a convert for 20 years. “Yoga deeply enriches my day to day,” says the former journalist, who works for the Bank’s Group Brand & Communications department. “It helps me develop the tools that are useful in both my personal life and the corporate world.” If you meet her around the Bank, Jill won’t mention the championships or her practice to you right away. Her job is to tell other people’s stories and help craft messaging, so she asks does more question-asking than speaking about herself. But if you do run into her on the street, “feel free to ask me about yoga anytime”, she says. “It’s a subject I’ll never tire of!” #PeopleOfOCBC
Congratulations to our #HR team for winning the Excellence in Leadership Development Gold Award at the #HRExcellenceAwards. #WeSeeYou
Studies show that a child’s physical and mental growth in the first six years, especially in the first 1,000 days, can be directly linked to his or her school achievement and future livelihood. Supporting the national agenda to make preschool education more accessible, OCBC Bank and staff contributed S$1 million to fund two years of childcare fees for children from low-income families who enrol at My First Skool from January 2020. An estimated 2,500 children will benefit from this programme. As added support, we will also be organising financial literacy workshops for parents, to help them better manage their family finances.
Which do you see first – smog or the symbol of recycling? They both point to one thing – it’s now or never. We need to take action to tackle climate change. If you have a plan to help Singapore go green, apply for the #OCBCCares Environment Fund. Sign up now for the first round of our Green Pitch (16 October) to learn how to pitch your proposal. Find out more at http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vMYpT or email us at environment@ocbc.com.
OCBC Bank’s London branch turns 50 this October, and there are celebrations in store. Opened in 1969, the branch is more than a workplace. It is also where employees from 22 different countries gather, mingle, and form deep ties. Irene Fernandes from the Finance department and Account Services manager Jane Ward formed those deep ties when they first met in 1988 “It’s easy to be friends with Irene, who is the sort of person who never fails to help someone in need,” says Jane. “She has been there for me through thick and thin, always offering invaluable advice when I need it.” Family means the world to Jane, and she counts Irene as a member of her innermost circle. “Irene is like a sister to me” says Jane, After all, she asked Irene to be the godmother to her twin sons, born in 2007. The duo have big birthdays this year, too. Jane turns 50, and Irene 60. The dynamic pair usually celebrate milestones together, and here’s hoping they pull out all the stops! Happy birthday, one and all. #peopleofocbc
We celebrated with Singapore’s most promising young businesses last night at the Emerging Enterprise Award gala dinner and award ceremony which we jointly organised with The Business Times. Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and for Education Chee Hong Tat was on hand to congratulate the winners, with the Emerging Enterprise Award going to Emage Vision, Spark Systems and Xjera Labs. Other awards – the Best Innovation Award and Most Promising Start Up Award – were handed out as well. But in a first for the event, a special Sustainability Award was added to the mix. Many of this year’s finalists believe and have shown that businesses can do well by doing good, and this award hoped to further encourage such efforts. Read on for the full list of winners and congratulations to all! http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vMYpz
Our wealth management product manager, Muhammad Afdhaluddin (or “Afdhal” as he is affectionately known), has been learning new content creation skills to complement his existing knowledge in finance, helping him stay relevant in his career. He is now better equipped to create content that helps educate customers on the relevance of various financial products. The Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore (IBF) recently launched its new Skills Framework for Financial Services, setting out progression pathways and skills it has identified to thrive in the Financial industry. We’re proud to share that Afdhal was featured in the Skills Framework Guidebook, where he shared how digitalisation has created new opportunities, leading to the evolution of his role to include creating digital content in areas of investments and personal finance. He said: “To thrive and succeed in the financial services sector, you need to stay curious about digital trends in the banking space. Embrace the use of digital tools to acquire new perspectives.” #peopleofocbc
We’ve enabled customers to use their voice to perform banking transactions like paying bills, tracking expenses and checking past transactions on our OCBC Mobile Banking app. More than 20,000 requests have been made via customers’ voice since last month. This digital innovation was developed in partnership with Clinc, Inc., a global leader in conversational AI, and was sourced through The Open Vault at OCBC.
Cassie Ong, a bubbly extrovert who works in OCBC’s Business Banking Commercial Service Centre, is living the foodie dream. She has the option of visiting restaurants four to seven times a week to taste new creations and photograph them. Her mission: To spread the joy on her social media channels. So, if you’re ever stuck for places to eat, this is the girl to ask. To her, the most under-rated restaurant near the OCBC office in Raffles Place is Un-Yang-Kor-Dai. Cassie says that the lunch sets are affordable, and the northern Thai dishes it serves are rockin’ hot – far beyond the norm. If she could only eat one thing for the rest of her life, though, it’d be bak chor mee. “Local is best,” she says (her favourite place to go for the dish is Serangoon Garden Market). #PeopleOfOCBC
