Underscoring the belief that human capital drives its success, CDL has always been committed to engage and retain the best talent; develop capabilities; reward top performers; and encourage the adoption of healthy lifestyle and work-life balance amongst employees.

REALISING POTENTIAL

As part of its talent retention strategy, CDL is committed to the personal and professional development of its employees through the sponsorship of full-time training courses and part-time certificate programmes. Beyond functional skills training, emphasis is also placed on teambuilding and the development of people management skills such as leadership, communication relationship management and creative problem skills.

TOWARDS AN ENGAGED WORKFORCE

Recognising that employee engagement is key to driving the organisation ahead, CDL’s senior management maintains its focus on nurturing employer-employee communication and fostering an open relationship with employees.

A three-dimensional developmental strategy is adopted to enhance employee engagement: promoting workplace health and work-life harmony, social and recreational
bonding and communication.

Promoting Workplace Health & Work-Life Harmony

CDL recognises that work-life harmony creates a quality, motivated and dedicated workforce. To help its employees harmonise their work and personal commitments, CDL has in place various family-friendly policies, such as flexible start-and-end work-hours options, maternity, paternity and childcare leave.

In 2007, CDL initiated “CDL Family Month”, where a series of family-focused programmes such as “Eat-With-Your-Family Day”, family trips and talks was specially organised for staff. Held over a month, these activities are aimed at nurturing and improving the relationships between employees and their families.

Employees are also given a voice in implementing worklife harmony through a dedicated work-life committee, which comprises staff representatives across all departments, as well as an annual health and lifestyle survey disseminated to all employees. Feedback from employees, obtained through the survey, is taken into consideration by the Human Resource division in policy planning. In addition, the work-life committee is tasked with the planning and execution of family friendly health-related policies and programmes, which includes free weekly aerobics classes, health and family talks, family day trips and annual health screening for staff and their families.

In recognition of its sustained commitment towards a healthy work-life, CDL has been a recipient of the Singapore Health Award since 2002.

Fostering a Culture of Team Spirit

As part of its strategy to cultivate an engaged and committed workforce, CDL constantly seeks innovative ways to improve employee communication as well as staff bonding and team work.

Through employee-run clubs such as StaffConnect @ CDL (SC) and City Sunshine Club (CSC), employees have the opportunity to socialise and participate in structured programmes such as the annual CDL Staff Day. SC, a task force made up of representatives from various departments, organises activities that foster a sense of belonging and promote team work amongst staff; while CSC is CDL’s employee volunteers club that promotes the spirit of volunteerism through community work with beneficiaries such as Lions Befrienders, as well as fund-raising programmes with charities such as Assisi Hospice.

A display of creativity and team spirit — one of the Best Dressed Teams at the annual CDL Staff Day.

CDL also participated in sports and recreational activities organised by its parent company, Hong Leong Group (HLG). Attesting to its strong team spirit and perseverance, CDL clinched the champion title in the Hong Leong Group Olympics 2007, organised by the HLG Sports & Recreation Club.

Employee Engagement with Open Communication

To foster a collaborative atmosphere of trust and empowerment, CDL encourages its employees to participate actively in its various employee engagement channels from the start of their career with the Group.

All new employees undergo an orientation programme to familiarise them with CDL’s vision, mission, corporate culture and key operations; and all employees participate in regular dialogue sessions held by the Managing Director and senior management team. Other structured internal communication channels such as VoiceBox, a dedicated e-suggestion box which allows employees to share comments and suggestions with the senior management team through an internal e-mail system, reinforce CDL’s culture of open communication.