Investing in Diversity Can Yield Lower Attrition Rates

Business Case

Hiring and retaining a diverse, high-calibre talent pool is essential for GIC’s success in the fiercely competitive finance industry. Even as it maintains an attrition rate below the industry average, GIC recognises the need to stay ahead in its fair and progressive employment practices. Central to its approach is an unwavering commitment to ensuring fairness and fostering an inclusive environment for a diverse workforce to thrive.

Featured Fair and Progressive Employment Practices

• Fair hiring
• GIC Enable Programme – internship for undergraduates with disabilities
• Leap Programme – career transition programme for hires with no finance background
• Unconscious Bias Training
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Week
• End of Year Wind-down
• Flexible work arrangements
• Leave schemes

Implementation

GIC’s HR department strongly believes in the benefits of fair and progressive employment practices and is the main driving force behind these practices. However, its efforts would not be possible without the strong support of senior management. Together, GIC has pursued the following strategies to attract and retain top talent:

Diversifying Recruitment Strategies

It may be easier to integrate professionals with specialised qualifications and direct experience into an organisation, but a “plug and play” hiring approach can result in unhealthy homogeneity. Recognising the importance of different perspectives for better business outcomes, GIC makes a conscious effort to diversify its talent pool.

Besides ensuring fair assessment and merit-based hiring, GIC ensures that its job descriptions reflect its inclusive values. All managers are informed of selection criteria and recruitment processes are well-documented, leaving no room for discrimination.

GIC also extends opportunities to diverse individuals such as through the GIC Enable Programme, a three-month internship programme for local undergraduates with disabilities. This aims to give them the confidence to try for corporate roles which they may otherwise not apply for. Four interns have been converted to full-time employees thus far.

Another initiative is the Leap Programme for mid-career professionals who have no experience in the finance industry. Most companies would not consider such individuals, but GIC believes in their value and aims to help them transition to a finance career. Three people have come through this programme so far.

Creating an Inclusive Workplace Together 

Besides hiring diverse talent, GIC fosters an inclusive environment to create a sense of belonging. GIC puts all new joiners and people managers through unconscious bias training to promote an inclusive mindset. Disability awareness training is also conducted, especially for teams hosting the GIC Enable Programme's interns. 

In line with GIC’s values, expectations are set for every employee under the Dignity at Work Policy. This states that everyone has the responsibility to conduct themselves in an exemplary manner to ensure an environment of respect and safety. 

Furthermore, organisation-wide events supported by the senior management help foster inclusivity and embed the principles of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). For instance, during GIC’s annual DEI Week, employees participate in activities like panel discussions, exhibitions, and movie screenings to facilitate dialogue on diversity and advance inclusivity. GIC also marks prominent global DEI events such as International Women’s Day and Wellness Month.

Providing Exceptional Employee Care

In designing benefits, GIC keeps inclusivity in mind, continuously reviewing programmes to ensure every employee’s needs are met. This approach safeguards employee well-being, enabling them to contribute effectively. GIC offers flexible work arrangements including telecommuting, and leave provisions catering to the different life stages, like marriage, childbirth, bereavement, and caregiving. 

Examples of its exceptional care include the parental bereavement leave, and providing dedicated time-off for employees who have experienced a miscarriage or pregnancy loss – 10 days for female employees and 5 days for male employees. Additionally, recognising the challenges faced by caregivers with immediate family battling major illnesses, staff are able to take up to 8 weeks of leave at 50% pay to perform caregiving duties as part of caregiver leave. GIC promotes employee well-being through its annual year-end wind-down, which runs from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day, providing employees with a break from their fast-paced finance work. During this period, all GIC employees are encouraged to take the week off, with GIC co-sharing 50% of the annual leave days. 

Outcomes

Implementing fair and progressive employment practices has helped GIC improve its employer branding and contributed to an attrition rate consistently below the industry’s. A winner of the Tripartite Alliance Award for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices, GIC’s various employee surveys have also yielded improved staff engagement and feedback.

“Fair and progressive employment practices are fundamentally about ‘doing the right thing’ and ‘drawing the best out of employees’, and the two are related. When employees see consistent and equitable treatment, they feel we are an employer worth working for. And that is how we draw the best of efforts and performance from them. In our experience in GIC, we find that doing the right things always wins.” - Mr Peter Goh, Managing Director and Director of Human Resource & Organisation

“There is a risk in bringing in diverse talent because they may or may not fit in and do well. This is why some companies will not do it, but we believe it will benefit us in the long run. We place a bet on these diverse individuals and believe that we are better off with them than without,” he adds.