BOROUGE PTE LTD
Workplace policies and practices
Borouge’s leaders place great importance on ethics, integrity and sustainability policy to commit to the well-being of society and preservation of the environment, while addressing the economic expectations of our shareholders and the creation of a working environment that nurtures learning and talent as part of its strategic focus on people.
Borouge recently unveiled a new brand platform ‘INSPIRING TOMORROW’, to build on its position as a creative solutions provider that delivers impact on business and society. It reflects Borouge’s vision to proactively respond to the needs of today’s rapidly changing world by partnering with the entire value chain to deliver end-to-end innovative solutions.
Borouge adopts an open-door policy to build a culture of trust within the organisation that encourages open communications, feedbacks and discussions on any matter of importance. They are free to approach or meet with the senior leadership of the organisation. During our quarterly open forums, employees are encouraged to ask questions. We also publicly recognise and celebrate employees’ successes. Our Industrial & Transport Packaging team recently bagged the Innovation Technology award at the 2018 China E-Commerce Packaging Pioneer awards in China for the use of Borealis Borstar® technology used in courier bags.
Borouge has an unwavering commitment towards Health, Safety and Environment (HSE), demonstrated by our monthly safety observation tours (SOT). This is a targeted effort to monitor the compliance of safety practices and take appropriate corrective actions according to safety standards and procedures to ensure that our employees work in a healthy and safe environment.
We launched the 10 Life Saving Rules (LSR) this year to provide a single consistent set of principles to protect our assets and the life of our staff including contractors. We also conduct ssafety moment in every QBU and exhibit safety policy on the office walls to constantly remind employees to adhere to safety standards at all times.
The company has established a grievance handling procedure for rapid airing of grievances at all levels. The Asia Pacific Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) has been set up to handle and resolve performance related issues and disputes cases in a systematic, fair and consistent way and “Takallam”, a whistle blower helpline to record and manage unethical issues raised by employees.
Employee Benefits
Besides annual, sick, maternity, paternity leave, Borouge also provides global placement and job rotation opportunities, examination and study leave, up to 2 months of unpaid leave per year, 2 days of eve of public holiday leave, family care leave, leave in-lieu; and conferment of awards such as long service award and recognition awards for outstanding contributions and exemplary behaviors. The organisation is in the process of introducing flexible benefits to meet the diverse needs of staff. Borouge recognises that every staff member has unique needs and may require different solutions to effectively manage their careers and personal lives. To achieve this, we recently introduced flexible work arrangements (FWA) in the organisation. We have received positive feedback from employees on staggered work hours to pick up their children from childcare centres or attend to family needs in the morning before coming to work, as they start and end their work days earlier. Taking care of employees begins in the workplace – which is why Borouge understands the need to support new mothers as they return to work. The establishment is equipped with a lactation room for nursing mothers to use. We also provide coverage for traditional Chinese medicine treatments, maternity, inpatient/outpatient expenses including their immediate family members, dental and annual health screening.
Employee Engagement
Feedback from our employee engagement survey highlighted that one of the key areas to focus on is work-life balance. Therefore, we introduced the Employee Happiness Program aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles, enhancing the overall wellness of employees to create synergy between personal life and work.
The 5 key pillars which guides Borouge’s Happiness programmes include:
Social
Our workforce in Singapore comprises 17 different nationalities. We embrace workplace diversity and an inclusive environment that recognises and respect all nationalities. We organize employee-centric activities to celebrate cultural festivities such as Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali, and Christmas. We have also formed an Equality Committee committed to build workplace equality, diversity and inclusion.
To instill a strong culture of corporate social responsibility in the spirit of philanthropy, every employee is given two dedicated days of paid leave a year to participate in CSR programmes named through our Borouge without Borders programme.
Other social and family bonding activities include monthly birthday gift cards, International Women’s Day, Family Day and National Day celebrations, Break Activities, zoo, bird park and river safari corporate passes for employees.
Work
Borouge’s PTE HR Business Partner (HRBP) model was introduced to support the business, which ensures that every function has a single point of contact from HR dedicated to supporting end-to-end people-related HR needs. Through the HRBP Talking Series and HR Open Day, HR focuses on improving and promoting HR communication and practices to our employees for better alignment of employee’s perception of HR practices.
The effective stay interview engages individual employees in one-on-one dialogues. It sends a message to employee that Borouge cares, so that employees feel valued and important, which translates into stronger loyalty and commitment to the organization.
Health
Borouge implemented a comprehensive health and wellness framework which encompasses a range of programmes. This includes fully paid gym memberships, yoga classes, health talks on cancer awareness, provision of fruits and healthy snacks, and a company-wide walking day.
Intellectual
Every employee counts and with a commitment to constantly develop staff at all levels, Borouge promotes cross-training across departments for skills upgrading and career development prospects. We have a Training Calendar that includes extensive safety related, ethics e-learning, Lateral Thinking, Interpersonal & Communication Skills, brand and values training for all employees. A Resource Library is also available for employees to use.
Emotional
To address the emotional well-being of staff, Borouge offers an employee assistance programme that serves as an avenue for staff to seek counsel in managing challenges, and provision of lunchtime talks on topics such as time, stress and anger management.
