Life at Work – 2016 Winners
Congratulations 2016 Winners
Congratulations to all winners who have pioneered best practices in their own respective industries in creating increasingly diverse, inclusive and family-friendly workplaces.
2016 Awards Winners
Platinum Winner
Maybank Group
- The Group Board Gender Diversity Policy aims to increase the representation of women on board with the goal of minimum 20% female board members by 2016.
- The Maybank Tiger Cubs Childcare Centre, which is the first-of-its-kind day care centre, operates on a purely emergency basis in Malaysia.
- Global Apprentice Programme, a 2-year rotational development programme for high potential talents, introduced.
- The Group aims to not only train but retain talent through its support of Government initiatives such as Skim Latihan 1 Malaysia (SL1M) and Scholarship Talent Attraction & Retention (STAR) initiative.
Best Malaysian Organisation
Digi Telecommunications
- Board Diversity Policy is formed with the aim of supporting the development, growth and retention of women leaders.
- Senior management team is given D&I objectives, as part of their work KPIs, requiring them to track, manage and report on workforce demographics.
- The organisation implements 6 months paid maternity leave for all permanent female employees with an additional allowance for maternity usage.
- Women Network Mentoring programme is introduced. Two to three top women talent are assigned to each Senior Management team member to assist in career development.
Best International Organisation
Intel Malaysia
- The reverse-coaching programme allows managers and directors to listen and learn from Gen-Y employees on what an inclusive workplace means to them.
- An online platform specifically for parents allows for the exchange or sale of pre-loved items as well as the sharing of parenting ideas.
- Several initiatives were introduced, eg communication workshop in a multi-generational environment, Facebook@Work, free-of-charge coffee and stress relief rooms, and Cyber Chats for Gen-Y to voice their concerns anonymously.
- Several women support networks such as Women at Intel and Tech Women Leadership were established for all women employees and those in specific areas such as engineering.
Best Lean Organisation
Johnson & Johnson
- Top Female Talent Programme is introduced with the aim to support and develop women leaders to progress into leadership roles through a structured development plan.
- Breast Milk Shipping Programme supports nursing mothers during business travel. The programme uses safe, proven cold-chain shipping technology and the supplies are shipped from hotel or worksite. All shipping costs are fully funded by the company.
- Enhanced leave policies allows employees to take unpaid leave for up to 1 year for personal reasons.
- Employees Assistance Programme (EAP) is established to allow a team of professional coaches to coach and consulate employees on a wide range of work and life issues.
Best Initiative
Project Differently-Abled, Gamuda Berhad
- First rolled out in July 2013, the Project Differently-Abled (DA) aims to address the issue of unemployment among adults with autism. DAs were matched to customised jobs in departments such as HR, Finance, Trading and IT, and paired with a buddy & supervisor as coaches. Each DA is remunerated according to job size and hours worked, and enjoyed the same employee benefits. To date, Gamuda has hired 16 DAs and reported increased awareness of autism within the organisation.
Best Initiative
The VADS STEP-UP programme, Telekom Malaysia Berhad
- The STEP-UP programme focuses on developing and upskilling People with Disabilities (PWD) to be professional Contact Centre / BPO representative. Training programmes were customised to optimise the capabilities of the PWDs while PWD employees were also encouraged to participate in state, national and international sports competitions.
- Women in key leadership positions are sponsored for several high impact programmes such as Women Directors Programme, Remarkable Women Programme and Women in Leadership.
CEO Champion
Chong Chye Neo, Managing Director, IBM Malaysia Sdn Bhd
- Chye Neo was appointed as IBM’s first female Managing Director in September 2015. Since then, she regularly leads the Leadership Symposium for the management team where together, they identify and develop action plans for the organisation, and personally mentors women sales leaders.
- Key changes included the appointment of 40 women in the management team and 8 women in the senior leadership team, formation of Women in Network Group (WINGS) in Malaysia, and IBM‘s Top 50 Next Gen talent programme which aims to identify, develop and inspire top Malaysian talent.
Special Mention
Sunway Group
- From a male-centric workforce that focused on quarrying, construction and trading & manufacturing, Sunway Group has evolved and diversified over time and has implemented several women initiatives to support gender diversity. This commitment is also reflective of Top Management involvement where Founder & Chairman, Tan Sri Dato' Seri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah is one of the Founding Chairs of 30% Club Malaysia for women on board. Sunway Group, Executive Director and Managing Director, Property Development Division, Sarena Cheah, leads alongside the Sunway Group’s Human Resources to drive these women initiatives.
- Currently, women comprise approximately 50% of Sunway’s entire workforce.
Special Mention
Berjaya Starbucks Coffee Company Sdn Bhd
- Launched in July 2016, the Berjaya Starbucks Signing Store focuses on giving back to the community and enhancing the livelihood for the deaf community. The store was designed and built to make it deaf-friendly while the organisation provided sign language courses & training to partners from various departments. Deaf employees were also provided opportunities to develop skills through programmes such as the Coffee Master Programme.
- As a result, the outlet has seen a 33.7% increase in Customer Connection as reported in its daily customer survey.
LAWA 2023 Key Dates
12 June 2023
Submissions Open
31 August 2023
Submissions Deadline
2 - 6 October 2023
Judging Period
October 2023
Gala Dinner and
Awards Ceremony
