Celebrating Uplifting Service, Humanity, Care for the planet, Cultural Diversity, Inclusion

…..yes all possible in 2 hours. At BNP Paribas Securities Services we celebrated Uplifting Service Day in each location globally on 13th November 2018,  and here in Singapore it was a chance to honour our colleagues who serve our clients throughout the year. Across the organisation everyone works hard every day to service our clients, cater to their growing needs and strive for higher levels of service. It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate these efforts and to recognise those who deliver exemplary service.

As a program leader in Singapore, and as anyone who’s organized events knows, it is always an anxious time in the build-up!  With more than 30 nationalities in our office, what a gastronomic treat it would be to have a potluck. It was a new term to the French and I explained potluck = a situation in which one must take a chance that whatever is available will prove to be good or acceptable.

The sign-ups felt slow, my anxiety growing, but then the big day arrived and what a buzz! I was so happy to feel an incredible energy in the office as everyone headed to the meeting room to place their food. One colleague even got her husband involved – he took the morning off to create a piece of food art - that’s true national pride in food! A client came in and spoke to our teams, expressing appreciation for their hard work and desire to work in partnership, that true success is about partnership.  When we asked, “What does desired level of service look like to you?”, the client recounted something which one of my team members did recently. When the client shows appreciation to the team, it further motivates the team to do even better. It signals that we are partners on the same journey.

Following on, we had 20 awards to hand out to colleagues nominated by their managers. We decided to mark the occasion with beautiful custom-made rice husk coffee mugs, with their names on them. They standout beautifully, brighten the office, and we want more to be awarded with them. But, more importantly, it is also part of our commitment to reducing plastic waste in the office, and with sustainability a key driver of our business, I couldn’t think of a better useful gift that won’t damage the earth to hand out to our winners.

We achieved three things on our Uplifting Service Day:

1.    An opportunity to recognize staff delivering outstanding service

2.    The chance to have a client reaffirm we are on the right track

3.    Bringing people together to celebrate the richness in our diversity exemplified through cuisine, connecting by giving and sharing.

In 2 hours  we celebrated humanity, gratitude, diversity and inclusion. There were no barriers between us, because it is our differences that bring us closer together.  And delicious food too ;-)

Millennials rock! There is one special person I want to openly acknowledge

As I relaxed at home, feeling very happy with the day, and reflecting on what I was most thankful for, a colleague’s name popped into my mind – Cassandra Chew from the Marketing/Communications team. Cassandra worked with me on delivering the event, and it was a complete joy. It was also refreshing to see someone enjoy executing to the tight timeline, deliver the logistics, eagerly brainstorm ideas, hunt down the award coffee mugs, keep our “secrets” under wraps, and more. What impressed me was the surprising and unbelievable level of dedication to every aspect of the event. Is there anything better than working with someone who puts their whole heart into their work? It is time for us leaders to acknowledge and celebrate the millenials. Cassandra is  a great ambassador of her generation. It is us that need to adopt, appreciate and harness their great qualities and give them the space and the opportunities to shine. It is a privilege to meet someone so early into their career, and with the attitude I witnessed over the last two months, I know this lady will have an amazing career. Thank you Cassandra, you are a true gem!

Conclusion We’re all so busy these days, it’s easy to forget what is really important. But we must never forget how critical it is to remember that success comes from unity, humanity and inclusion. I definitely agree with Richard Branson “Take care of your employees and they will take care of your business”. Thank you to everyone involved.

Regards Ching