Celebrating Prudential’s 175th Anniversary with Dennis Tan

Read the full transcript of the podcast recording below:

Wendy: Dennis, before we dive into your story, how about starting off with your anniversary message for Prudential??

Dennis: Firstly, my heartiest congratulations to Prudential on the 175-year milestone. Really proud of our rich heritage, which is not something many insurers have, and it is definitely something we should be proud of as we come to work each day!

Wendy: Thanks, Dennis. As you know, the theme for our 175th anniversary is “Celebrating Life”. As we look to the future, how do you think this translates to what we can do for our customers?

Dennis: I believe it is all about building fulfilling futures for our millions of customers across Asia and Africa. It’s about how we at Prudential can continually provide customer-centric and innovative solutions for our customers to suit their various life milestones. The goal is to journey with them and empower them to celebrate life, as they should.

Wendy: Fully agree. And how about you, Dennis – how do you think being at Prudential has impacted the way you celebrate life or changed the way you work? Any fond memory at Prudential that you can share with us?

Dennis: Well, I joined Prudential slightly more than three years back, and when I accepted the role, I turned up on Day 1, it was before Covid, but it was literally on Day 3, Covid hit in a big, big way, so yes, you can say that I am one of those Covid babies. I joined during that period of time. But looking back, I think it’s really been fulfilling. And the main reason for that is because insurance is an essential service for society, and I think especially during the Covid period. So, what really brings to mind for me is the meaning of work and purpose. So that is really my fondest memory of my 3 years so far – joining at the time where the Covid situation hit everyone, it was negative in that sense, but then again it reinforces our services to the community and the purpose of our company and the purpose of why we turn up for work every day.

Wendy: And of course, the key to a successful organisation is the people who make up the team. Dennis, what is special about the people we have that makes Prudential the way it is?

Dennis: I am really proud of the way our colleagues support one another, especially when I observe people collaborating, watching each other’s back and of course, truth to be told, we may not agree with one another all the time, there might be differences and opinions and all that, but ultimately we want to work as a team and I think having each other’s back that coming together as a team supporting one another, that kind of culture and mindset really helps us and I think that’s what makes us great. And the other thing when I reflect back on the past couple of years as we continue to focus on Prudential’s values, I really see my fellow colleagues really bringing that to the rooms, the meetings they attend, and they really show up with empathy, with courage, wanting to be curious so on and so forth, so I think that gels us altogether and it makes us unique and it makes us special.?