S P Setia: Creating A Highly Engaged Workforce

Guided by a wholesome philosophy

To be a top employer of choice requires an all-inclusive approach to building a work environment in which employees are constantly engaged and committed to the well-being of the business.

At S P Setia, such culture has been set and embedded into the work environment beginning with the company’s vision:

“To be the best in all we do”

With that, a culture of excellence has been set and all employees strive to be the best they can deliver to the success of the business.

LiveLearnWorkPlay philosophy

To create such work environment, the S P Setia development philosophy of LiveLearnWorkPlay also applies to employees of S P Setia, who are fondly known as Team Setia.

The company promotes learning and growth by providing a multitude of training and workshops for employees to improve their skills and hence perform better, identification of successors for organisation sustainability, and provision of various talent growth opportunities.

S P Setia’s annual dinner, annual charity dinner, and family day is an annual event where Team Setia comes together to simply let their hair down and enjoy bonding time with their colleagues. Such activities foster closer relationship between colleagues from various business units, some of which are located in overseas projects such as Vietnam, Singapore, Australia or the United Kingdom.

Instead of hiring entertainment for these events, Team Setia participates in a creative performance competition during the annual dinner to form the entertainment for the evening, after having trained with professional choreographers for months.

The purpose is to set a platform where new recruits gather, get to know each other and train as a team to win the competition while having plenty of fun. It forms the “Play” culture within the company.

Aligning human resources’ best practices with the company goals, activities such as “Health Month”, festive celebration activities, recycling activities, corporate responsibility activities and voluntary services in the Setia Foundation Caring School Programme defines the “Live” portion of the renowned LiveLearnWorkPlay philosophy.

Team Setia is encouraged to participate in activities that enhances the well-being of themselves as well as the surrounding community, thereby creating a more fulfilling and holistic lifestyle. And at the base of it, S P Setia creates a work environment where Team Setia can flourish in.

Besides a Green Building Index (GBI) Platinum Rating Corporate Headquarters to mark its commitment to sustainability, S P Setia’s sales galleries and welcome centres are also developed in such a manner that they are not only green but where sustainable practices such as recycling, turning off unused lights and using the stairs are encouraged and practised. Open concept office space also encourages interaction between colleagues.

Ultimately, it is the Setia work culture of being a “team player”, helping those in need and creating a sense of pride and work ownership which creates a great Team Setia. This is also in line with S P Setia’s community charter “Creating a Sustainable Lifestyle for All”.

Key factor to employee engagement

To create an engaged workforce, good communication flow is crucial. Besides daily updates on S P Setia’s internal news portal, senior management is also actively involved in the communication process. Senior management inspires Team Setia by being personally involved in developing top talent, and communicating with employees the direction where the company is headed to.

Ongoing mentoring sessions with talents, bi-annually chief executive officer’s (CEO) dialogue where the CEO goes from one business unit to another to communicate to all employees on the company’s current performance and future plans shows the employees that the management is sincere in reaching out to everyone regardless of ranks and titles.

Besides good communication flow, the management also empowers employees by entrusting them with tasks and holding them accountable for results delivery. Celebrations and recognition of employees’ achievements are common occasions in S P Setia. It creates pride of ownership among employees and in return, they are more committed to go the extra mile to perform to their best ability.

With these good practices in place and setting the right work culture for Team Setia, Setia staff is committed to “Stay, Say and Strive”. A highly engaged team leads to highly loyal and committed team who are also responsible, while a team who feels pride for the company in which they work for are more inclined to promote the brand and be proud to call themselves Team Setia. These are also employees who will strive through thick and thin and ride through any challenges with the company to produce the best results.

With a strong foundation set plus a culture of excellence within the organisation, Team Setia can look forward to growing alongside the company with continuously enhanced activities and programmes for a sustainable career growth.