HSBC Global Service Centre Malaysia offers employees work-life balance

Working at HSBC Global Service Centre (GSC) Malaysia, a shared services centre of the HSBC Group, means being employed by people who truly care about the work-life balance of their staff.

Employees have multiple Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) choices which allow them to work from home, choose the start time of their shift, and even have an arrangement to work fewer hours to attend to long-term personal priorities.

“We want to offer our employees exciting, long-term careers with a variety of opportunities to develop their skills, while also helping them to balance work with their personal responsibilities,” said Neeti Mahajan, Centre Director of GSC Malaysia.

“Having an inclusive culture means we can offer talented people many ways to fulfil their potential in a nurturing environment that encourages the right behaviour.”

The organisation encourages employees to listen to their colleagues’ views, to speak up and also to think about the long-term impact of their actions, said Neeti.

“We want them to feel they can act with courageous integrity and that they are empowered to do the right thing.”

To better understand employees’ needs, the company captures the staff views on a range of topics, including strategy, culture and working environment through the employee survey called “Snapshot” or at listening forums called Exchange.

“Our Exchange forums provide an avenue for our people to share their open and honest views,” she said. 

“The boss is only there to listen to their views and concerns.” 

As a result, Neeti said the implementation of the new policies have improved the retention of employees.

“FWAs and Work-Life Practices (WLPs) create an environment to cultivate balance in every aspect of our employees’ life,” she said.

“Everyone has different needs based on their phase of life. A new employee may want to gain experience in the organisation and our job tasting programme allows them to try out new roles. Working parents appreciate the opportunity to work from home or in flexible hours to accommodate taking care of their children, or elderly relatives.”

There’s also been an increase of volunteerism in HSBC’s corporate social responsibility programmes.

“This is another positive indication that shows the employees are willing to join activities and form a closer bond with their peers,” she added. 

Neeti also highlighted that their strong diversity and inclusive strategy has helped the organisation to attract talent and drive innovative results.

For example, “career comeback” is a recruitment drive for bringing women on a career break back to the workforce. 

Another initiative focuses on hiring and retaining people with disability, which meant making sure the building and working spaces are accessible for all.

“As a business operating in markets all over the world, we believe diversity brings benefits for our customers, our business and our people,” she said.

“We want a connected workforce that reflects the communities where we operate and helps us meet the needs of customers from all walks of life.

“Different ideas and perspectives help us innovate, manage risk, and grow the business in a sustainable way.”

Moving forward, Neeti said they are actively promoting business and technology changes to drive higher flexibility opportunities for the staff.

“Our employees are the core at everything we do, hence, it is important to constantly seek feedback from them and hear their views on what is working well,” she added.

For companies aspiring to implements similar policies, Neeti said that leaders and managers are role models in driving WLPs and need to personally welcome and adopt such practices where possible, given the business needs.

“The need to create relationships and trust between management and employees is important, so that people will be more willing to speak up and provide feedback that would help implement such practices,” she said.
HSBC Global Service Centre Malaysia won the Best New Entrant (International) category at TalentCorp’s LIFE AT WORK Awards 2018. Submissions for TalentCorp’s LIFE AT WORK Awards 2019, Malaysia’s most comprehensive Diversity & Inclusion awards, are now open until 2 August 2019. For more information, visit www.lifeatwork.my

The article was originally published in The Malay Mail on 22 July 2019.