I support NS, so can you!
"It was useful to hear from fellow SME business owners on what we can do to support NS!"
This view was shared by an employer at the Supportive Employers Networking Reception hosted by the National Service Directorate (NSD) on 12 Jan 2018 at the Singapore Discovery Centre (SDC). The session was organised to deepen employers' understanding of the various policies and practices that companies can adopt to support NS and NSmen.
Director National Service Affairs (DNSA), COL(NS) Simon Lim (middle) engaging employers from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Mr Loh Khai Peng (left) Vice President, Enterprise Group & Managing Director, Growth Cluster, and Mr David Tan (right) Managing Director, Singapore during the networking reception
Being a proud recipient of the Total Defence Awards (TDA) 2017 NS Advocate Award for Small and Medium Enterprises, Mr Eric Neo Say Wei, CEO of Neo & Partners Global Pte Ltd, was one of two speakers who spoke at the event.
Sharing his personal journey on how he had to juggle family, work and NS commitments in his life, he sent a compelling message to fellow business owners on the need for holistic support to our NSmen from their family, community and more importantly, from their employers. “My personal experiences shaped how I support my NSmen employees in sustaining Work-Life-NS effectiveness. It is important to demonstrate care and concern for your employees’ NS experience.” He encouraged fellow employers to leverage on the skills that NSmen are equipped with as part of their NS training and allow them to apply it at the workplace.
Procter and Gamble Europe SA Singapore Branch (P&G) is a proud recipient of the TDA 2017 – NS Advocate Award for Large Companies. Ms Cecilia Tan, Associate Director of Government Relations and Public Policy, and Mr Lionel Mo, Senior HR Manager, shared how P&G had creatively entrenched support for their NSmen employees in their HR practices and policies to ensure that while supporting NS, there was parity in the management of employees of different nationalities. One example was putting in place flexible work arrangements and paid gym membership for all staff members which provided NSmen employees the flexibility to effectively manage their Work-Life-NS commitments.
From left: Mr Lionel Mo (P&G), Ms Cecilia Tan (P&G), LTC Yvonne Lim (MINDEF, Br Hd, NSD) and Mr Neo Say Wei (Neo & Partners). Mr Mo, Ms Tan and Mr Neo were proud TDA 2017 recipients stepping forward to share about supporting NS
The networking and sharing session allowed many employers to realise that support to NS does not have to be as resource intensive as what they first perceived. After the sharing, many of the employers and business owners signed up NS Mark (Gold) and shared that they are prepared to partner NSD to garner stronger support for NS.
Inspired by the sharing, many employers decided to come on board NS Mark (Gold) on the spot
We sincerely thank Ms Cecilia Tan, Mr Lionel Mo and Mr Neo Say Wei for taking time out amidst their busy schedules to share at this event. We hope that more employers will step up as NS Advocates by taking the first step of signing up for NS Mark. Click here to find out more: www.NSMark.sg.
