March 2021

Real Talk with Leslie Teo (MD, Data & Strategic Transformation)
 

Q1) Tell us more about your role as MD of Data & Strategic Transformation.

DST is a new division. Our broad mission is to help Great Eastern make the best use of its data, which includes providing the data, making decisions based on data, and changing our processes given that we have insights so we can better serve customers.

Since coming on board, I have been focused on defining DST’s objectives and key priorities, short to longer-term, given this mission. To do so, I have been working with my team, listening to and interacting with various stakeholders in the organisation, and trying to understand our processes and tech stack.

Q2) How do you see the landscape for businesses & data and how can businesses such as ours leverage this for future growth?

The volume, variety, and speed by which our business creates data increases every day. With mobile phones and 5G, it’s going to increase exponentially. Data is like water, it’s crucial for life, but we need to have proper pipelines and good quality water, and they need to reach the end customer (business) in a timely manner. We need a way to organize and gain insights from all the data, and help from models that predict and learn.

Q3) What is your focus for the next 100 days & beyond?

I see four main areas.

First, we need to help businesses improve their revenues and/or reduce their costs. If we believe data is valuable, we need to see its impact at this stage. Second and at the same time, we need to build data pipelines and processes so data will flow in a timely manner, and in the right form to the right users.

Third, we need the right culture around data so we use it in the right way, and the right culture enables us to democratise data usage. The right culture means that we treat the data given to us with care, we use it only for its intended (consent given) purpose, we keep it accurate, and we destroy it when not needed. Broadly, we should always use the data given to us by customers to help them and not for other purposes.

Fourth, I’d like to make it exciting and attractive for team members in this journey. Data and what we can do with it is exciting. Helping our business use data to grow better is a difficult challenge.

Q4) You have had key positions at Grab as Advisor to CEO & Head of Data Science, Policy and Data Initiatives, and GIC and IMF before that. With your varied experiences, what made you choose to join the insurance industry?

To be frank I did not choose insurance. What attracted and motivated me to join was the opportunity to work with and help the organisation adopt data thinking, data tools, and generally new technologies to transform its business.

My hope is that in the future, my kids will buy Great Eastern products, and not ShopeeInsure using money from the legacy I left them via a Great Eastern policy.

Q5) What makes you tick and where do you find your inspiration?

I love to learn and to solve problems. As a kid, I loved – and only had one toy – Lego and I could spend hours building and building. Professionally, solving difficult problems like how my colleagues and I redesigned GIC’s investment model gives me great satisfaction. But equally important, especially as I get older, is helping others reach their potential.

Q6) What’s your personal motto or favourite mantra?

I do try to remind myself to “talk less, do more”. And since joining Great Eastern, that “a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”.

Q7) What is your most significant achievement to date?

To be a father to two rumbustious and independent-minded kids (6 and 9) who still expect me to join them in Roblox games.

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Financial Planning for New Jobbers

Employees moving over can look forward to a purpose-built campus for better collaboration and to support flexi-work arrangements, with amenities such as a work café for casual discussions, rooftop terrace, to shower facilities, targeted at serving different needs as a modern, dynamic and progressive and more engaging workspace for employees. The workplace transformation strategy for Great Eastern Centre is currently being reviewed and updates will be provided at a later date.

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GREAT-ness Comes from Within – The Annual Appreciation Awards 2020

In our latest Annual Appreciation Awards 2020, we were delighted to celebrate over 200 long service staff in 2020, who have been with us for 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, even all the way up to 40 years! There is also a milestone category for employees who reached the legal retirement age but chose to continue their service with us.

The awards ceremony was graced by GCEO and James Lee, MD of Group Human Capital and held at CFE over three sessions on 1 December 2020. Over 100 employees attended and received their awards, followed by an appreciation lunch organised in their teams. See the highlights below!

CFE Learning Festival 2021
 

The inaugural Learning Festival 2021 took place as a four-day event with a twist! Organised by Centre for Excellence (CFE), the action-packed festival was held at Great Eastern Centre and PLQ and was a learning experience not to be missed.

Themed “S.M.A.R.T. GEN - Enabling S.M.A.R.T. Reps”, the event reflected our goals to cultivate a Solutions-Focused (S), Motivated (M), Achievers (A), Resourceful (R) and Tech-Savvy (T) agency force that is well equipped to surf and conquer the digital wave, enabling Great Eastern to be stand out above the rest.

Three key learning objectives for the festival were: to reimagine the future of work by exploring the various learning offerings and digital capabilities; embrace digitalisation through the cultivation of a digital mindset and behaviour; and instill ESG efforts through paperless means to reduce our environmental footprint.

Check out the exciting activities lined up for our reps below!

1. CMFAS Tic-Tac-Toe

Participants had a taste of the pre-contract training illustrated through a shared real-time collaboration via a mixed reality (MR) game in CMFAS Tic-Tac-Toe!

2. Plank Experience

Take a step towards the future! Our reps walked the plank, travelling through the ever-changing landscape of the insurance industry! Through the use of 360 Degree Virtual Reality (VR), the experience showed the ups-and-downs in the industry and aimed to teach our reps to be resilient during tough times but also to celebrate achievements.  

3. AR Photobooth

Capture the moment that you succeed with an Augmented Reality (AR) Photo Booth! With customised Great Eastern backdrops and filters, there was no end to the fun as our agents flashed their best poses!

4. Steering Personal Lines

This exhilarating 360 VR car ride cleverly represented Great Eastern’s General Insurance Personal Lines. Reps had the chance go on the fast lane, zipping through the virtual streets. One thing’s for sure, everyone walked away with the importance of car insurance imprinted in their minds!

5. Great Eastern Mobile Studio

Lights, camera, action!

Ever imagined that we could have our own broadcast studio? The Mobile Studio presented CFE’s potential capabilities for future remote seminars, webinars and events.

From QR codes revealing e-materials and interactions to the engaging activities we lined up for the reps, it was certainly a day of fun! Watch out for more of these exciting activities within the company as we digitalise!

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#MyGreatCulture Email Signature and Webex Background
 

Introducing our new email signature and Webex backgrounds! Set in unique #mygreatculture style, these updates are a great way to share our world with others, while reminding ourselves of the values we live up to.

And if you can’t decide which background to choose, you can always go with the value you identify with the most.

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The Gift of Giving

To end 2020 on a truly special note, GELM’s Human Capital collaborated with a small, local eco-friendly Malaysian business, Single Step Zero Waste Store to gift all of our GELM and GEGM staff a specially curated zero-waste self-care kit.

Made of high quality zero-waste products that are also ethically sourced from local communities, the gift supports our efforts to #SupportLocal and #GoGreen! In addition, special message cards with encouraging messages from CEOs and HODs accompanied the kits.

Our people are truly what makes us GREAT, and we are glad to see the happy faces on our colleagues’ face in receiving their self-care kits!

Check them out below!

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GETB turns 10!
 

Celebrations have never been this BIG as GETB celebrated their 10^th year in business. Our party-planners definitely know how to keep the party going as celebrations carried on beyond 10 December, 2020, GETB’s anniversary date!

Planned as a 2-part event, part 1 was carried out on 10 December 2020, while part 2 was a “10 Unique Experiences” campaign that will spread out from December to May 2021. Get your party hats on because GETB’s 10^th Anniversary is definitely one not to be missed!

Part 1: A “Phygital” Office Party!

What better way to set a party mood than to begin with matching clothes! On 10 December 2020, everyone in office wore their 10^th anniversary hoodies, a gift to staff as part of Project Culture under Human Capital.

To start off the celebrations, GETB’s senior management also gathered (yes, with social distancing) to cut a brightly-coloured cake (yellow, orange and pink!).

For the staff back at home, we also had an online session in the morning, starting with a presentation by CEO, Encik Shahrul Azlan Shahriman, who gave updates on GETB’s growth over the 10 years.  Appointed actuary Mohd Khalid Khairullah then ran through the merits of Value-Based Takaful. Lastly, Tengku Sheila Tengku Azib, Head of Brand & Communications revealed GETB’s new pursuits in terms of a Brand Refresh.  

After the formalities, several rounds of Speed Questions (with a twist!) followed. As its name suggests, the goal of the game was for participants to answer questions as quickly and as accurately as possible. The twist came as the organisers asked bizarre questions such as guessing the combined age for all male SMTs in GETB and guessing the CEO’s nickname.

It’s no question that with such exciting games, come exciting rewards as our No.1 winner walked away with RM1,000 in cash! Second and third prizes were no less exciting, winning hotel stays at the 5-star Le Méridien. Seven other winners of the quiz also received RM100 Starbucks voucher each.

There was also a Most Outrageously Dressed Contest where 2 staff members with the most number of Instagram likes from 7am to 7pm that day were declared the winners. Check out our two lovely winners below!

With costumes, cakes and prizes given, what a party GETB had on 10 December 2020!

Part 2: 10 Unique Experiences to celebrate turning 10!

When planning for their 10^th anniversary celebrations, GETB also came up with the 10 Unique Experiences campaign to celebrate the workforce and the communities they serve.

The first programme  was for the staff where GETB ran a competition, inviting participants (of two per team) to tell the organisers why they deserved a work-ca-tion away from home – at a 5-star hotel for 2 days, with in-dining credit of RM100 per person per day! The competition definitely was tough as many sent hilarious comments in their bid to win the prize. Check out the entries here!

“We want to jump into the Jacuzzi after a long day at work!” - Wei Mun and Daniel

“We’ll be crazy cat ladies if we continue to work cooped up at home! We will like a work-ca-tion that can rejuvenate our mental well-being!” - Azlina and Izzati

“A work-ca-tion away from home can give us an energy boost! We also have been friends for a long time and we miss each other during the work-from-home period.” - Fariza and Syafiqa

And so… On the 8 December 2020, the winning teams checked in just in time for work at 8.30am. They were pleasantly surprised to be greeted and have their keys and GETB Hoodies (perfect for a hotel staycation!) handed over to them by CEO Shahrul Azlan Shahriman and Head of Brand & Communications Tengku Sheila Tengku Azib.

Happy 10^th Anniversary GETB and may the merry festivities continue!

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GELI Challenges All to “Break Your Own Record”
 

Great Session for Great Champions – “BEYOND-Break Your Own Record” was organised by GELI on the 13 January 2020.  Merry Riana, no 1 women motivator in Asia, was invited to motivate the Bancassurance team, Group Insurance, DAS, Marketing, Credit Life team, and Financial Advisors.

Optimism and confidence is key this year as Ibu Nina, Bancassurance Director encouraged the advisors to embrace the year with this mindset, soldier forward and break records. Company updates from Roy Hendrata Gozalie, Head of Marketing, revealed that we did well despite the pandemic.

Following the business updates, Merry Riana took the stage to share her keys to success. We reveal it here!

• Dare to Dream Big: to have GREAT ambition
• Work hard Now and Now Play Later: Constantly upgrade yourself!
• Change Your Persepectives: Instead of focusing on the negative, let’s be positive!
• Step Out from Comfort Zone: try something new!
• Be Flexible: be INNOVATIVE, CREATIVE and AGILE
• Team Work: Collaborate with your team and be committed
• Everything is possible: Believe in what you do
• Have Faith and Be Grateful: Trust that you can succeed and stay humble!

The 2.5h event was enthusiastically received by all 200 participants. We hope that all participants will be filled with optimism and are energised at the start of this new year!

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GEGI’s 2020 Agency Awards & Agency Kickoff 2021

On 19 January 2021, GEGI held a virtual event for the 2020 Agency Awards and Agency Kickoff 2021. Themed “Facing the Future 2021 with Optimism”, the event was held to appreciate and award our agents from all branches, as well as to announce our latest strategies for the new year.

Gathering over 200 participants all across Indonesia, it was certainly the biggest virtual event we have ever organised.

Here’s a breakdown of the key messages delivered during the event:

• Aziz Adam Sattar, President Director expressed his gratitude to all agents for their contribution to the company in 2020.  Despite the pandemic, GEGI managed to achieve our best results! Reinforcing GEGI’s commitment to the agents and our customers, he pledged to continue providing consistent and good services to them. This includes constant innovation in sales products and upgrading of online services for claims and policy processing for the agents. Lastly, he expressed his hope that in 2021, GEGI will continue to be united and achieve success as ONE.
• Mrs. Cong Chun Ling, Marketing Director delivered updates about the company performance in 2020.  Despite the pandemic, GEGI has managed to conquer the odds and achieve tremendous growth. Moving forward, she highlighted GEGI’s resolution in developing new solutions for agents and clients. For clients, that will mean BIGGER, BETTER insurance plans such as the new and improved Personal Accident insurance, as well as the Property Insurance with extended coverage . New upgrades that are in the way for agents will ensure that our agents can issue policies, process claims and premium payments using the online system for travel insurance, making it convenient, safe and easy for them to help their clients. She ended her speech on a high note as she encouraged everyone to look forward to the new year.
• Mr. Andy Soen, Finance Director, shared the company’s financial performance achieved in 2020. He also conveyed the continued commitment to improve services and ensure timely payments of all commissions and claim payments.  The company is also exploring alternative payment gateways to effectively support agency online transaction.
• Mr. Lee Pooi Hor, Operations Director, delivered system and IT updates, introducing upcoming systems such as the GreatExchange-ID transaction portal which will provide an end-to-end digital journal for agents and customers, as well as the Affinity Exchange platform. This will enable integration with GEGI’s affinity ecosystem, facilitating online purchases, electronic endorsements and online claim submissions. These tools can help agents who are also working from home.
• Mr. Khor Hock Seng, Group CEO conveyed his appreciation to all the agents, thanking them for their hard work, delivering good results despite the pandemic. Moving forward, he reiterated the importance of a customer-centric mindset in order to keep Great Eastern at the forefront of the industry.
• Mr. Haryanto Kandani, one of the leading motivational speakers in Indonesia, encouraged the agents to be prepared so that the agency force would be able to anticipate and respond regardless of the events surrounding them and achieve maximum productivity.

The event was wrapped up with the 2020 Agency Awards for outstanding agents. Congratulations to the winners!

Next year, Canada for the Awards Ceremony, what a dream!

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Great Eastern Cares: Strengthening the Communities around us at Surabaya & Bali

From November to December 2020, GEGI conducted two CSR programmes to affirm our longtime commitment to giving back to the community. 

In Surabaya, GEGI provided assistance to Griya Werdha, a home for the elderly in Jambangan Surabaya. This orphanage faced much reduced support from donors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, facilities were lacking and the orphanage was in bad need of repair. After understanding what the home needed, GEGI contributed scaffolding, water pumps and even groceries. We even built catfish ponds, not 1 but 2 (yes, even added the fish!), as a recreational facility for the residents.
 

In Bali, we supported Yayasan Tat Twam Asi, an orphanage for children. With its purpose to give children, especially girls who are a marginalised segment of society the opportunity to be educated, the orphanage is especially close to our hearts. While we were there, we donated funds to build walls and fences to ensure the safety and comfort of the residents of the orphanage. Today, there are currently more than 45 girls living in the orphanage and attending public schools. We are also proud to say that the children have been receiving various outstanding awards!

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Great Eastern wants you to Live life better with GREAT Life Advantage
 

“I don’t wanna close my eyes, I don’t wanna fall asleep cause I miss you, babe and I don’t wanna miss a thing”

Yep! In our latest brand campaign which hones in on critical illness protection, Great Eastern adapted Aerosmith’s famous “I don’t wanna miss a thing” classic into a moving film to drive home that message.

Watch it here!

At the same time, discover GREAT Life Advantage and its Complete MultiPay CI Plus Advantage Rider that provides coverage against 120 critical illness conditions, across different stages over and over again with 100% payout for each claim, up to three times. This means lifelong coverage against death, total and permanent disability and terminal illness AND the option to enhance your coverage against critical illness at all stages, including cancer and stroke.

With Singaporeans living longer than ever before, one in three will suffer a life-altering illness in their lifetime, and most working adults fall short of what is needed to cushion the blow of each age-related illness by 80%.¹ You can find out more about what Singaporeans’ financial preparedness for critical illnesses in our consumer survey.

To find out more about GREAT Life Advantage and the Complete MultiPay CI Plus Advantage Rider, you can go to greateasternlife.com/greatlifeadvantage or contact ROSE@greateasternlife.com

*Terms and conditions apply. Protected up to specified limits by SDIC.

¹Source: “2017 Protection Gap Study – Singapore” published by Life Insurance Association Singapore on 26 April 2018.

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What a Great Bundle of Joy!

Get rewarded while getting ready for your newborn with the Great Bundle of Joy! 

The Great Bundle of Joy promotion has been revitalized with a fresh set of gifts for new parents, which includes a diaper & wet bag set that is designed by the popular brand – Tokidoki plus goodies from partners – FairPrice Online and Mothercare!

Promotion is valid for parents who are expecting their bundle of joy or have babies born between 1 January and 31 December 2021. For more information, please visit sg.gelife.co/baby

© TOKIDOKI, LLC. Designed by Simone Legno

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GEGI launches a WhatsApp Official Business Account

We’re on WhatsApp! On 14 January 2021, GEGI launched the WhatsApp official business account, a move to help us to be more customer-centric.  For now, the account functions as a one-way communications platform to relay company updates, news, invitations to our customers. But watch out for more updates as we will be upgrading the channel to increase communications between our customers and our business partners!

Check us out on WhatsApp at +62 819 1572 3737

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Awards from Around the Region

We celebrate our wins across the region!

Singapore

• Inspire Award 2020 - Institute of Banking and Finance

Malaysia

• Best Candidate Experience by Corporate HR Team (Silver) - Asia Recruitment Awards 2020
• Excellence in Retention Strategy (Silver) - HR Excellence Award 2020
• ‘Most Preferred Graduate Employer’ in Insurance, and Top 50 Employers in Malaysia - GRADUAN Brand Award
• ‘Most Attractive Graduate Employer to Work For in 2021’ in Insurance - Graduates’ Choice Award 2020/2021
• Malaysia’s 100 Leading Graduate Employers ‘Winner’ in Insurance - Malaysia’s 100 Leading Graduate Employers
• ‘Best Companies to Work For in Asia’ 2020 (Malaysia) - HR Asia 2020

Indonesia

• The Best Public Relations in Company Strategy on Developing Swift and Convenient Insurance Services - Indonesia Public Relations Award 2021 from Warta Ekonomi

Read on to find out more about the awards.

Great Eastern gets Inspire-d!

Great Eastern received the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) Singapore’s Inspire Award 2020 that recognizes financial institutions which are committed to workforce transformation and skills development across the organisation.

Committed to preparing our employees for the future, we developed the #FutureReady learning framework that paved the way for the annual Learning Carnival, which encourages everyone to learn about emerging trends and technologies.

In addition, we have been part of IBF’s Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) which supports the upskilling of employees ensure that they can continue to contribute to the organisation as business evolves. Almost 30 of our employees from our operations team joined the training and some even went on to new roles with the skills that they picked up!

Josephine Yeo, Manager, Life Claim, completed the training and transitioned into an expanded Customer Service Office role.

“I was excited to be given the opportunity to participate in this programme. I feel this is a good initiative from the organisation as it allows employees to gain new knowledge and skills, and at the same time, we are able to “WOW” our customers by providing instant claim fulfilment"

Learn more on Great Eastern’s #FutureReady Journey and look out for more programmes for yourself!

Best Public Relations Award goes to GELI!

On 26 January, GELI received the Indonesia Public Relations Award 2021 for The Best Public Relations in Company Strategy on Developing Swift and Convenient Insurance Services from Warta Ekonomi!

Given to companies with GREAT brand image, GELI won through our immense effort and heart put into educating the public about the importance of financial planning even with the pandemic going on.

The award ceremony was held online and Roy Hendrata Gozalie, Head of Marketing, Great Eastern Life Indonesia received the award on this joyous day.

Going forward, GELI will continue to educate the public and at the same time maintain good performance and service in order to help our customers live #Lifeproof.

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Ron Kaufman’s Top 3 tips on Giving the Best Customer Service

Acclaimed author, customer service guru on the New York Times’ bestseller’s list with his book “Uplifting Service”, and this year’s Great Kick-off speaker Mr Ron Kaufman, spills his top tips to all of us who are in the service line.

Here are his tips:

1. Serve others with a heart – Be genuine and have empathy

It is all about empathy and being OTHER-centric! Why? That’s because with empathy, you get to understand what our clients actually value and want, helping YOU to be the answer to their problems!

We will not know what others are going through unless they share. Being aware of our customers’ frustrations, desires and opinions, our customers will feel that you are with them. (Not to mention, it can also help us to handle the difficult ones!)

2. DOING MORE to providing an uplift in service – every single time

What do YOU want in the type of service that YOU receive? Can you translate this to better service for our very own customers? While we are in the line of servicing our customers, we are also customers ourselves. Let’s start thinking MORE about the type of services that we can provide our customers!

3. Take action – THE RIGHT ONES PLEASE

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is no stranger in the list of top 20 airline companies since 2013, even snagging No. 1 spot in 2019. How is that possible in an environment where product offerings across most airline companies are similar? It’s all about EXECUTION! SIA’s near-perfect eye-for-detail in their service offerings to customers has won the hearts of their customers. Now ask yourself - Have YOU been taking the right actions to make our customers feel understood and cared for?

Service is care in action to bring value for your customer’s well-being. This year, challenge yourself to uplift your service and provide our customers with REALLY INCREDIBLE service!

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Read & Win: December Issue Quiz Winners & New Quiz

A big “Thank You” to all readers who took part in the last issue’s quiz.

Congratulations to the five following winners with the correct answers! You have won 2,000 UPGREAT points (worth S$20)!

1. Jane Tan
2. Wu Jieying
3. Ellena Lee
4. Catherine Enriquez Tan
5. Lee Siak Yeng

The points will be credited into your UPGREAT account by 31 March 2021. Keep a lookout for them!

And now for the next quiz. Answer all the three questions below correctly and stand to win 2,000 UPGREAT points (worth S$20)! Five lucky winners with the correct answers will be picked.

1.      What is Leslie’s favourite mantra since joining Great Eastern?

2.      Where did GELS hold our Annual Appreciation Awards ?

3.      Name all of the activities carried out during the CFE Learning Festival.

Send your entries to tgt-sg@greateasternlife.com by 30 April 2021. Open to GELS staff only. Winners will be announced in the next TGT issue in June.

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SPH News Tablet Subscription Promo for Great Eastern Staff and Representatives

Since September 2020, SPH digital new subscribers enjoyed the convenience of having daily news delivered directly to their Samsung Galaxy Tablets. The tablet which is issued by SPH as part of the subscription comes with a 30-month device protection plan underwritten by Great Eastern General Insurance Limited. The program was first introduced to readers of The Straits Time digital news, and was subsequently extended to cover readers of all digital news subscriptions.

For the month of April 2021, SPH is offering all Great Eastern staff and representatives an exclusive promotion. Every digital news subscription signed up through this exclusive link comes with the following:

1. Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 (Wi-Fi) worth $448
2. Viu Premium 365 Days Plan worth $76.61
3. $50 FairPrice voucher (when self-collection option is selected)
4. 30-month device protection coverage on your Samsung Galaxy tablet

See below for important info. Click here to sign up for the promotion!