Managing our business responsibly
At Great Eastern, our products and services aim to help our policyholders and their families achieve financial security and a peace of mind. Our 115 years of heritage has fostered a culture of integrity initiative and involvement that helps us in supporting the long-term growth of our communities and those in need.
Our approach
At our core, we uphold a sound and robust governance framework that supports responsible business practices and guides the day-to-day conduct of all our professionals.
We adopt a three-pronged approach to fostering good business practices and contributing to society.
• Ensuring robust governance
• Creating a great place to work for our talents
• Creating positive economic contribution
Ensuring robust governance
We manage our business prudently with high standards of corporate governance and integrity.
Code of Conduct
Great Eastern is committed to fostering and upholding our core values that emphasise accountability, self-development, teamwork, and proper conduct at all times. We reinforce this commitment by equipping our employees and financial representatives with the necessary mandatory learning materials.
While our Code of Conduct for employees outlines the guiding principles and minimum standards expected of them, the Code of Conduct for financial representatives further specifies expectations in terms of business ethics, market conduct and professionalism. Given that financial representatives are frequently the initial point of contact customers have with Great Eastern, it is critical that they maintain proper conduct and high levels of professionalism.
We have intensified our efforts on improving our culture and conduct efforts through various engagements with the financial representatives. We have also adopted the Life Insurance Association (LIA)’s Insurance Culture and Conduct Steering Committee (ICCSC)’s culture and conduct indicators. Implementation begins in 2023. To maintain compliance, employees and financial representatives must complete mandatory online training.
We have also put in place a Supplier Code of Conduct that requires third parties who supply or perform certain services for us, such as suppliers, contractors, and business partners, to follow our policy of zero tolerance for bribery and corruption. Tenderers are required to attest to our Supplier Code of Conduct as part of the pre-qualification assessment in tender activities. They need to share their ability and intent to support Great Eastern’s sustainability initiative.
In 2022, we achieved a completion rate of 97% of suppliers completing their attestation to the Supplier Code of Conduct, which far exceeds our original target of 75%.
Fair dealing
Fair business practices are essential for establishing trust and loyalty among our customers. The delivery of customers’ Fair Dealing outcomes is linked to our senior management’s performance evaluation, encouraging our senior management to prioritise the delivery of Fair Dealing outcomes evaluation. Great Eastern is committed to strengthening fair dealing practices in order to safeguard the interests of our customers.
Customer privacy
We prioritise the protection of our customers’ data and information in our business operations and activities. Our data security and protection controls adhere to financial and personal data protection regulations, and industry best practices. We have received the Data Protection Trustmark Certification and the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules Certification as evidence of our data protection standards. To preserve the security and integrity of customer data, we have implemented policies and procedures on the proper handling and protection of customer information. Our Personal Data Protection Policy stipulates the rules governing the legitimate collection, use and disclosure of customer’s personal data.
We have built a process for third-party risk management as well as threat intelligence handling. The third party risk management process manages the attendant technology and cyber risk which can potentially result in customer information loss. Personal data protection requirements are also included to ensure that third party service providers do not misuse or share customer information for unauthorised purposes. To better safeguard customer information, we leverage threat intelligence to provide early warning of cyber threats, allowing us to take appropriate defensive action, respond faster to cyber incidents, and implement proactive measures to monitor and prevent cyber-attacks.
We cultivate a robust risk culture that strengthens the cyber-awareness of our employees, and improves their behaviours, abilities, and knowledge through frequent training, social engineering tests, and online education.
Creating a great place to work for the best talents
From virtual learning programmes to career opportunities, we are continuously looking for new ways to create a supportive work environment that allows our people to reach their full potential and collaborate with one another.
We invest heavily to create an engaging and positive workplace that encourages teamwork and gives everyone a chance to showcase their potential. We provide an environment in which all employees are given fair treatment and the resources they need to perform at their best to deliver our company’s mission.
Diversity and inclusion
We have implemented inclusive and progressive policies in the workplace. All employees are afforded a level playing field in terms of tasks assigned, evaluations of performance, opportunities for professional growth, and promotions within the company.
Keeping the workforce FutureReady
Our employees’ ability to contribute to our business relies on the skills they have or acquire via ongoing training and education. The FutureReady Framework serves as the foundation for all of our training and development offerings.
In 2022, a month-long #FutureReady Learning Carnival was organised for all employees across our Group. We hosted 12 webinars focusing on the seven pillars of our internal FutureReady Framework. Sustainability-themed workshops and e-learning modules were also organised to ensure that relevant skillsets were developed to support the organisation’s business strategy.
We drive continuous learning through a broad range of workshops and bite-sized digital learning modules for employees in Singapore and Malaysia. In Indonesia, we launched the DIGI Fun Day to create greater digital awareness among employees as we believe great customer experience begin with well-equipped employees.
Culture and workplace
Having the support of our employees is critical in the achievement of our long-term sustainability goals and ultimately in our company’s success. We engage our employees through the creation of a collaborative and conducive work environment according to our core values, the building of skills and competencies, and providing resources for employees for their holistic well-being.
Starting with the leadership team, a steady stream of sessions brought our leaders together to discuss, align and implement best practices for inter-division collaboration and team resilience. This is key for unlocking human potential as we navigate the new future of work together. Filled with meaningful interactions and lively discussions, the sessions focused on how an impactful leadership enable employees to grow while nurturing the practice of our core values and the associated behaviours.
Following the leadership sessions, group sessions were organised for employees from November 2022 onwards, to build trust and cultivate a psychologically open and safe work environment to build stronger and more resilient teams. These sessions will be implemented across our regional offices to all employees.
Based on our Employee Engagement Survey 2022, we have seen significant improvement in our working culture with an overall score of 77% from 68% in 2021. 81% of employees agree that the organisation has a work environment that is accepting of diverse backgrounds and ways of thinking. 79% of employees acknowledged the organisation’s communication programmes helped them to understand the organisation’s sustainability efforts and the role they play. 78% of employees agree that they are able to integrate their work and personal life in a way that supports them.
The above scores mirrors our overall engagement score which improved to 76% from 66% in 2021.
Being sustainable anytime, anywhere
Employees in Singapore took part in an interactive six-week Great Eastern Sustainability Challenge. Employees could engage in the challenge at any time and from any location, supporting the idea that sustainable practices are vital not only in the workplace but also in everyday life.
In addition, they could take part in external activities at more than 1,000 touchpoints throughout Singapore. Each successful activity earned sustainability points, which could later be turned into the planting of mangrove trees on Biak Island in Indonesia.
The challenge highlighted basic and yet impactful environmental actions we can take with our everyday choices. By the end of the challenge, Great Eastern had contributed 608 mangrove trees.
Taking care of our employees’ mental health
We identified in a 2021 Employee Wellness Survey that the uncertainties induced by COVID-19 could lead to mental stress, anxiety, and loneliness. The “We are Okay” campaign was launched in May 2022 to promote mental health discussions and assist employees in developing resilience in the face of unforeseen events events.
To help employees build resilience, we organised eight webinars, facilitated by subject matter experts, toolkits and targeted community circles, to support them through peer-to-peer support.
Together with a professional mental wellness consultation service for employees in Singapore, this service was extended to employees in Malaysia through a collaboration with Doctor Anywhere (DA) Malaysia. Employees can now use the DA platform to access virtual consultations, expert guidance or assistance as part of our LIFE Programme, a health and well-being programme, across the group. In addition to the online self-assessment tool for mental health, LIFE Programme in Malaysia also organised three mental health talks talks in H1 of 2022.
Creating positive economic contribution
We believe that the pursuit of economic success and sustainability are not mutually exclusive.
We pursue our business growth in a balanced manner incorporating responsible and sustainable business practices. We support the local economies through fair and progressive compensation to our people, taxes to respective authorities and dividends to shareholders.
