Family-Friendly Policies for a Thriving Workforce

Our employees are the most important asset in driving the Group’s long-term growth and business success. That’s why we constantly focus on providing an inclusive work culture that inspires, allowing employees to realise their true potential in both their professional and personal realms.

Take Stefanie Sze for example – currently a Human Resources and Administrative manager of Gamuda Land. She started her career fresh off university back in 2014 through the Gamuda Graduate Programme (GGP), a programme that develops young graduates professionally through formal training, job rotation and familiarisation across the Gamuda Group. It was through this programme that she met her now-husband.

Stefanie and her husband during their pre-wedding photoshoot.

When she first joined us, the young, single and ambitious Stefanie chose placement under the Contracts & Commercial department of Gamuda Engineering, as a Quantity Surveyor.

“The GGP programme lasted for two years, and it provided me with two options. I could join a rotation where I would get experience from different business units every six months or remain in one business department for more in-depth learning. I chose the latter from start to finish,” Stefanie shares.

“And that’s how I met him,” she continued with a soft smile on her face.

“We were both brought into Gamuda at the same time. I was fresh off local university, and he had studied abroad in the UK. The programme also sought to bring back talents who were studying abroad,” Stefanie expresses.

While the both of them were from entirely different business units, the two of them were called on by a mutual colleague to organise a networking activity.

“We used to organise an initiative called the Gamuda Networking Party where young graduates in the programme could network with top management,” she says.

“It was a way to bridge the gap within a large organisation, especially for those of us seeking mentorship from our seniors. We had a lot of fun with the location scouting, event planning and everything. We were the first of the GGP batches to hold such parties,” Stefanie says.

Fast forward to 2020, Stefanie and her husband are now almost a year in marriage. When asked if there were any differences with the change of marital status, Stefanie is quick to share, “When I first joined the organisation, I was single and very ambitious. Truth be told, there hasn’t been a change in the level of ambition. I still have the same dreams and want to achieve the same goals.”

Stefanie Sze may not have expanded her family yet but she does state that even if children were in the cards, Gamuda’s family-friendly policies offer support to make sure employees are able to be there for their families and still achieve goals professionally.

Stefanie and her colleagues at an internal event held in Menara Gamuda on February 2020.

“There are some inclusive policies that really help me contribute equally with everyone in the workplace. For example, the flexible work arrangement. In my department, we believe in having a work-trust relationship. So, my nature of work allows me to come into work a bit later than usual and that really gives me the space to really get into my zone,” Stefanie shares.

“I think different people work more efficiently when the environment is just right for them. You know when the office is bustling, there’s always a lot of other things to do that are ad-hoc. Usually when the office is a little bit more quiet, that’s when I can really complete all my tasks before the new day. It really makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something by the end of the day,” she goes on.

To round up the flexible work arrangement, we encourage staff like Stefanie to adopt a healthy lifestyle through physical, mental and emotional means. With our flexible wellness benefit, we offer employees the freedom to exercise discretion in utilising health and wellness benefits to best meet individuals’ different needs. Employees have the option to either use the benefit for their annual health check-up, to ease their medical bills or to cover for their gym or other wellness programmes.

“Another benefit that stands out to me is the family care benefits, particularly family care leave which is separate from emergency and annual leave, and is applicable to anyone with dependents. Not everyone in the organisation has children. Some of us have aging parents or grandparents to care for. This helps ease stresses because I believe your annual leave should be there for employees to take advantage of, to give themselves a break. Caring for a sick family member is not a holiday or me-time,” Stefanie says.

Adding on to that, Stefanie says that even if she were to plan to have children, it isn’t something she finds herself over-thinking about. Being a family-friendly employer, Gamuda also provides paternity and extended maternity leave, childcare subsidy, support facilities for new mothers and parents with young children.

With the provision of these benefits, it provides working parents a peace of mind, helping them to focus on their career growth with a better work-life balance.

“I’ve been working here for five years already and I’ve seen how my colleagues who have children continue to flourish in the workplace. We even have a daycare centre in our headquarter in PJ Trade Centre, so I know that should I choose to expand my family, support is already available. So, as your life moves forward, the scope of benefits widen,” Stefanie concluded.

We believe that work and life should be complementary and synergistic. And therefore, we build our benefits, developmental programmes and culture in a holistic manner, taking into account our staff’s and their family’s needs.