People & Community

Health and Safety
We have a duty of care to ensure occupational health and safety of all employees and monitor our operations to ensure safety risks are controlled.

We have adopted an Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Management System which was certified to the OHSAS 18001 international standards in 2009. The OHSAS 18001 is audited by a third party accredited certification body.

Our OHS objectives are:

  • Zero incidents (reportable under the Singapore Ministry of Manpower regulations)
  • All main contractors for major projects have to be OHSAS 18001 certified (or equivalent)

In July 2011, operations staff from CMT's properties and our term contractors engaged in a sharing session with the Ministry of Manpower on the third phase of the Workplace Safety & Health Act which was rolled out in September 2011. Under this phase, the Act now covers shopping malls, entertainment venues, office buildings and educational institutions. The sharing session presented an opportunity for staff and contractors to listen and better understand each other's roles and responsibilities. All CMT's properties already have the necessary measures in place to prevent and minimise risks at work.

For CMT's properties, we strive to mitigate key OHS hazards in facilities, operations and contractor management. For instance, all service providers such as cleaning companies need to submit material safety data sheets to show that materials used are approved by authorities for use in Singapore. At our corporate office, OHS issues include office ergonomics, safety issues and general employee well-being.

Human Capital
We recognise the importance of managing our human capital in the most effective and efficient manner. We see the infinite value in them and recognise that it is their passion, professionalism and commitment that can contribute to the success of our business.

Talent Management Strategy
We are well poised to meet the resourcing challenges to support our business expansion. In strengthening our team, we recruit talents at different transition points in their career path, from fresh graduates to young, mid-career professionals and industry veterans.

At the core of our development programme is a systematic programme for all new hires to learn more about our business operations, strategies, core values and management philosophy. All employees also undergo an annual performance review where employees can openly discuss their performance and future aspirations with their supervisors. They broach on topics such as possible career moves and recommended training plans.

We believe in talent cross-fertilisation and leverage on the Asia-wide human resource platform of our Sponsor, CapitaMalls Asia Limited. As part of employees' career development, employees are given opportunities to rotate to different malls, functions, cities or countries within CapitaMalls Asia's portfolio.

Competitive Compensation & Benefits
We offer all employees comprehensive and competitive remuneration packages. These include short-term cash bonus programmes and long-term equity-based reward plans such as restricted shares and performance shares programmes. Such equity-based reward plans help to strengthen the linkage between reward and long-term performance, as well as to retain talent.

All employees receive staff benefits including a flexible benefits plan and leave entitlements for maternity, paternity and volunteer reasons. We recognise that employees have diverse needs and a flexible benefits plan enables staff to complement their personal medical and insurance needs with those provided by the company. Employees can thus customise their benefits for themselves and their families.

To ensure that we can continue to attract and retain talent, we regularly engage external human resource consultants to benchmark our compensation and benefits packages against other peers and industries in Singapore. We also constantly seek innovations in our compensation strategies for staff.

Developing Our People
In line with our belief that continuous learning is a fundamental building block of growth, we offer comprehensive training and development programmes for employees to acquire relevant knowledge and skills to achieve business excellence.

In 2011, staff clocked an average of 60 training hours per employee. We encourage employees to upgrade themselves by attending courses or obtain professional qualifications relevant to their work. Employees are granted paid examination leave for their studies. For full time staff, examination leave is up to 10 days per calendar year.

We already have in place training roadmaps and a wide variety of courses, ranging from project financing and real estate to soft skill subjects such as communications and presentation skills. Staff have direct access to a year-long training calendar, which comprises a series of pre-evaluated training courses, via our in-house intranet.

In April 2011, we launched an online learning platform to encourage staff to learn continuously and offer them more choices in terms of courses.

Throughout the year, our employees also participated in study visits to overseas malls in United Kingdom and Malaysia to network and gain insights to interesting retail concepts outside Singapore.

For members of the senior management team with proven track records and leadership potential, we partner with CapitaLand Institute of Management and Business (CLIMB) to provide leadership and management programmes to sharpen their management, leadership and business skills.

Engaging Our People
Staff communication sessions by senior management are conducted at least twice a year to keep staff abreast of CMT's financial results and strategic business thrusts. During these sessions, senior management members also take questions from staff and seek to gather feedback from them.

We regularly organise recreational and team-building events and brain-storming workshops to reinforce organisational cohesiveness as part of our concerted efforts to engage our workforce. In 2011, activities such as complimentary health screenings, beauty workshops and health-related talks were organised to encourage a well-balanced and healthy lifestyle among employees. Recreational activities also included family days and an annual dinner and dance party in December.

We also support annual national campaigns such as the 'Eat with Your Family Day' in May by giving employees time off to leave offices earlier to dine with their families.

To provide our employees with a better work-life balance, we have a flexible work arrangement policy which permits flexible working hours, working from home, part-time work arrangement or job-sharing arrangements.

We believe our success is shaped by our people and we will continue to develop our human capital to achieve optimal performance.

Community Involvement
We strive to be a strong partner in each community that CMT's malls serve. We are committed to supporting a wide variety of community-based activities and organisations that benefit the community.

Family-friendly Practices
In March 2011, IMM Building and Plaza Singapura were both awarded the 'We Welcome Families' Excellence Award 2011 for demonstrating leading measures that welcome families as customers. The 'We Welcome Families' Award is a prestigious award conferred by the Businesses for Family Council to businesses that demonstrate the highest standards of family-friendly business practices in Singapore.

The two malls boast family-friendly features such as family-themed shops, dedicated family parking lots, a family lounge, playgrounds and free loans of baby strollers to shoppers.

Programmes for Tenants
In 2011, we organised four Biz+ Series events for our tenants. This included an annual Lunar New Year networking session which lasted well into the evening with light conversations over good food and drinks. The Biz+ Series events also included talks on how to raise levels of customer service standards, how to attract more customers with effective visual merchandising and how to raise productivity levels in the retail sector.

Community Activities
Lot One Shoppers' Mall hosted more than 20 community related events at the mall's roof garden throughout 2011. The mall worked very closely with the Keat Hong Constituency as well as schools within the vicinity to organise these events.

Some of the noteworthy events held there include Assumption Pathway School's successful entry into the Singapore Book of Records by forming the longest chain of gingerbread men cookies as well as a bursary award event that was organised by Keat Hong Constituency. The event saw 400 students receiving their bursary awards.

Community Line Dancing and Aerobics Sessions
Line dancing and aerobics sessions are held at Bukit Panjang Plaza every Tuesday and Thursday respectively. Bukit Panjang Plaza is active in engaging the community in its vicinity by working closely with North-West Community Development Council.

Plaza Singapura Kids' Blog Book
Following the success of the first edition of its 'P/S… My Pals & Secrets' blog book in 2010, Plaza Singapura launched its second edition in 2011. This diary-cum-notebook which is targeted at primary school children, is an educational, informational and useful tool that young shoppers can use for a year. The blog book had been distributed to 141 local primary schools and five international schools while 600,000 copies were packaged with the May 2011 issue of the Young Generation magazine.

In addition to the monthly fun activities and interesting facts presented in the second edition of the blog book, it also included green tips to promote environmental friendliness amongst its young readers. Children learned about recycled materials made from recyclable plastic bottles and were encouraged to partake in green activities to celebrate Earth Day in April. The blog book also included a write-up about various endangered animals to commemorate World Animal Day in October.

Science in the Mall - 'X-ploring Robot Zoo!'
Children visiting Plaza Singapura from 3 to 12 June 2011 had the opportunity to explore science in a mall environment through a 'X-ploring Robot Zoo!' event which was organised by Science Centre Singapore. Six animatronic animals including a giraffe, chameleon and bat, were on display at the mall and visitors learned about the biomechanics of complex animal robots through playing with the interactive displays. In addition to the animatronic exhibits, stage activities and shows were also held at the mall to educate the children on the importance of conserving endangered animals.

My Schoolbag Programme
In November 2011, CMT partnered CapitaMalls Asia to carry out its 'My Schoolbag' annual corporate social responsibility programme which benefited more than 1,000 underprivileged children in Singapore.

The children shopped for their daily and school necessities at five participating malls - namely Plaza Singapura, Sembawang Shopping Centre, Junction 8, Lot One Shoppers' Mall and Tampines Mall. Each child received a new schoolbag, along with CapitaVouchers, which were worth a total of S$150. The half-day programme at the malls also included a special treat of a magic show and skit, followed by lunch. The children were accompanied by over 500 staff helpers who volunteered as child guardians, logistic helpers and photographers.

The children beneficiaries of 'My Schoolbag' mostly come from families with monthly household incomes of less than S$1,800.

CapitaMall Trust Report to UnitHolders 2011