OCBC Bank reiterates emphasis on women’s role
KUCHING: With a commendable 44 per cent of its management committee consisting of women, OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd is reiterating its emphasis on developing the growing talent pool of female managers in the company, paying special tribute to them in conjunction with International Women’s Day, celebrated worldwide on 8 March.
According to chief executive officer Ong Eng Bin, the number of women in senior positions at the bank has steadily increased over the years and now reached a healthy proportion.
“Clearly, the bank has come a long way in recognising the strengths and contributions of women. The record high milestone of having eight women among our 18 management committee members is a telling statement about where we are in terms of female empowerment.
“This statistic is reflected also in the fact that about half of those in vice-president positions and above are women.
“We will continue to invest and harness the skills of all our employees with a continued focus on improving and acknowledging the role of our female colleagues,” he said.
Of OCBC Bank’s over 5,000 staff, 63 per cent are women and 51 per cent are at least vice-presidents.
Among the particular ways in which the Bank ensures the wellbeing of its female staff are the provision of lactation facilities to assist breastfeeding mothers at work, longer maternity leave of 90 days, flexible working hours and child subsidy programmes.
And as part of the overall OCBC Group effort to celebrate International Women’s Day, OCBC Group recently reached out to all staff from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China to encourage them to submit stories of women in their lives as part of its Inspiring Women, Empowering Women campaign.
Thirty stories were selected to create an OCBC Mural Collage that was showcased at a recent roadshow in Singapore.
Last year, OCBC Bank was a recipient of the Aon Best Employers Award for Malaysia, a recognition bestowed by global consultancy Aon Hewitt.
In January, the Bank unveiled its Employer Brand with the tagline “We See You,” enshrining its commitment to see the best in each individual staff and live out the overarching tenets of being caring, progressive and delivering a difference.
OCBC Bank is the longest established Singapore bank, formed in 1932 from the merger of three local banks, the oldest of which was founded in 1912.
It is now the second largest financial services group in Southeast Asia by assets and one of the world’s most highly-rated banks, with an Aa1 rating from Moody’s.
Recognised for its financial strength and stability, OCBC Bank is consistently ranked among the World’s Top 50 Safest Banks by Global Finance and has been named Best Managed Bank in Singapore and the Asia Pacific by The Asian Banker.
OCBC Bank and its subsidiaries offer a broad array of commercial banking, specialist financial and wealth management services, ranging from consumer, corporate, investment, private and transaction banking to treasury, insurance, asset management and stockbroking services.
OCBC Bank’s key markets are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China. It has more than 610 branches and representative offices in 18 countries and regions.
These include the 340 branches and offices in Indonesia under subsidiary Bank OCBC NISP, and over 100 branches and offices in Hong Kong, China and Macau under OCBC Wing Hang.