Nurturing the right environment for employees
Educators looking to transform education by ensuring adequate support for workers
SISTERS, Melinda and Anne Lim, were very clear about the kind of school they were going to build – one that not only nurtures its students, but also its staff.
“We wanted to create an environment that we would like to work in. We wanted to ensure that the people who work with us are taken care off,” says Melinda.
Anne is the founder and group chief executive officer of Sirius International (M) Sdn Bhd, which manages the Sri Emas International School and Dwi Emas International School. Melinda is its director of schools.
Both had come some ways in the teaching profession – Anne did a 10-year stint in private colleges before starting her own tuition classes while Melinda had taught more than 10 years in schools in Singapore – and had identified changes that were needed in schools to enable everyone to thrive.
One of the key aspects to these changes is to provide a nurturing environment for their employees. By taking care of their staff, they will also be able to build an ecosystem that will help them achieve their dream of transforming education for the students.
Some of their efforts in building a strong workforce include equipping teachers with the right skills and ensuring adequate support for them.
“A lot of times, teachers are expected to teach and handle piles of paperwork. But teachers are hired to teach. Administrative work is not their strength.
“It is important for teachers to feel supported in their work so we try as much as possible to reduce the administrative work that they need to do,” says Melinda.
At their schools, the support staff take over the burden of paperwork from the teaching staff.
They also hire professional coaches and instructors to handle the co-curricular classes. This not only helps the teachers focus on academics, it also ensures that the students are learning from qualified instructors.
However, Anne emphasises that no one team is greater than the other. There is a culture of mutual respect among the teachers and the administrative team. Even their part-time and external workers – like sports coaches and security guards – are treated as part of the family.
“And we also teach our students to treat all our staff the same way. So they call our admin staff ‘teacher’ and all our staff, whether they are from admin or security, will do their part to also correct and discipline the students when they make a mistake,” she says.
Sirius International has a staff strength of around 200 people across the schools. But if you were to ask Melinda and Anne how many of them are actual full-time employees, the sisters wouldn’t be able to give you an answer.
“They are very close to us. We don’t really differentiate the full-time and part-time staff. They are all around so much, it’s like everyone is a full-time employee,” laughs Melinda.
The school also provides training for its teachers in the areas of pedagogy, subject expertise, school culture and mentoring.
Anne adds that new teachers do not necessarily need a teacher’s qualification to be hired as training is provided. In fact, they’d prefer new hires with no preconceived ideas about how a teacher should teach.
“It’s better that they have subject knowledge in various fields than have a degree in education. We want to change the perspective on what a trained teacher really is. You can pick up this skillset as you teach,” she says.
After all, when Anne and Melinda first started teaching, neither was a qualified teacher. Melinda has a degree in civil engineering while Anne holds a Bachelor of Arts degree.
But more than just providing their employees with the platform and tools to do well at work, Melinda and Anne also encourage them to pursue their interests outside of work. Better still if they are able to turn their interests into side businesses. The sisters are strong advocates of entrepreneurship and their teachers are taught financial literacy.
“We bounce ideas off each other. And we are creating an ecosystem that inspires and supports our staff in their endeavours. For example, our hip-hop dance class instructor has gone on to design and sell his own hiphop clothing and even opened a dance studio.
“We also look out for investment opportunities and invite our staff to co-invest with us in business ideas,” Anne shares.
Their employees clearly enjoy working in their schools. Many of them have even roped in their family members to join the staff.
“Not many places would allow it but we have quite a few families here. They work here and their kids are studying here. We are happy that their whole family wants to be a part of our family,” says Anne.
The impact of creating the right environment for their staff is obvious. At the end of each year, when the students recall their experiences in school, they always speak positively about their teachers.
“Ours is a very home-made environment. ‘ Buatan cikgu’. It’s about creating a culture that is collaborative and nurturing. We want to help people get to the next level,” says Anne.
Sirius International won the Platinum award for best employer in the below RM25mil revenue category for SOBA 2017.
Anne also took home the female entrepreneur of the year award in the same category.