This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 21, 2017 - August 27, 2017
August is here and we are already seeing athletes from all over the region gather in Kuala Lumpur for the 29th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. This is also the month we celebrate the formation of Asean, in addition to the independence of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. What these events have in common is how they bring a diverse set of people together for a single purpose — the former through competitive sports, and the latter to commemorate nationhood.
Malaysia is a perfect example of how diversity can be turned into strength. Sixty years of independence shows how the act of embracing diversity has contributed so much to the nation’s peace and progress. One of my closest friends is truly a poster boy for Malaysia’s beautiful multiculturalism: The son of an Indian father and a Chinese mother, he married a Malay and is now a Muslim. He enjoys celebrating all the major festivals in Malaysia, each with its own mouth-watering food, which, unfortunately, has not been so good for his waistline.
The SEA Games is another perfect example of how we can achieve a common purpose through mutual cooperation and understanding despite the diverse backgrounds of the people from the 10 Asean members. If we could unite through sports, imagine what could be achieved through better economic cooperation and integration — for a region with 630 million people with relatively young demographics, the potential is huge!
The same idea applies to the CIMB Group, where I believe our diverse workforce has been one of the success factors in the group’s progress over the years. We recognise the value of diversity and embrace it wholeheartedly. At times, we take our diversity for granted, forgetting that we always need to nurture and protect it.
In finding effective ways in which we “do” diversity in CIMB, our first task is to set the tone from the top. To give some colour (pun intended) to this idea, our senior management team features an American chief risk officer, a French chief fintech officer, an Indonesian leading our group transaction banking, and a Singaporean heading our group commercial banking. Collectively, their different cultures and backgrounds bring forth a wealth of skills, talents and perspectives on which we grow and learn.
We also recognise and play to our teams’ natural strengths. For example, we have our Thai team showing the way in the group’s Customer Experience project. Our Indonesian team plays a major role in our creative and marketing efforts, the Singapore team in cost management and the Malaysia team in investment banking.
As for having a gender-equality agenda, women make up 54% of our regional workforce. In fact, 40% of senior management is represented by women. In the case of our CIMB Niaga Board, women are in the majority. Not forgetting the men, we recently introduced a full-month paternity leave for first-time fathers for CIMB Malaysia! We also adopt policies that support working parents like reduced work week and flexible work arrangement.
While seeking to improve productivity, lower operating cost and improve customer experience, we also encourage just enough (diverse) cooks to improve the broth! We formed teams comprising staff from sales, businesses, compliance and credit. Each team member pitched in and provided fresh ideas on improving the CIMB experience. As a result, product developers, who better understood the challenges faced by sales, created much-improved products. Sales staff, in turn, now know what “quality credit” looks like and are focused on pursuing more of those. I am so proud that collectively, these efforts have borne fruit as we continue to see our customer experience and financial numbers improve.
Through our staff initiatives, we consciously nurture diversity. Programmes like Global Employment Mobility, CIMB-INSEAD Leadership and Motivating Middle Management cut across all markets, allowing us to collaborate, learn and grow together. We also actively seek candidates from all walks of life through our hiring process. Our Complete Banker and CIMB Fusion programmes bring cross-function and cross-industry opportunities to further enrich our talent pool.
And finally, we create common causes to encourage an open culture. Diversity and inclusivity are also nurtured when we come together in celebration of a common cause. For example, this year, we began the Forward > Together Nationwide Tour, which will touch over 10,000 CIMBians throughout Malaysia. Every two years, we also host our very own Asean Games, where CIMBians throughout the region came together through sports, further building our openness and camaraderie within the CIMB family.
There are many other ways to nurture diversity, but I believe I have listed enough to prove my key point: When combined with a healthy culture of openness, diversity becomes a huge advantage. Once diverse thinking is allowed to thrive, progress will take care of itself. I can certainly say this has been the case for CIMB and me. Coupled with openness and trust, we can create a safe space for a diverse workforce to embrace different ways of thinking so that creative ideas can form and grow. This is what leads to breakthrough innovations and great solutions to move a company, society, nation, or region forward.
Personally, the friendships and relationships that I have with people from different backgrounds have created a rich repository of inspiration and ideas to improve myself. Without a doubt, I am so blessed and proud to be part of Asean and Malaysia’s diverse population.
Before I end, allow me to wish:
Happy 50th Asean Day to all 630 million Asean-nites!
Happy 52nd National Day to Singaporeans!
Selamat Hari Kemerdekaan yang ke-72 untuk seluruh rakyat Republik Indonesia!
Selamat Hari Merdeka yang ke-60 kepada warganegara Malaysia!
Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz is the group CEO of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd
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