Building houses builds better teamwork

Singapore - Engaging in corporate social responsibility can foster team cohesion among colleagues.

Collaborating with Habitat for Humanity and Mercy Relief, 110 OCBC Bank's employees from its group operations and technology division spent one week in April in CSR work.

The employees, which range from the bank's four offices, built houses and distributed essential items to three orphanages in Bandung, Indonesia.

Samuel Lee, management associate, group operations & technology division said that homebuilding required a lot of labour, coordination and teamwork among colleagues.

He added, "Every team member had to work together using their strengths to good effect, and this produced a whole greater than the sum of the parts. The distribution of essentials to the orphanages required a lot of cooperation to ensure that the children benefit from the outcome."

The employees also showed great compassion towards each other by reminding to drink and eat well or taking over responsibilities to allow others to rest.

Commenting on the group's work, Ching Wei Hong, head of OCBC's group operations & technology said: "Indonesia is one of our key strategic markets beyond Singapore. This community development effort goes beyond offering innovative financial services and products to meet the needs of the Indonesian community."

Other divisions in OCBC have expressed interest to do be part of a community involvement programme.