SAP fuels employees’ F1 frenzy

Singapore - Not everyone gets to boast of spending their weekend mingling with F1 stars in the flesh but SAP employees certainly can.

In conjunction with the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, which ended on Sunday, the company recently hosted a F1-themed social gathering weekend for 300 employees to get chummy with two Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers, Heikki Kovaleinen and Lewis Hamilton. Human Resources spoke to two employees who caught the F1 fever.

Sales consultant, Edwin Tan enthuses, "It was obvious that everyone was looking forward to the race weekend when 300 people signed up for the exclusive employee networking session in under an hour!"

He further proclaims the programme as the company's "employee event of the year".

Soaking in the electrifying atmosphere with her colleagues and friends, Jean Leng, from post-merger integration, says there is definitely greater pride now to be associated with the company. "The programme helped me break the routine of work and we were all so excited leading up to the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. This was the highlight of the month for me!"

"Of course, getting to see Lewis Hamilton in person was a great bonus!" she adds.

The company had also organised a get-together for over 40 critically ill children from the Make-A-Wish Foundation to share its F1 joy with the help of 30 SAP volunteers last Friday.

Tan believes the branding programme, held alongside the CSR activity, has boosted his confidence in the company. He said it helped him see that "the company is really powerful and also cares about its employees and the community around it".

Leng agrees. "It was also great to share by having the children from the foundation there as well. It really touched me that we were doing this for them."