And they, too, benefit. “Employees who participate in these mentoring programmes develop their leadership and other soft skills,” says Ms Green. “It also provides them with networking opportunities as it gives them the chance to interact with employees across different seniority levels and departments.”
Equally important, she says, is that “supporting our communities through such mentoring programmes also aligns with our (corporate) values, including partnership, inclusion and accountability”.
The bank shared lessons from their excITE experience at Mentoring SG’s corporate engagement session last month. The corporate business leaders-only event, attended by 17 representatives, aimed to raise awareness of the value of mentoring Singapore’s youth, and how companies have the capacity to transform a young person’s life.
For other companies keen to do the same, Mr Brian Liu, Mentoring AfA workgroup lead for Partnerships, says: “Mentoring SG is a great platform to kick off virtuous cycles of corporates broadcasting and amplifying their values, and the good work they are doing for their staff and for those in the community through mentoring.”
Mr Liu, 40, who is also senior vice-president of human resources at e-commerce platform Lazada, adds: “This, in turn, inspires other corporates to also participate and innovate, and this of course attracts talents as they have greater visibility as well as more information and access to leaders.”
