The Human Resource SWOT Team

While so many in NCCS have been mobilised to go the extra mile to keep our patients safe during the COVID-19 situation, a group of dedicated staff works silently behind the scene to support them.

Life for the Human Resource department has also been disrupted. In addition to their added workload and responsibilities during this time, they make the effort to look after the welfare and morale of all staff.

We speak to Ms Margaret Yuan, Assistant Director, Human Resource, to find out more about the many initiatives rolled out to take care of the physical wellbeing, mental and emotional health of our staff.

"Staff welfare is important and we also want to ensure that they are safe."

The Human Resource Department at NCCS has been busy tracking staff who have travelled overseas and making sure they comply with all the institution and government directives.

"Some members of our team have also been seconded to support the Command Centre to support with staff-related matters, such as manpower planning for visitor screening duties," said Margaret.

The rest of the team have been equally vigilant. HR processes are constantly reviewed to ensure that staff and even potential employees remain safe. Time is also spent looking into the needs of the staff and brainstorming ideas to boost staff morale.

"In addition to taking care of the physical needs of our staff, it is important to know how well they are coping, their stress levels and how can we help them emotionally and mentally. The support that supervisors and department heads give their staff is just as important," explained Margaret.

"Just looking at the smile of our colleagues receiving these tokens of appreciation makes us feel great!"

We follow the HR team who have organised the distribution of bottles of Vitamin C to give staff immunity a welcome boost. Most times, such initiatives help staff cope with the additional workload by reminding them that there's someone supporting them and cheering them on.

Members of the HR team help to receive the delivery and the multi-man operation begins: checking, sorting and packing items. Often, gifts are accompanied with cards or messages of encouragement. Members of the Finance Department also join in to help with labour intensive tasks – all part of the "One NCCS Family" approach.

Other recent initiatives include distributing cookies and roses on Valentine's Day, and delivering vitamin C, fruits and hand sanitizers to each staff. Senior members of NCCS' management team took a break away from the Command Centre to help pack or distribute some tokens of appreciation for staff. Judging from the smiles from staff members, these heartfelt tokens were well received. "Just looking at the smiles of our colleagues receiving these tokens of appreciation makes all of us feel great!" Margaret added.

At the end of the day, despite the fatigue, members of the HR team take the extra time to catch up on other daily tasks. The COVID-19 situation and keeping staff members supported is a priority, but regular work demands still continue.

Thank you HR colleagues, your efforts are noticed and very appreciated!