Human Capital

Human Rights

CapitaLand has an integrated human capital strategy to recruit, develop and motivate staff. KPIs, both for the business as well as for people development, are in place to ensure that staff’s performance goals are aligned with the Group’s business objectives. Staff are provided with appropriate development opportunities to perform well in their job.

CapitaLand was voted winner of the Randstad SEA Employer Brand Award 2017 (Property and Real Estate Sector). The annual award is presented to the most attractive employer in 26 countries globally.

Anti-child Labour and Anti-forced Labour

With a global workforce of more than 12,500 staff, CapitaLand is committed to be a workplace of choice for its staff.

CapitaLand upholds the spirit of international human rights conventions, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions, against coerced labour and discrimination in any form. To date, Singapore has ratified 20 ILO Conventions covering four key areas of employment standards: child labour, forced labour, collective bargaining, and equal remuneration. CapitaLand has aligned its policies with these four key areas in Singapore and overseas. This includes the signing of the Employers Pledge for Fair Employment Practices with The Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP¹¹) and a commitment to the five key principles of fair employment as follows:

• Recruit and select staff based on merit, such as skills, experience and ability, regardless of age, race, gender, religion or family status.
• Treat staff fairly and with respect and implement progressive human resource management systems.
• Provide staff with equal opportunities for training and development based on their strengths and needs, to help them achieve their full potential.
• Reward staff fairly based on their ability, performance, contribution and experience.
• Abide by labour laws and adopt Tripartite Guidelines which promote fair employment practices.

In 2017, there was no reported incident relating to discrimination, child labour or forced labour in CapitaLand. In 2017, CapitaLand had no staff below the age of 16.

Promoting Fairness and Diversity

As an international company, CapitaLand embraces diversity and inclusivity regardless of gender, race, culture, nationality and family status. There are more than 80 nationalities working within the Group. CapitaLand believes that regardless of ethnicity, age, gender or family status, staff can make a significant contribution based on their talent, expertise and experience.

CapitaLand propagates a localisation strategy for its overseas operations where reasonable and practical. This ensures that the teams on the ground have a good grasp of local socio-political and cultural sensitivities to help deliver targeted business outcomes for the Group. In 2017, locals accounted for about 83% of the staff based in Singapore and 97% of staff based in China. Of these locals, 42% were holding managerial and senior management positions in Singapore and 15% in China.

CapitaLand identifies talent internally and externally to build bench strength as well as talent pipeline for leadership succession planning. CapitaLand recruits talent through a network of local and overseas universities, and also attracts young talent at an early stage through scholarship programmes such as the CapitaLand- Building and Construction Authority Singapore Scholarship. Apart from fresh graduates, CapitaLand also employs experienced and mid-career professionals as well as industry veterans. New hires represented 25% of the total headcount in 2017¹².

CapitaLand’s vibrant, motivated and qualified workforce has given the Group a competitive edge. About 68% of CapitaLand’s global workforce is aged 30 to 50. About 84% of new hires in 2017 were born from 1978 onwards. Over 75% of CapitaLand’s staff hold tertiary qualifications and above (this includes holders of diploma, and bachelor’s and master’s degree qualifications).

CapitaLand’s global workforce comprises an almost equal proportion of males and females, at a ratio of 48:52 (In Singapore, the proportion of male to female staff is 40:60; in China, the ratio is 48:52). The company’s female staff are well represented at the middle and senior management level. In the past three years, about 50% of the managerial staff were female. In 2017, about 35% of senior management were female with four of them holding C-suite appointments within the Group.

The average gender pay gap¹³ for staff up to middle management levels ranges between 1% (in favour of females) for non-executives, 0% for executives and 7% (in favour of males) for managers. At senior management levels with female representation¹⁴, the average gender pay gap ranges between 1% (in favour of females) and 12% (in favour of males). An analysis of comparable roles shows that CapitaLand rewards men and women fairly for similar work and that the gap reflects the lower representation of women at the more senior levels of the organisation.

Re-employment Opportunities

The Singapore government implemented the re-employment legislation in 2012 to enable more people to work beyond the current statutory retirement age of 62, and up to 65 in the first instance and subsequently, up to 67 years old. Before the legislation, CapitaLand already had a re-employment policy of extending employment to staff who have reached the mandatory retirement age but are still able and willing to continue contributing to CapitaLand. This policy is applicable to all staff globally with a total of 126 staff above retirement age¹⁵ in 2017. They will continue to draw their last drawn salary if upon re-employment, their work scope and responsibilities remain unchanged.

Respect for Freedom of Association

CapitaLand is committed to maintaining harmonious labour relations. It respects its staff’s right to freedom of association and be members of trade unions. In Singapore, CapitaLand is guided by the Industrial Relations Act that allows representation of staff by trade unions for collective bargaining, thus providing them with an avenue to seek redress for any industrial disputes. CapitaLand and the unions enjoy a cordial working relationship, promoting positive working conditions and improving productivity for the mutual benefit of staff and the company. Currently, 39% of the bargainable workforce and junior executives in Singapore are union members. Globally, 14% of its workforce is covered by collective agreements*. During the year, the unions did not express any concerns on staff health and safety issues as the CapitaLand OHS management system is externally audited.

Talent Management

CapitaLand seeks innovative, dynamic and talented staff to take the company into its next phase of growth and adopts a multi-pronged approach to manpower planning, i.e. developing internal talent and hiring young talent, mid-career and industry veterans. CapitaLand continuously builds its management bench strength through the identification of high potential talent as part of the regular succession planning process. Talent management decisions are driven by a set of organisational core competencies as well as position-specific competencies. CapitaLand’s performance management and talent development programmes provide developmental opportunities to nurture staff’s capability and personal traits, underpinned by its core values, through formal classroom trainings, on-the-job exposure, job rotation and mentoring/coaching.

The Board’s Executive Resource and Compensation Committee (ERCC) regularly reviews the succession plans for the key positions in the company including President & Group CEO and other key management personnel in CapitaLand.

On an annual basis, CapitaLand identifies and reviews suitably qualified candidates from both within and outside of the Group who could be considered for key positions when the need arises in the immediate, medium, or long term.

Positive Work Environment

CapitaLand recognises that a positive work environment is essential to attract, motivate and retain talent. A total wellbeing programme has been put in place to promote personal development, health and work-life harmony. Initiatives include a flexible medical and benefits plan, flexible work arrangements, staff engagement initiatives and subsidised rates for staff staying at Ascott’s serviced residences. Part-time staff are entitled to the same benefits on a pro-rata basis. CapitaLand advocates a pay-for-performance philosophy to drive ownership of collective goals, leading to a high performance culture which creates long-term shareholder value. Its robust performance management system ensures that all staff receive regular performance and career development reviews.

In 2017, 442 eligible female staff went on maternity leave and 323¹⁶ returned to work. CapitaLand also provides paid paternity leave to all male staff in Singapore and countries where practicable. In 2017, 231 eligible male staff took paternity leave.

In Singapore, the Central Provident Fund (CPF) is a comprehensive social security savings plan introduced by the Singapore government to enforce savings by salaried workers for a more secure retirement. Under the CPF scheme, CapitaLand and its staff make monthly contributions to the staff’s CPF account in accordance with the prevailing regulations. Apart from complying with Singapore’s statutory requirements on making monthly contributions to staff’s CPF accounts, the Group also adheres to the respective social security contribution or pension plan obligations of the countries it operates in.

Fair Remuneration

All staff sign employment contracts with the key employment terms and conditions clearly spelt out, so that staff fully understand what the terms and conditions mean. This allows staff to understand both their rights and obligations as well as those of the company, thus minimising potential employment disputes in future. Key employment terms specified in the employment contract include the job title and description, duration of employment, working hours, salary and allowances, and (statutory) contributions/deductions, leave entitlements, probation and notice periods, and key insurance and medical benefits, etc.

To ensure that CapitaLand remains competitive and continues to attract and retain the right talent, the Group engages external independent remuneration consultants to benchmark the company’s compensation packages against the relevant talent markets. Salaries are reviewed taking into consideration these benchmarks as well as the specific job scope and responsibilities of each staff.

All regular full-time staff undergo an annual performance review where there is an open discussion on the staff’s performance, areas for improvement, developmental needs and career plans.

The Group rewards and motivates staff with comprehensive and competitive compensation and benefits programmes. The Group observes a pay-for-performance philosophy that rewards for superior performance, which aligns staff and shareholder interests to deliver business results. The Group’s overall annual variable bonus pool is determined based on the Group’s achievement against a holistic set of financial and non-financial targets in the balanced scorecard dimensions of Financials, Growth, Execution and People. The amount of bonus awarded to staff are further based on their relative contributions and individual performance. Staff at managerial grades are also eligible to receive performance-based long-term share awards. The share awards will vest over three years subject to the achievement of pre-determined Group profitability and shareholder return targets.

The performance and remuneration of key management executives is based on both quantitative and qualitative targets within the balanced scorecard framework, including their efforts in building the management bench strength and in the development of talent.

CapitaLand monitors the movement of its workforce closely. In 2017, the staff turnover¹⁷ was 15.9%. In Singapore, the turnover was 14.6%, which was better than the national average of 21.6%¹⁸. In China, the turnover was 18.2%, which was better than the national average of 19.6%¹⁹. Due to the labour-intensive hospitality industry that CapitaLand is also in, as well as the large number of non-executive staff, the staff movement whilst significant, was not abnormal.

Almost 45% of staff globally have been with the Group for five years or longer. The company also interviews resigning staff as part of its continuing efforts to improve its retention policies and initiatives.

Job Security

CapitaLand is committed to talent mobility where staff are given opportunities to rotate to different job functions, subject to skills/competency requirements and business needs. CapitaLand is committed to providing meaningful jobs for its staff. This is in line with the revised Tripartite Guidelines on Managing Excess Manpower and Responsible Retrenchment issued by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower (MOM) together with its tripartite partners, Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

These guidelines also suggest various arrangements such upskilling staff and redesigning jobs, as well as providing company retraining programmes for workers, redeployment of workers to alternative areas of work, implementing flexible work arrangements, and managing wage costs through a flexible wage system.

In the event of termination or staff resignation, there is a minimum notice period of one to three months, depending on the staff’s job grade. Due to operational requirements, senior management staff are required to serve a notice period of three to six months.

In 2017, other than the reconfiguration of certain functions, there was no major reorganisation in CapitaLand. There were no layoffs arising from these changes.

Learning and Development

Staff are provided with appropriate training to be better equipped to contribute at optimal levels, and contribute effectively to Group’s performance. The target is for 95% of staff to attend at least one learning event per year and each staff is to achieve an average of at least 40 hours of learning and development for continuous upskilling and improvement.

CapitaLand commits up to 3% of its annual wage bill towards initiatives for staff’s learning and development. This includes personal development courses and certified training programmes to equip staff with the necessary skills for better performance. Staff are granted paid examination leave for their studies. Full-time staff are allowed up to 10 days of examination leave per calendar year.

In 2017, about 95% of the workforce attended at least one learning event²⁰, and the average number of training hours completed by each staff for the year was more than 59 hours, well above the recommended industry guide of 40 hours per annum.

Upskilling The Workforce For The Future

In anticipation of the technological change and its impact on the skillsets of its staff, CapitaLand organised a series of evening sessions where industry experts are invited to share insights on topics and trends related to its business, including building retail of the future. By organising these discussions, the company hopes to inculcate a spirit of lifelong learning and help equip staff with the knowhow to navigate a constantly changing world. A key highlight was the CapitaLand Family Day Digital Festival, which was a full day technology carnival at a CapitaLand property. CapitaLand staff and their family (including children) could experience a glimpse of the future of real estate at the exhibition, and learn digital skills at the technology workshops. CapitaLand Hope Foundation children beneficiaries were also invited to participate in this event.

Another key event was the “Be Future Ready Learning Event”, a full day event with industry experts sharing insights on digital revolution, developing lifelong resilience skills and dealing with online negativity. In end 2017, CapitaLand launched the CapitaLand ELEVATE, a S$10 million programme to train its staff in new proptech-enabled capabilities, such as data analytics, digital marketing, and digital asset management.

Other training organised by CapitaLand included analytics and innovation. Over 1,290 staff invested over 5,500 hours attending these sessions in 2017. Also, more than 360 staff spent over 2,100 hours participating in change management and diversity-related training.

Staff Engagement*

CapitaLand actively engages its staff through various avenues, including regular communication sessions held by senior management for effective flow of information and alignment of business goals and objectives across all levels of the workforce.

Quarterly staff communication sessions by the President & Group CEO allow the Group’s senior management team to communicate and interact with staff. These sessions are webcast live to CapitaLand offices in Singapore and overseas. During these staff communication sessions, information on the Group’s results and key business focus are shared with staff. These sessions include a question and answer session, where staff can pose questions via an online platform, via email, or in person.

CapitaLand practises an open-door policy, allowing all staff to obtain a fair review and a prompt response to problems or concerns relating to any aspects of employment with the Group. This includes harassment, grievance handling and whistle-blowing policies applicable to all staff. Staff can also raise their concerns to a higher level of management or to the Human Resource Department.

Information such as employment terms, benefits and practices, Ethics and Code of Business Conduct is made available to all staff through CapitaLand’s intranet portal, iHub.