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As Robin Goh, SVP & Head, Group Communications & Marketing, reflects, something as simple as seeing regular volunteers, whom beneficiaries have come to recognise as friends, goes a long way towards making them feel like they are an appreciated and valued part of the society.
As HR leaders, it is imperative to shape not only the future of your organisations but also the future of your communities. By championing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, you can drive positive change, enhance your company's reputation, and foster a more engaged and motivated workforce.
This is what Certis has been doing, which earned the organisation the silver award for 'Excellence in Employee Volunteerism' at the HR Excellence Awards 2024 in Singapore.
In this interview following the win, Robin Goh, SVP & Head, Group Communications & Marketing, Certis, reminds us that CSR isn't merely a box to tick, but a heartfelt endeavour to positively impact the lives of others.
Q. What was the motivation that sparked your passion & business case for pursuing your outstanding people strategy?
The Certis Purpose is to 'Make our world safer, smarter, better'.
As with everything we do in Certis, safeguarding lives and assets remains the core of our business; our commitment to doing our part for the communities we operate in is a natural extension of what we do, as we believe in doing our part for the positive transformation of our communities. One way in which we help to make our world better is through our work with charity partners, where we seek to drive impactful programmes for their beneficiaries and provide meaningful opportunities for our people to give back as well. Some of our long-term charity partners include SPD, the Singapore Disability Sports Council, and Boys’ Town.
Q. Looking back, can you share a challenge that you overcame in your journey of CSR excellence? How did you triumph?
One of the challenges with CSR is tracking its impact on the beneficiaries and whether it drives real change in the lives of those in need. With this in mind, we set out to curate programmes with the aim of creating real positive impact that we could meaningfully track, which led us to launch Certis’ cornerstone CSR programmes.
One example is Dare to Dream, in partnership with the Singapore Disability Sports Council, which aims to raise the next generation of para-athletes in Singapore while discovering sporting talent among persons with disabilities and encouraging them to lead active lifestyles. Through Dare to Dream, Certis supported Singapore’s national women’s goalball team to win an impressive silver medal at the 2022 ASEAN Para Games.
We also tested over 300 students from special education schools to match them to suitable sports as part of the Certis Superheroes Challenge initiative, and have identified two athletes with potential to compete at higher levels.
President Tharman witnessed the Certis Superheroes Challenge in action at the President’s Challenge 2025 Grant Call.
Q. Beyond the recognition, what impact do you hope your feature in the HR Excellence Awards would have on the HR community and manpower landscape?
We have consistently heard from our CSR partners that their clients and beneficiaries are grateful for the relationship that Certis has built with them over the years, as we strive to curate long-term programmes that provide our volunteers more frequent and sustained engagement opportunities with the beneficiaries. While we do provide monetary support to our partners as well, what has made real positive impact on the beneficiaries is how our volunteers take the time to get to know them and create memorable experiences together, making them feel a part of our community. We hope this encourages more corporates to prioritise maximising volunteering opportunities, which will furthermore promote a greater sense of meaning at the workplace for employees as well.
Q. Could you share some advice you would give to others aspiring to follow in your footsteps?
Corporate social responsibility has become a non-negotiable for companies today, as both prospective employees and clients place greater emphasis on working for and with organisations that care about more than just the bottom line. While doing good can become just a box to check, I want to encourage corporates out there to remember that we can create tangible positive impact in people’s lives.
Rather than viewing corporate social responsibility as an obligation, perhaps we can focus more on the people whose lives we can touch.
Though it may seem doubtful if we make real impact since everyone is doing good anyway, it always makes a difference. Speaking from my own personal experience volunteering and meeting our beneficiaries, something as simple as seeing regular volunteers, whom they have come to recognise as friends, goes a long way towards making them feel like they are an appreciated and valued part of our society.
Certis senior leaders shopping for groceries to deliver to SPD’s home-based clients.
Q. Let's talk inspiration! Who has been a driving force behind your success?
This win truly would not have been possible without our people. Being in an industry where our people are our most important resource, we have to ensure that giving back to the community remains a priority even as we manage manpower and deployment requirements. That said, our employees are always ready and more than willing to volunteer their time, even beyond office hours, to support our CSR programmes. With their enthusiastic support, we have the privilege of running monthly activities with our various beneficiaries; even with the frequency of activities, they are often oversubscribed!
So, our people really are our inspiration and the driving force behind all our successful CSR partnerships, and we are more than happy to constantly engage them to create bigger and better programmes, for bigger and better impact for the world.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!
Lead image / Provided
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