PTSC Can Help
After staving off the coronavirus for a year and a half, Taiwan is amidst its second wave of Covid-19, pushing the government to enforce level 3 restrictions since May 20th. While never having entered a complete lockdown, the restrictions have impacted life with most businesses initiating a work from home (WFH) policy. In addition to taking care of our own employees with WFH, Pershing Technology Services Corporation (PTSC), has also taken the time and care to reach out and help with donations to medical funds in Taipei and New Taipei City.
E-mail Bravery
After completing my first year of working in a fully Taiwanese company, I have learned the challenge of building a work culture where employees freely, openly, and proactively give feedback and make suggestions. Each month I send out a feedback form to all employees which always includes a question of the month, a question inquiring as to employee satisfaction, and an open-ended space to provide feedback for suggestions and changes. Although there is some engagement, only a handful of employees choose this method to give feedback. Whether it is fear of being singled out, having the suggestions fall on deaf ears, or simply not wanting to take the extra 5 minutes, the monthly surveys are used sparingly. I realise that I have also entered the company in the newly created position of Chief Learning Officer, and a big part of my role is to help create transformation within the organisation. Transformation always takes time, and I’m still learning what type of transformation fits best within this new working environment where I am the only foreigner in the company.
I have increasingly noticed that employees at PTSC do take the time to speak up, little by little, and in their own way. Although the company has been around for 38 years, in 2020 it underwent a full rebranding with a name change, new logo, new core values, a fully revamped website, and new PTSC apparel for each and every employee. Also, I’m happy to say that the management does listen to suggested changes and suggestions. One such example of proactive feedback and action within PTSC happened recently when Joyce Cheng, a three year employee and member of the Technical Division Unit (TDU) sent an e-mail directly to the CEO, DI Lee, as well as her manager, Lin Chunshui. Below are excerpts from her e-mail:
Ever since starting WFH, I often hear the sound of ambulance sirens, probably from the nearby hospital. My friend’s house is at Xinyi Songshan, across from the fire and ambulance station where you can see the rescue workers wearing anti-virus protective clothing and medical equipment all day long. The cars roll in and out, one after another, workers leaving as soon as they are disinfected without any breaks.
Because my sister, close friends and family members are medical staff, they have to wear the protective medical equipment all day which becomes completely soaked inside due to the heat. They feel stressed out and are afraid of coming into contact with their family for fear of being exposed to the virus. These people persist with their missions everyday, like soldiers going to war!
I wish we could do our meagre part to help out these workers, even if it’s a small donation. I also know that there might be some complications behind making donations as an organisation. If making a donation as a company is inconvenient, I’ll go through other channels. However, if Pershing initiates a fundraising drive, I’ll gladly join! — Joyce Cheng
Agile Team, Quick Response
One of the advantages of working in a company focusing on technology and IT services is that Pershing has stuck true to its core value of “Passion” which it defines in part as the need to remain agile. Most employees have been able to make a relatively smooth transition to WFH, of course with the occasional challenges as well. Additionally, the company has initiated a number of online activities to increase staff engagement and unity which include Monday English language lunches, daily exercise time, and TGIF happy hour at the end of the day.
I’ve noticed that one of the side benefits from WFH is that it’s easier to bridge the gap between the different levels of hierarchy in the organisation. Sending an e-mail or short message on Microsoft Teams might be much less imposing than the effort it takes to knock on the manager’s door. This direct e-mail to Joyce’s manager and the company’s CEO is a specific case in point.
“Prior to sending out the e-mail I was a little conflicted as to whether or not it was the right thing to do. But after thinking about it for a while, I knew that there was value in this idea — it was something I wanted to try, and it would be meaningful, and so I sent out the e-mail.” — Joyce Cheng
Normally, a request for funds will take some time to be approved and go through the bureaucratic process; however, this is a special time, and the company is more than capable of being “agile” and acting in a timely and effective manner. Upon receiving this e-mail, the CEO, DI, shared its contents with the company’s chairman, Sean Chen. His response was to act immediately.
“I am very touched, yes, let’s do this. Please have Joyce to form a team to start a donation drive and increase the awareness and caring for frontline staffs. We can use our strength (IT) to quickly set up an event RWD website and also use our social media (Facebook, LinkedIn). Let’s see how much money and awareness we can raise quickly. The company will make the same amount of donation together.”－PTSC Chairman, Sean Chen
Once this response was made, the pieces started rolling into place. During the weekly dubbed “One Company” meeting, Joyce’s manager, Lin Chunshui, kicked off the hour and a half meeting by mentioning her e-mail to the other managers and employees who joined. Following this start to the meeting, participants talked about proactive actions that the company could do during this sensitive time, including taking part in a donation initiative, checking-up on team members’ well-being, and just the overall situation during the pandemic across the company.
“I think the company could definitely push a fundraising drive pretty effortlessly. If we look around, we can see that many other companies have committed to making donations as well.”－TDU Manager, Lin Chunshui
After the One Company, management and HR decided to offer employees the option to donate part of their June salary to one of two government sponsored funds devoted to the pandemic: the Taipei and New Taipei City Government Epidemic Prevention Funds. The company would match whatever donations were made by the employees in a “1+1” fundraising drive.
With this particular suggestion, we wanted to make sure we emphasised three areas when we responded. First, we wanted to respond with sincere and open hearts. Second, we wanted to make sure that we responded quickly with action. Third, we wanted to ensure that the person making the suggestion know clearly what we were doing and why.” — Pershing CEO, DI Lee
Upon further conversation with DI, he mentioned that he hopes that this particular case is a shining example of how employees can provide feedback and suggestions to management, helping to create a positive cycle of communication amongst employees and managers. The donation drive itself took only a week to complete with employees raising 26,500 TWD for the New Taipei City Epidemic Prevention Fund, and 20,900 TWD for the Taipei City Epidemic Prevention Fund. These funds would be given in the company’s name, and PTSC matched this amount bringing the total to just under 100,000 TWD.
“This is actually a golden opportunity for growth and development as individuals, and as a company. This is a time when we can really start to see how we can take care of one another, help one another, and practice empathy.” — Pershing CEO, DI Lee
As for Joyce, when asked how she felt about the process and the result that followed her brave e-mail, she responded:
“I was extremely surprised and pleased at the response I got from management. More than that I was moved as well. There was a lot of positive energy in the response I received from the CEO after my initial request. Thinking about it now I feel lucky to be working in a company where there’s room for discussion, flexibility, and feedback.” — Joyce Cheng
