The Singapore-based ride-hailing firm's outreach efforts have overhauled morale
This year was a difficult one for healthcare workers as Singapore faced a sudden surge of cases of COVID-19 and the Delta variant. With another variant, Omicron, threatening to pressure the city-state’s healthcare system yet again, staff in the medical and healthcare sector are gearing up for another stressful period at work. For this reason, TADA, a homegrown ride-hailing firm decided to collaborate with the Healthcare Service Employees’ Union (HSEU) to launch a new initiative as part of its ongoing community outreach strategy.
Being a local ride-hailing firm that had drivers heading out to work daily, TADA understands firsthand the struggles that these fellow frontliners face during the pandemic. To help alleviate some of their worries, TADA, together with HSEU and NTUC-U Care to provide a total of 512 families under the U Care Fund beneficiaries with $20,480 worth of TADA vouchers to subsidise their travelling fares.
“TADA believes in enabling a trust-driven and compassionate society,” Samuel Goh, HR manager at TADA told HRD. “With so much hard work and sacrifices made by those working in the healthcare sector, it is only right that we do our part to appreciate them.” TADA recognises that while this may not put an end to the struggles of the city’s frontliners, it hopes that it can at least promote a worry-free ride for all beneficiaries.
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Besides community outreach initiatives, TADA has also set out to help their own frontliners who have struggled financially through extended lockdowns. The firm rolled out a driver-rider referral campaign that aimed to empower their drivers by supplementing their income during these challenging times and giving a boost to their mental well-being. “Point-to-point transport workers are at the frontline of keeping Singapore moving [and] our healthcare workers are at the frontline of Singapore’s recovery,” said Jonathan Chua, Southeast Asia general manager at TADA. “We represent the industry, and more importantly our frontline drivers, to appreciate and encourage Singapore’s healthcare workers.”
Their continued CSR efforts are in line with their company values of building trust and helping people, shared HR manager Samuel Goh. The HR team’s prioritisation of CSR has also led to positive results in terms of candidate and employee engagement. “We do not need to be pushed to be involved in CSR because we believe in it,” Goh told HRD. “We realise that a trust-driven and compassionate company will attract employees and retain them.
“TADA’s CSR efforts also make our employees feel great about the company and it positively relates to their performance and motivation at work. For example, I have colleagues telling me they are really happy to work for Southeast Asia’s first zero commission ride-hailing business where a fairer transport ecosystem is envisioned.”
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TADA is part of growing number of firms engaging their Singapore-based staff in CSR-related initiatives. Company leaders typically report high participation and/or support levels, suggesting a rising desire in staffers to give back to society in whatever way they can, whether directly or indirectly. This trend has been especially evident during the pandemic and its uneven financial impact on the business sector as well as the community.
