In a rapidly transforming financial landscape, employee engagement could no longer be sustained through one-off events and standalone initiatives. While employees were participating in programmes, participation alone did not always translate into lasting connection, ownership or purpose. Learning, volunteering, recognition and employee activities existed, but often functioned as separate experiences without a common narrative linking them to employees’ growth and the wider purpose of the organisation.
DBS’ Singapore Consumer Banking & Wealth Management Operations (SG CBWMO) set out to reimagine employee engagement as an integrated experience that would help people grow professionally, connect meaningfully with one another and contribute to something larger than their day-to-day roles.
This led to Engagement Through the 3Es, a strategy built around:
Our ambition was to move employees from being passive recipients of engagement activities to becoming active champions of learning, culture and community impact.
Rather than measuring success by attendance alone, we sought to create an employee experience ecosystem in which every interaction could build capability, deepen purpose or strengthen belonging. Ultimately, the 3Es aimed to create a workforce that felt more empowered for the future, more connected to the organisation and one another, and more invested in shaping the culture they wanted to be part of.
In a rapidly transforming financial landscape, employee engagement could no longer be sustained through one-off events and standalone initiatives. While employees were participating in programmes, participation alone did not always translate into lasting connection, ownership or purpose. Learning, volunteering, recognition and employee activities existed, but often functioned as separate experiences without a common narrative linking them to employees’ growth and the wider purpose of the organisation.
DBS’ Singapore Consumer Banking & Wealth Management Operations (SG CBWMO) set out to reimagine employee engagement as an integrated experience that would help people grow professionally, connect meaningfully with one another and contribute to something larger than their day-to-day roles.
This led to Engagement Through the 3Es, a strategy built around:
Our ambition was to move employees from being passive recipients of engagement activities to becoming active champions of learning, culture and community impact.
Rather than measuring success by attendance alone, we sought to create an employee experience ecosystem in which every interaction could build capability, deepen purpose or strengthen belonging. Ultimately, the 3Es aimed to create a workforce that felt more empowered for the future, more connected to the organisation and one another, and more invested in shaping the culture they wanted to be part of.
The 3Es strategy was designed around a simple insight: meaningful engagement happens when employees can see how an initiative contributes to their growth, broadens their perspective or improves their experience at work.
Instead of launching another standalone engagement campaign, SG CBWMO brought existing and new initiatives under one coherent framework. Education, Exposure and Experience became both the strategic architecture and the employee-facing narrative, enabling programmes with different objectives to reinforce a common purpose.
Education: Empowering Your Future
Education focused on giving employees the capabilities and confidence to navigate a changing banking environment.
Customer Empathy Training sessions reached 609 employees, representing approximately 91% of the target audience, and achieved an average satisfaction score of 4.9 out of 5. All customer-facing teams completed the programme. Employees were also introduced to future-focused learning through the GenAI campaign in the I M Possible Metaverse. Structured Learning Roadmaps provided clearer development pathways, while internal mobility and career progression initiatives supported employees in broadening their experiences across businesses and markets.
A two-day offsite workshop extended this focus to more than 100 managers, using case studies and team activities to strengthen leadership capability, collaboration and alignment around priorities such as Generative AI, DBS GPT and leadership principles.
Exposure: Expanding Your Horizon
Exposure connected employees to causes beyond their immediate roles. Through partnerships with organisations including MINDS, Allkin and St Luke’s Eldercare, employees supported initiatives such as elderly befriending and financial literacy for children.
To make volunteering easier to lead and scale, SG CBWMO introduced an annual volunteering calendar, a ready-to-use Volunteer Playbook, centralised registration and feedback tools, briefing resources and post-event reporting templates. Department representatives were empowered to select and champion activities that resonated with their teams, shifting volunteering from a centrally driven programme to a shared platform for employee ownership.
Experience: Elevating Your Journey
Experience focused on making employees feel seen, supported and connected. Recognition was brought closer to teams through decentralised iTQ (I Thank You) and WeTQ (We Thank You) nominations, while the Excellent Service Awards and Service Recognition Awards celebrated both service excellence and long-term contribution
Wellness Month supported mental and physical wellbeing through quizzes, fruit buffets, spin classes and Pilates. Informal leadership touchpoints, including Thirsty Tuesdays and Thursdays, Fast Food Fridays and Facetime Fridays, created more accessible opportunities for employees to engage directly with senior leadership.
The strategy was activated through EDMs, monthly newsletters, Viva Engage and a network of People Champions. These champions translated central initiatives into personal, team-level engagement through peer reminders, group chats, forums and locally led activities. This combination of structured communication and human advocacy enabled the 3Es to reach employees through channels that were timely, relatable and relevant.
The success of Engagement Through the 3Es is reflected not only in participation, but in a more connected, empowered and purpose-driven workforce.
Through Education, Customer Empathy Training reached 609 employees, approximately 91% of the target audience, achieving a 4.9/5 satisfaction score and 100% completion across customer-facing teams. The April 2025 GenAI campaign in the I M POSSIBLE Metaverse engaged 112 unique users, who earned 603,000 SPARKS, the platform’s virtual currency awarded through learning challenges and exploration.
Through Exposure, SG CBWMO mobilised 523 unique volunteers, representing 77.8% of the workforce, contributed 4,309.75 volunteer hours and reached more than 1,000 beneficiaries. Co-created community initiatives achieved more than 95% beneficiary satisfaction, demonstrating their relevance and positive impact.
Through Experience, 456 employees received Excellent Service Awards, 119 employees were recognised through Service Recognition Awards, and more than SGD 46,000 was awarded through WeTQ, strengthening a culture of appreciation and belonging.
Digital engagement also reached new heights. During the February 2025 I M POSSIBLE campaign, participation increased 129% against the 2024 campaign average, while 694,000 SPARKS were earned, over 300% more than the highest-performing 2024 campaign.
Most importantly, the 3Es shifted engagement from standalone activities to shared ownership, empowering employees to learn, contribute, recognise one another and actively shape workplace culture.