Since the breakout of COVID-19 in Myanmar, the Yoma Group has created a series of challenges to engage employees working across Myanmar. In so doing, the Yoma Group aims to get them motivated, connected, and learn to know each other more. Most of all, to be more resilient and positive in overcoming uncertainties, while learning to reflect and embrace the essence of living in the present.

The Yoma Group uses a range of platforms to disseminate and communicate with its employees. Such platforms are Microsoft Teams for conference calls and work meetings; Workplace by Facebook, a social media platform for employees’ social engagement; Yoma Bulletin via Yoma Connect App, a newsletter that publish groupwide weekly highlights. For employees without Yoma’s Email address, SMS direct messages are sent for internal communication. As one of the privileges of Yoma’s employees, each of them is granted a registered free SIM card.

As a publicly listed company, the trading of FMI’s shares is passed to the Securities Companies. As such, FMI rarely has any close contact with its shareholders during the operations period, except at Shareholders Meetings or Annual/ Special General Meetings. During such meetings, the Company ensures to arrange a medical team that provides temperature screening services including blood pressure testing and small medical check up to the shareholders and guests who attend the event. In addition, during the 28th AGM in February 2020, the FMI Management also took some preventive measures to tackle the possible spread of the Virus among the shareholders and attendees at the AGM. Temperature screening on every attendee was conducted at the entrance, while live streaming of the AGM through FMI’s website and Facebook page was provided to shareholders who were unable to attend presently.

Due to the nature of an investment company, the variety of suppliers FMI engage with is particularly small. Only on occasions of holding its Shareholders Meetings or Annual/ Special General Meetings does the Company engage with event organizer, corporate gift supplier, corporate document manufacturer and stationery vendors for products and services. Before engaging with such suppliers and vendors, the Company’s employees are guided to assess the prospective Vendors’ operating principles and mission are aligned with the Company’s Code of Conduct and Value Chain. Though the Company prefers to make deals with suppliers that offer lower prices, it prioritizes quality and operating principles practiced by these suppliers over prices they offer. Further, FMI’s employees are guided to abide by the Anti-Bribery Policy, Anti-Corruption Policy, Human Rights Policy, Conflicts of Interest Policy set out by the Company in their dealings with suppliers and vendors and select suppliers that stringently adhere to them.

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FMI believes that its creditors include banks that lend money to the Company and suppliers that provide services and sell products to the Company. FMI ensures to observe Myanmar Companies Law 2017 and its Corporate Policies while dealing with its creditors and suppliers. FMI is of the view that its creditors and suppliers are similar to its business partners who are the backend supporters of its mission to build a better Myanmar for its people. Though credit terms may vary based on different creditor and supplier contracts, the Company ensures to treat all its creditors and suppliers adequately and is committed to meet the payment terms in a professional and satisfactory manner, while striving to maintain sustainable relationships together to fulfill its mission, vision, and goal.

The Yoma Group Medical Plan provides inpatient, outpatient, and life insurance coverage to its employees. Employees may request reimbursement for personal inpatient and outpatient treatments based on certain terms and conditions. According to the provisions of Yoma Group’s Life Insurance, family of the deceased employee is provided a compassionate payment based on the employee’s service years.

In addition to the standard medical insurance coverage for employees, the Group has added an extra COVID – 19 medical coverage that will be valid from 20 April to 31 October 2020 for all staffs unless covered under a separate Health Insurance scheme. Employees who work frontline are entitled to more coverage due to the fact that they are likely to have higher potential exposure to COVID-19 virus.

For details, please refer to our Employment Policy on Medical Benefit and Life Insurance.

With heightened physical distancing measures, we have a “virtual care” programme where patients who do not feel well can dial a doctor from their residences. This allows those who feel unwell or who are of non-emergency cases to avoid going to the hospital. Thought it feels good to be covered, it feels better to be healthy.

A healthy body and a healthy mind is a recipe for growth and wellness. While working from home, we want to encourage wellness amongst our employees. WFH Wellness Center is a new platform created to help our employees stay well mentally and physically.

In light of the COVID 19 Outbreak, the Group also endorses the use of Wave Money pay for their meals and beverages.

As we approach the flu season, the Group also arranged free flu vaccination shots to all Yoma employees, with an emphasis given to employees working frontline and other who are in the vulnerable category, such as those over 70, pregnant staff, and staff with underlying health concerns.

The Group’s HR Department has created a new initiative by bringing up a team of Health & Safety Officers to ensure the groupwide adherence to social distancing rules. These Officers are tasked to ensure meeting rooms have not exceeded the set limit, everyone is wearing a mask at proximity, and not to have tables at canteen overcrowd. Employees from all entities across the Group are encouraged to practice social distancing rules and identify key champions to help foster these new habits in the workplace.

Employees who are unwell or displaying any Covid-19 symptoms should not come to work. For employees that has recovered and would like to return to work, they must first obtain a Health Clearance Certificate provided by Pun Hlaing Siloam Hospital.

The Yoma Group’s Employee Satisfaction Vision is: The Yoma Group invests in its people to build careers around a shared culture of fairness, diversity, empowerment and recognition. This reaffirms the Yoma Group’s core belief that great teamwork is the foundation of its businesses and empowering its employees will make the Yoma Group stronger. A strong workforce will enable the Yoma Group to better capitalise on the emerging opportunities in Myanmar. To this end, the Yoma Group has made a conscious effort to develop talent and create a diverse and inclusive work environment for its employees and ensure a strong understanding of its core values.

This focus was celebrated by Yoma Bank being awarded the following: Best Learning & Development Program, Most Effective Recruitment Strategy for Talent Attraction, Most Innovative Use of Technology in HR, Excellence in the Workplace Environment, HR Director of the Year, and CEO of the Year from The Myanmar Employer Awards 2018.

The Yoma Group Human Resources Department continually reviews and adjusts its organisational and workforce’s profile to align with the business opportunities and challenges.

The Yoma Group continues to provide a range of training programmes to close skill-gaps and strengthen its workforce capabilities. As an emerging economy, Myanmar still experiences large skill-gaps in its domestic workforce and the Yoma Group is committed to doing its part to help close this gap by upskilling its own workforce.

The training programmes help to ensure that employees have the appropriate learning and development opportunities to build functional and technical skills to succeed at their jobs, and for leaders, the necessary management and leadership skills to inspire and lead their teams to perform well. In addition to internal and external training programmes, the Yoma Group has collaborated with organisations such as the Global Institute for Tomorrow (GIFT) to help selected employees develop their leadership capabilities. All employees receive performance and progress reviews to align their performance, career aspirations and training needs. The Yoma Group also implements educational assistance schemes and paid examination leave to assist employees in their goals to achieve higher education opportunities.

Regular communication sessions including town hall meetings, both in person and through digital platforms such as Workplace, to ensure that there are opportunities to hear from, and interact with senior management, including the Executive Chairman. This assists in the effective flow of information and the alignment of business goals and objectives across all levels of the workforce. In addition, the Yoma Group organises the Wednesday Club, which is a meeting of senior managers held regularly. These meetings ensure strong alignment of the Yoma Group’s mission, values and strategy at a senior level. Several family events such as the annual Yoma Yangon International Marathon and offsite team meetings are held to foster camaraderie among employees.

The Group believes that succession planning is vital to ensure continuity and leadership to help achieve its strategic objectives. The Group has been operating in Myanmar for almost three decades; and has been successfully and gradually migrated from the first-generation leadership to the currently second-generation leadership over the past 10 years. In planning for succession, talent is constantly identified internally and externally to build strength and to serve as a pipeline for leadership succession planning. The Group has internally implemented a five year “work yourself out of a job” initiative which is a process that current leaders pursue higher and bigger scope of business while continuously giving rooms for young leaders to take up higher level of management roles. The Group also believes that the Group’s today success is driven by the depth and breathe of its leadership. Henceforth, the Group conducts an on-going six-month long “Leading the Yoma Way” leadership development programme where its senior executives and managers biannually identify prospective candidates across all business entities and train them to be future executives to succeed them in their roles.

The Yoma Group strives to achieve a diverse and inclusive workforce that broadens its collective skills and perspectives as an organisation, which in turn drives growth and excellence. FMI is a founding member of the Business Coalition for Gender Equality (BCGE) and received the certification for the international EDGE (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality) certification in October 2018. One of FMI’s subsidiaries, Pun Hlaing Siloam Hospital, also received the certification as the very first hospital in the world.

EDGE certification is the leading global assessment methodology and business certification standard for gender equality. It has been designed to help organizations not only create an optimal workplace for women and men, but also benefit from it. It gives a transparent and unbiased view of whether the company has a strong gender balance, effective policies and practices, and inclusive culture.

Out of the 75% response rate from EDGE survey, the EDGE report indicates that women currently comprise 62% of the Yoma Group’s workforce. Additionally, compared to average investment banking & brokerage companies and financial companies worldwide, the Yoma Group has a more balanced gender composition in management positions, junior management positions and senior management positions.

Post EDGE survey, in order to create a gender inclusive succession planning, the Yoma Group has established the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, who aims to focus in these areas: Building Leaders, Unconscious Bias, Policy, and Training Awareness. The Yoma Group’s workforce comprises a diverse mix of foreign employees who are strategically identified for specific skill sets as well as repatriates who have international academic or work experiences and local nationals. With such diversity, the Yoma Group works hard to ensure that all employees feel included regardless of their roles, cultures, nationalities and languages. It believes in a merit-based system where all employees, despite their varied backgrounds, are given the same level of opportunities to succeed. At the same time, employees are expected to be respectful and tolerant towards one another.

The Step In – Step Up program is to empower marginalised youth and victims of human trafficking from Daing Su and Nyaing Ywa Villages in Hlaing Thayar Township by offering apprenticeships on a rolling-basis. A qualified applicant should have a valid ID proving the applicant is above 18, a police clearance, and the ability to read and write Burmese. These apprentices are taught English, basic computer skills, soft skills, personal grooming etc. through on-the-job training for professions such as hospitality and butler services, F&B services, landscaping services, as well as hospital sanitary services for a 12-week period. The program provides support in helping the apprentices land jobs, including but not limited to, Awei Pila, Awei Metta, Pun Hlaing F&B, KFC Myanmar, PHSH, MBCA, and other companies.

As the program is in tune with the nation-building mission of the Yoma Group, the Yoma Group offers financial contribution and employment opportunities periodically to help in the career development of these youth while breaking the cycle of human trafficking. With increased job placements, FMI hopes that its contribution to the program will bring hope to these youth and help them stand on their own confidently.

On 18 December 2015, Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (“LIFT”), a multi-donor fund (that has collaborations with UK aid, USAID and Australia Aid), and Yoma Bank signed an agreement that aims to increase agricultural productivity in Myanmar by collaborating with the private sector. The programme has three objectives: 1) increase mechanisation in the agricultural sector; 2) stimulate savings within the rural communities; and 3) improve agricultural productivity through access to finance.

The programme is estimated to reach or help 181,000 rural families in Myanmar through direct and indirect changes. Rather than using an intermediary to simply pass on donor money to the intended recipients, the LIFT funds leverages Yoma Bank’s existing lending network to disburse funds. Backed by a donor-funded loan loss reserve, Yoma Bank is incentivised to lend to rural SMEs, smallholders and intermediaries on terms that might otherwise not be commercially viable given the prevailing interest rate ceiling and the banking industry’s lack of experience in the agricultural sector.

PHSH serves all socioeconomic segments of the population with two complementary business models. Most of the wards in the hospital operate as a private facility that charges rates appropriate for a high-quality care environment. In addition, the hospital also offers a Silver Ward section with six beds. This is available at significantly reduced rates for those who may not consider using private health due to cost concern and the standard of medical care is exactly the same as the private facility. Treatment is provided by the same doctors and patients in the Silver Ward and they will also have access to the same operating theatres. Silver Ward patients are provided with a bed, meals and other necessities for the duration of their stay.

The Yoma Yangon International Marathon (“YYIM”) which started in 2013 aims to inspire a healthy lifestyle and to connect communities both locally and internationally through a shared passion for running. The eighth YYIM was held together with the YCDC on 19 January 2020, which received overwhelming interest and brought together 11,000 runners from more than 51 countries. The funds raised from the YYIM registration fees were donated to three adopted charities that are committed to the education and healthcare of underprivileged children in Myanmar. Please find more details in Yoma Marathon website: https://yomayangonmarathon.com

A Community Light Centre is an area the size of a football field that is illuminated by four solar lights. It is charged during the daytime, even in the rainy season and is automatically switched on at night. This community area provides a bright, safe and common place for the local villagers to gather, engage in sporting activities, and study.

A particularly important aspect of Community Light Centre is their impact on education. In many rural areas, due to lack of government electricity infrastructure, candles are used by students to do their homework and study at night. Those who could not afford candles could therefore only study during daytime. A Community Light Centre changes this dynamically by providing a place for children to study, while also providing a place for teachers to hold additional classes, which is an extremely heart-warming phenomenon to witness.

FMI has built a total of 15 Community Light Centre in Magway, Bago and Ayeyarwady Regions, as well as Rakhine, Kayin and Shan States, which has brought about a significant transformation in village life after sundown. Due to the huge impact of these Community Light Centres on the quality of life, the FMI Group has decided to take on this project as a significant part of its CSR efforts. FMI plans to continue building more Community Light Centres in the coming financial year. The cost of building one Community Light Centre is approximately MMK 8.5 million, and FMI welcomes any sponsorship, donation or support for this project from shareholders and the general public.

The Yoma Group has always recognised the value it can create through providing employment. As the economy of Myanmar transitions from a reliance on agriculture to one where services play a greater role, there has been a significant lack of skilled workers. In response to this, the Yoma Group has recently focused on the upskilling of the workforce to support an economy. As part of the planning for Keinnara Hpa-An, the Yoma Group put in place vocational training to help construction workers move into hotel roles. The training programme has been successful with many roles in the hotel now filled by previously unskilled workers.

Pun Hlaing Siloam Hosptials – Medical Aid and Health Assessments

Dr. Ye Moe Myint of Pun Hlaing Siloam Hospital (PHSH) traveled to Sittwe where he met with health officials at Kyaut Taw clinic to assess the medical needs of the township. Kyaut Taw township has nearly 100 villages and a population of around 200,000. The key challenge now is to prevent an outbreak of cholera and to ensure well-coordinated relief efforts. PHSH is also working on providing clean drinking water through the donation of water filters.

FMI Air – Providing a Vital Transportation Link

FMI Air has been flying emergency aid to Sittwe in Rakhine State. This area is one of the worst affected by the floods. Aid relief items have been unloaded and are being distributed to the surrounding areas.

Pun Hlaing Golf Estate – Raising Funds

Pun Hlaing Golf Estate has been selling t-shirts and baked goods to raise funds for flood victims. The funds raised are being channeled back into the Group’s relief efforts in and around the Sittwe area.

Balloons Over Bagan – On the Ground Relief Efforts

Balloons Over Bagan has been active on the ground providing supplies to flood victims. The Balloons Over Bagan team traveled by boat to Kyet Sher village, Pakokku Township, where they donated rice, oil, canned fish, water, t-shirts, and hats to 360 families. The team was the first to reach the village.

FMI and the SPA group believe in giving back to the community and helping those less fortunate. To this end, we regularly donate food and school supplies to disadvantaged communities. Every year FMI and the SPA group make special donations to orphanages in Twante.

FMI also provides fun activities for Hlaing Thayar youth living near FMI City. In addition to providing employment to many Hlaing Thayar residents, we believe in developing the next generation into productive and responsible citizens.

In order to foster responsible investment in the Maw Tin Estate near Pathein, FMI and its affiliates have implemented several social programs aimed at improving the local community. The first of these is the Sin Wine School, built on the estate to educate the children of employees. Our group was not only involved in the construction of the school, but continues to pay the salaries of the teachers employed there.

In addition to this important educational initiative, a healthcare program has also been implemented at Maw Tin. This includes an anti-malaria campaign, which provides workers with treatment and education on preventative measures, as well as a local clinic which is staffed by doctors sponsored by the SPA group.

Apart from education and healthcare, we also provide employees with clean and safe accommodation. Employees with families are provided their own homes complete with an onsite vegetable plot, while single workers are housed in spacious dormitories.

Due to persistent traffic problems around the area near Bayintnaung market, the Yangon authorities decided to build a flyover bridge. The construction of this flyover was undertaken by FMI, and travel times around this area have been significantly improved.

Pun Hlaing Siloam Hospital is committed to providing the larger community with health and education programs. The hospital regularly organizes public education seminars to inform the public about women’s health issues, and also arranges talks for students to help them address health concerns.

In addition to these education programs, the hospital also conducts health screening at various schools in Yangon and was instrumental in providing the victims of Cyclone Nargis with health services. The hospital’s employees regularly organize charity events including donating to orphanages in the Yangon area.

FMI has been active in relief and rehabilitation work for the victims of Cyclone Nargis, in particular the construction of the first Environmentally Sustainable Pilot Village (ESPV) in Auk Pyun Wa including the village pagoda, monastery, ordination hall (thain) and an Arr Yon Khan Tazaung, an open hall for the villagers to pay homage to the pagoda and conduct religious ceremonies.

This was done with consultation with the villagers and filled a void in their spiritual lives which was completely obliterated by the cyclone and has not been replaced. With the generous donations from the SPA/FMI Group, staff members, friends and well-wishers from within the country and abroad, and the villagers themselves, construction of these religious structures began in October 2009 and was completed at the end of December 2009.

Directors of SPA/FMI Group, accompanied by staff members, well-wishers and friends visited Auk Pyun Wa village on the of 4th of January 2010 and participated in the religious ceremony to share merits for the good deeds done. FMI also undertook the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee’s assignment to construct a 500-person capacity Cyclone Shelter near Kwin Gyi village on Ale Kyun and was honoured, together with other construction companies who also constructed Cyclone Shelters, by the Chairman of the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee and then-Prime Minister of Myanmar U Thein Sein.

SPA Start

SPA START is a business-coaching program tailored for young Myanmar entrepreneurs, who can seek advice and suggestions from assigned mentors on a semi-structured basis over the course of six months.

The mentors are senior executives, managers and CEOs of subsidiary companies within the SPA Group, and are volunteering their time to meet and counsel young Myanmar entrepreneurs. This program is a way for FMI and the SPA Group to give back to the community by nurturing the next generation of businesspeople and guiding them through the obstacles faced by new ventures.

 

 

Dai Su village Water Pumping Station

With assistance from the Yeon Tippetts Well Program and Pun Hlaing Golf Estate, the SPA group donated a water pumping station to Dai Su Village in Hlaing Thayar Township, Yangon in June 2014. The water pumping station gives villagers convenient access to clean water without having to drill their own wells, which can be prohibitively expensive.

The six water taps for villagers’ use are supplied by an 800 gallon pressure tank which is filled from a 2,200 gallon lower tank within the base of the pumping station. The lower tank is fed from a 160 foot tube well dug beneath the station. In recognition of the water quality obtained, guests at the opening ceremony drank tea made directly with Dai Su water.

 

 

Nyaung Ywa Maternity Clinic

The Nyaung Ywa Maternity Clinic in Hlaing Thayar Township was donated by the SPA Group and Pun Hlaing Golf Estate in order to provide safe maternity care for local mothers and reduce the incidence of childbirth complications in the community.

Designed and built by SPA Project Management, it had its grand opening on May 25, 2002. The clinic continues to provide vital services to the area’s expanding population, ensuring that expectant mothers receive the information they need to develop good nutritional habits and providing a hygienic location for safe deliveries.

In an attempt to reduce the burden it would impose on the environment, the Group generated the idea to transform vinyl banners and extra metals it used during Yoma Yangon International Marathon 2020 into bags and sold them across the Group. Profits derived from the sales would be used in next Group’s organized charity event.

Every meeting room in the Campus, where the Group’s head offices located is stuck with a Switch Off label to increase employees’ awareness to switch off lights and air-conditioning with a sole aim to save the electricity consumption.

In light of the COVID – 19 Outbreak, the Group worked with its interns from the Step-In Step-Up Program to hand sew reusable cotton masks to make an income and support the youth community.

The Campus Canteen, the communal dining place for Yoma’s employees, has eliminated the usage of Styrofoam plates, takeaway boxes and plastic utensils by replacing with paper boxes not only to reduce the negative impact on the environment, but also to prevent the negative impact on health.

As part of Yoma Bank’s 25th Anniversary celebration, Yoma Bank launched a series of 15 exhibits from March to June 2019 to raise awareness about “A Lifetime of Plastic Consumption, 25 Years Ago and Today” through mobile art installations, where exhibits were displayed across Yangon, Nay Pi Taw, and Mandalay cities. This campaign was a collaboration between Yoma Bank and Thant Myanmar to highlight a lifetime consumption of bottles, plastic bags, and single use plastic sachets of an average Myanmar individual’s lifetime today compared to 25 years ago. More importantly, the goal of this exhibit was to address the increase of plastic consumption and plastic pollution issue to public awareness. Through this campaign, it was assessed that single use plastic usage has increased 10 times over the past 25 years and the usage comparisons are sadly staggering.

Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The event is held annually by encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights for one hour, as a symbol of commitment to the planet. This year, the Yoma Group participated in the Earth Hour by switching off lights as a symbolic gesture of energy saving in the fight against climate change on 26 March 2020 from 8:30 pm to 9:30 am and 12:00 to 1:00 pm. In order to raise awareness among the employees, the Group endorses the use of Email signature banner for one week at least, and post the activities on social media by using hashtag #connect2earth and #earthhour2020.

The Yoma Group participated in World Cleanup Day for the first time last year. The Yangon offshoot of the worldwide event took place on Saturday, 15 September 2018, and FMI was the diamond sponsor of the event. World Cleanup Day 2018 in Yangon was jointly organised by Junior Chamber International Yangon, Trash Heroes, Clean Yangon and Yangon City Development Committee. More than 200 employees from the Yoma Group volunteered for this movement to clean the streets of Yangon’s neighborhoods, spreading awareness to create a cleaner and greener city. Over 150 countries take part in World Cleanup Day every year, making it probably the biggest civic action in history.

A paperless culture is promoted across the Yoma Group and electronic communication is used predominantly. This is further supported by a cloud-based file sharing system to eliminate the need to print and photocopy paper-based documents.

The Less Single Use Plastic Campaign is one of the Yoma Group’s first initiatives to reduce plastic consumption. The Yoma Group saw amazing participation and contribution from its employees for Community Clean Up Day in StarCity on 27 March 2018.

PHSH has started the first EMR-ERP system in Myanmar with a fully automated paperless global best practice technology platform that is set up to achieve Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (USA) Level 6 accreditation (Global Gold Standard for Healthcare Delivery Systems) within the next three years. The platform integrates all our clinical and non-clinical operations real-time with a new financial management system. The key feature of this platform is a fully computerised and standardised clinical recording and order system driving all parts of hospital operations and resource consumption right across the network.

Pun Hlaing Siloam hospital vision is aligning with our group ‘Built a better Myanmar for its people’ with existing unique healthcare faculties in Yangon and Mandalay. PHSH trying to reach a national network with over 10 hospitals across Myanmar by 2023. We targeting to deliver affordable and accessible healthcare to all socio economic segments throughout the nationwide and adding value system and ethos to the community.