Igniting a Passion for Lifelong Learning

Five years into her role in Learning & Talent Development, Christine Ng realised that Temasek’s rapid growth and increasingly diverse workforce presented a unique training challenge.

By 2016, the firm had grown to more than 600 employees in eight countries, says the 46-year-old, then an Associate Director for Organisation & People. The department was juggling the training needs of people across “different time zones, different levels, and different specialisations”.

“We needed something that was flexible, and yet allow us to achieve our training goals,” says Christine. “Learning at Temasek is not simply about updating functional or leadership competencies. What we want to do is create a mindset geared towards continuous learning, which then creates a ripple effect that benefits not just the company, but future generations of employees, and the communities we engage with.”

She believed that developing a strong learning strategy and curriculum in-house, then working with vendors to deliver it, could be the answer. 

“Being on the inside, we could appreciate the cultural and intergenerational differences,” she says. “On an individual level, we were well-placed to look beyond skills to motivation and what gave an individual purpose. This ensured the learning programmes we delivered would be relevant and responsive to our diverse workforce.”

Empowered to learn

She made her case – and got the go-ahead.

“Not a lot of places will give you the space to explore new approaches. Temasek does,” she says. “When it believes something could benefit the company, and if it’s practical and executable, they’ll let you try. They give you that space, and it’s something I really value.”

Over the next few months, she recruited a team of learning professionals, and began work on redesigning its approach to learning.

This included options for self-paced online learning and both in-person and virtual courses. “That really helped when the pandemic hit in 2020, since people could continue learning virtually, despite closed offices and closed borders,” she recalls. “We also created programmes for mental wellness, which was a global problem during the lockdowns.”

It comes back to flexibility, she says. “We constantly rethink our programmes and how we deliver them. Some of the things we do today may not be as relevant or exciting for future generations, for instance, so we need to be able to evolve with changing needs.”

Christine sees the learning approach she helped bring about as her “single biggest contribution to the company” to date. “I am really proud to say that even when our employees leave, they reach out to ask for training recommendations because they found the programmes beneficial and impactful.”

As a Director in the team, her focus over the last few years has been on integrating various online learning platforms, and incorporating skills that will ensure Temasek’s staff is future-ready, including in the areas of cybersecurity, AI and machine learning.

Most recently, the team rolled out “learning roadmaps”.  

“Temasek creates many opportunities to learn, but there is such a thing as too many choices. Roadmaps help employees define and visualise their individual learning journeys,” says Christine.

No limits to learning

Learning is not confined to job-related training. The company’s annual CEO Learning Challenge, for instance, encourages employees to acquire new and relevant skills, such as data science, music, dance or a new language.

“I decided to learn Cambodian from a Khmer lecturer from the University of Hawaii because I was doing volunteer work in Cambodia at that time,” says Christine, who has worked for years to improve lives in the country, both with her church group and T-Touch, through which Temasek supports employee-driven volunteer initiatives.

She recalls appealing to T-Touch when the country suffered one of its worst droughts in 2016. “They didn’t have access to clean water, and now even those water resources were drying up,” she says. With its support, she raised funds within the company to buy and transport desperately needed water filters to Siem Reap.

“It’s the same principle as when we got the go-ahead to create our learning strategy in house: When Temasek believes your suggestions really help the community or your colleagues, they will let you try,” she says. Christine’s learning journey continues in her new role in HR Compliance.

“The company does not limit what you can learn. They provide various opportunities for you to learn something new, even if it is not in your area of work. If you are passionate about learning, Temasek will support you. The point is that you keep on learning.”