The First Banking Institution in Malaysia to integrate Facebook into its Work Culture

It allows us to share information and engage our employees right away in real time, which is critical in the business environment today.

In mid-2017, the RHB Banking Group became the first banking institution in Malaysia to establish Workplace by Facebook – a collaborative platform that allows employees to share ideas and participate in projects and work-related activities, coupled with social networking features to establish a cohesive cooperate environment.

Norazzah Sulaiman, RHB Banking Group Chief Communications Officer, says they use Workplace at Facebook as a platform where management is able to reach out to staff with updates and announcements as well as to regularly share best practices of employees and executives from far-flung branches communities.

“It allows us to share information and engage our employees right away in real time, which is critical in the business environment today,” Norazzah explains.

This is all part of Norazzah’s key responsibility to use the art of communication every day to execute internal and external public relations, driving RHB Banking Group’s corporate responsibilities and even to manage crises along the way.

“Communication is really multidimensional. We work with the business to formulate strategies in profiling our respective business segments, managing crises and strengthening our brand. We go out there and we build a reputation for RHB Banking Group. We ensure that whatever we communicate to the public, it serves the Group’s business direction and creates a profile for the Group,” Norazzah explains.

Aside from crafting the right messages for the bank’s wide spectrum of stakeholders, Norazzah also needs to consider the platforms that can best engage her intended audience.

With the help of the Human Resource team, Norazzah rallied a group of young and dynamic management trainees to help formulate a communication plan and content strategies aimed to increase the company’s engagement to its 14,435 employees across the bank’s network of more than 300 branches and offices in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia.

“One thing about my role is that I really have to look at myself consistently in order to develop. As a leader, I need to educate people around me. But it has to start from me being able to encourage people to do the same thing,” she adds.

“From experience, I believe that team spirit is importance as we need to leverage on the skills and knowledge of the entire team to be successful. It is not a solo achievement; instead it is all about working hand-in-hand with the team. That’s the essence of leadership,” she explains.

“It takes a visionary leader with the ability to clearly communicate vision and direction in order to bring out the best in fellow team members. That’s how you mobilise people to achieve common goals,” she adds.