NEA advocates fair employment, career opportunities and supporting work-life effectiveness. We are also committed to equip our employees with skills, knowledge and competencies to perform current and future roles.
Supporting Employee Development
Employee development at NEA is supported by a robust learning infrastructure and an enlightened senior management team. This enables the smooth and seamless execution of learning strategies. Before the start of each calendar year, all employees, including daily-rated employees, are encouraged to discuss their career aspirations with their supervisors during the performance management review. Employees then set career goals and development plans that are aligned with NEA’s objectives.
In FY2020, close to 100 per cent of all employees completed their annual performance management review. NEA supports the career development plans set during the performance management review through available programmes under the learning infrastructure for employee development.
A comprehensive range of developmental initiatives have been put in place to develop NEA employees.
| Initiatives | Objectives | Outcomes |
| FY19 | FY20 |
| Enhancement of Posting Framework (initiated in 2010) | Provides more structured posting plans for staff with three postings within the first 10 years and two postings in the next 10 years | About 9.0% of NEA’s promising staff, who had spent three or more years on the same job, were posted to different portfolios | About 10.0% of NEA’s promising staff, who had spent three or more years on the same job, were posted to different portfolios |
| Internal Market Place (IMP) | Provides staff the opportunity to fill internal positions and develop their career within NEA – all job openings are posted in the IMP and open for application by staff with at least two years of service in their current positions | 24 positions (6.2% of all openings) were filled internally by eligible NEA staff | 23 positions (5.3% of all openings) were filled internally by eligible NEA staff |
| Educational Upgrading | Supports staff in their pursuit of higher education, with opportunities for application of sponsorship even after their course had commenced. This encourages staff to continuously upgrade, upskill and improve themselves through lifelong learning | 11 staff pursued higher qualifications through NEA’s scholarship and sponsorship schemes | 13 staff pursued higher qualifications through NEA’s scholarship and sponsorship schemes |
Programmes that build technical capabilities and competencies, such as training workshops and specialist courses, are regularly conducted to help employees stay ahead in a dynamic operating environment. Some of these programmes have been jointly developed with industry experts and training providers.
NEA also conducted in-house programmes to build awareness on the future of work and encouraged employees to discover their career values and interests, and to have career conversations with their supervisors. In FY2020, 196 employees attended the SkillsFuture Advice webinar, jointly organised with the Central Singapore Community Development Council.
Redesigning the NEA Milestone Programme
The NEA milestone programme is aimed at broadening the horizons of newly promoted NEA officers to job grades NX12, NX11 and NX10 with the objective of deepening their appreciation of NEA’s mission beyond their immediate work domain, expanding their perspective to take a WOG view as well as to forge networks and collaborations with other
public agencies. The courses are curated with a view towards preparing the NEA officer for job enlargement at each stage of their career.
Implementing Competency-based Training
The Job Competency Matrix (JCM) framework introduced in 2018 serves as the single point of reference for NEA’s competency development and training. In FY2020, NEA completed the development of the Resource Conservation and Environmental Hygiene tracks, bringing the total completed JCM tracks to nine.
To strengthen NEA’s policy, service delivery and operations work, training roadmaps for Behavioural Science and Process Excellence were also completed and implemented.
Learning Intervention Matrices (LIM) curate a list of recommended learning interventions for NEA officers to plug training gaps in competency areas identified through the development of JCMs for the various NEA domains. Nine LIMs were developed to help NEA officers identify suitable courses according to their learning needs and levels. The LIMs supported NEA's annual Learning Needs Analysis process to help departments formulate their Departmental Learning Plans.
Encouraging Continuous Learning
NEA recognises the role of training and development in driving organisational productivity and growth. Our continued efforts in training and development ensure that employees will be equipped with the right skills and knowledge to discharge their duties effectively and to be able to meet future challenges. NEA’s Singapore Environment Institute conducts competency-based training to build a relevant, resourceful and resilient NEA workforce.
Besides competency-based training, NEA also encourages our staff to embrace continuous learning for lifelong employability through our learning policy. Budget is also set aside for officers to attend personal development courses for improvement and innovation.
In FY2020, NEA staff clocked 126,740 learning hours, with an average of 34 learning hours per employee.
Improving Knowledge Retention
NEA’s technical knowledge is documented, retained and shared within the organisation under the Technical Knowledge Retention Programme, conducted by the Singapore Environment Institute, NEA’s training and knowledge division. NEA officers can tap on the knowledge documents produced by departments and subject matter experts to reduce their learning curve and enhance operational efficiency.
The pandemic tested NEA’s operational resilience and its existing capabilities, forcing it to update its knowledge constantly as the situation evolves on the ground. Without missing a beat, NEA continues to lead many critical and key operations with its stakeholders.
The COVID-19 Knowledge Capture Project was initiated in 2020 and is currently on-going to document NEA’s decisions and responses to the pandemic. This project enables continuous learning to take place, so that NEA can perform decision-making and adapt its operations quickly. Knowledge Champions and Coordinators appointed from across 15 divisions and departments are involved in the documentation.
Endorsing the Learning Organisation Framework
As systems become more complex and knowledge becomes obsolete faster, NEA has to transform the way our officers learn. FY2020 saw the endorsement of a Learning Organisation Framework, which articulated components towards actualising self-directed and workplace learning. To determine the baseline, NEA conducted a benchmarking study on self-directed learning in collaboration with the Civil Service College to understand self-directedness towards learning among NEA officers and its relationship to NEA as a Learning Organisation.
Embracing Learning Innovations
To ensure training continuity during the pandemic, NEA revamped our approach to digital learning. NEA had already applied flipped classroom strategies to training delivery before the COVID-19 outbreak. Going forward, we curated a set of instructional strategies and tools to support the new digital learning approach. Pre-reading resources were expanded and digital toolbox introduced to cater to activity-based learning. Our programmes were well-received and achieved overall satisfaction ratings of over 85 per cent.
NEA believes with an engaged and socially responsible workforce, this will have a positive impact on the environment and the community, which ultimately, contributes to NEA’s social sustainability goals.
Caring for Staff’s Wellbeing Through the COVID-19 Pandemic
Guided by the Employee Engagement Framework, NEA supports staff's wellbeing through the pandemic with relevant and meaningful initiatives, so that staff can continue contributing in a productive, committed and purposeful manner.
NEA believes in developing an engaged and socially responsible workforce that makes a positive impact on the environment and the community, which ultimately, contributes to NEA’s social sustainability goals.
Under NEA’s CSR branding, Captain Green Cares (CGC), and guided by the CGC Strategy Map, NEA cared for our staff and raised the level of staff volunteerism for NEA and other WOG initiatives during the pandemic. In September 2020, NEA formed the CGC Community, comprising of staff from different divisions and led by the Director of NEA’s Human Resource and Organisation Development Division. The community’s role includes caring for staff, encouraging volunteerism among NEA staff, and working with Social Service Agencies on areas that NEA can contribute to.
NEA’s contributions to ComChest SHARE programme in FY2020, with an employee participation rate of 91.7 per cent, has qualified us for the SHARE Platinum Award.