CATEGORY TOP PERFORMER
- Diversity and inclusion
Faith Music Centre is a social enterprise with a strong mission centred on diversity and inclusion. The company’s objectives involve imparting musical abilities to individuals and leading them to perform and share the joy of music to the less fortunate.
The centre acknowledges that we may arrive on “different boats…but we are from the same ship”. Due to the workforce’s diversity, internal communications initiatives include efforts around learning of sign languages – to ease communication with the hearing impaired community, and adopting space and quiet time – to accommodate those with autism spectrum disorder.
About two-thirds of the centre’s workforce are persons with disabilities – 67% are sensory impaired, 20% are intellectually challenged and 13% are employees with autism spectrum disorder. While 20% of its workforce are mature workers aged 50 years and above, with the oldest person being a 77-year-old assistant music instructor.
The numbers can be attributed to the centre’s recruitment policy around favouring the hire of people with disabilities. Employees are typically interned and deployed to different centres to train others, with ample support given throughout the journey.
In addition to internal support, the centre encourages caregivers to join the employees with special needs during work. This ensures they receive morale support, especially at the start of their employment. This arrangement also provides emotional assurance for caregivers as this may be the worker’s first employment opportunity.
In support of a healthy holistic employee experience, Faith Music Centre has an ‘equal opportunity’ system for training and upgrading programs. Recognising employees’ need for personal development and time for commitments, the centre also offers flexible work arrangements. The centre also goes above and beyond and offers remuneration for employees who are unable to work full-time due to medical commitments.
