China Bank's strength and resilience through the years are largely because of our partners in success—China Bankers. We take good care of our employees, treating them fairly and equally, helping them reach their full potential, and building a good working environment to drive productivity and earn their loyalty.

Employee engagement

We keep our employees engaged and motivated to maintain productivity, but more importantly, to ensure their mental health and well-being amid this pandemic. We have various programs to drive meaningful collaborations, work- life balance, and a deeper sense of loyalty and camaraderie.

Rewarding loyalty

• Issued 5,388,400 China Bank shares to over 8,300 employees under the Centennial Stock grant plan. The grantees received 100 China Bank shares for every year of service.
• China Bank recognized over 441 employees who rendered 10 to 45 years of service during the virtual service awards.

Creating a safe and nurturing work environment

• Rolled out a group-wide vaccination program and conducted webinars on Covid-19 safety.
• Sustained the Work-life Integration Program with various online trainings to help employees effectively manage their finances, manage stress, learn a new skill, and adopt an active and healthy lifestyle.

Training and education

We are committed to helping our people reach their full potential. In place are various training and development programs to drive our employees’ professional and personal growth and to help maximize individual and organizational capabilities.

In 2021, we recorded a total of 180,270 training hours, which translates to 18.45 training hours per employee. More female employees are attending China Bank's training programs with 71% training hours compared to 29% for male employees.

The total amount invested for talent development was PhP 13.4 million, or PhP 1,374 per employee . All trainings were conducted virtually.

Learning in the new normal
The pandemic is not a hindrance for continuous learning. We pivoted our usual face-to-face training sessions into engaging virtual lessons accessible though China Bank Academy's e-learning portal.

Targeted professional development
We have flagship development programs to hone the skills and knowledge of our employees in different levels of our organization:

• Supervisory Development Program – for rank & file employees who have the potential to assume first-line leadership roles.
• Junior Executive Development Program – for middle managers who are being developed to take on for more leadership responsibilities
• Branch Heads Training Program – for branch managers to develop and strengthen their competencies to effectively lead their branches.

Health and safety

We have health and safety policies and procedures that are kept updated with the latest regulations and industry best practices and standards. In addition, we have emergency procedures and evacuation plans in case of disasters and calamities, and health and wellness program to help manage work-related stress and to minimize cases of work-related ill health. We also aligned our various workplace policies in compliance with RA 11058 (An Act Strengthening Compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Standards):

• Drug-free workplace policy
• Tuberculosis Prevention and Control in the workplace policy
• Hepatitis B Prevention and control in the workplace policy
• HIV and AIDS Prevention and control in the workplace policy
• Breastfeeding policy

The Occupational Safety and Health Committee also ensures implementation of occupational health and safety standards across the Bank.

Calamity response
We ensure that our employees are taken care of in the event of natural disasters. Calamity assistance in the form of financial assistance and Calamity Leave were provided to employees who were affected by Typhoons Odette and Marin in 2021 in accordance with the Calamity Assistance policy guidelines of the Bank. The total calamity financial assistance extended by the Bank in 2021 was P2.24 million.

COVID-19 vaccination drive
We protect our employee’s right to work in a healthy and safe environment. In addition to adapting our workplace health and safety protocols to the current context and situation, we strongly encouraged our employees to be vaccinated, including getting the booster shot. To expedite the vaccination of our employees, the Bank spent P6.81 million in 2021 for the purchase and inoculation of primary and booster vaccines which began June of 2021. As of December 31, 2021, 96% of our employees was already fully vaccinated with primary series and 6.2% was already vaccinated with booster shot.

• Implemented the China Bank Group Vaccination Program, in cooperation with the SM Group, to provide employees with the utmost protection against the virus and to achieve herd immunity.
• Secured approval from Makati LGU and city health office to certify Buendia Car Exchange as China Bank’s vaccination site