mr. joel Yap

manager

“The people here are what makes CPH so special, I’ve never joined an organisation that felt so welcoming before.”

Who is Joel

“Hi! My name is Joel and I am a Manager in Corporate Services. I am mainly in charge of recruitment. I am quite a boring person actually (laughs). In my free time, I like to exercise, read, watch TV shows, and even game sometimes.”

Despite describing himself as dull, his presence is anything but. Joel is one of the members of the highly versatile Corporate Services department and is known for his amicable and jovial temperament. He is a familiar face to every one of our over 100 employees, from fresh recruits to seasoned professionals.

Graduating at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Joel was worried about his career prospects in view of a weak job market. Chancing upon an online advertisement by CPH looking for a Corporate Services executive, Joel decided to shoot his shot and applied for the position, being motivated not only by his ambitions - but by intrigue as well. Joel’s intrigue came from an ‘Organisational Psychology’ module that he took in university and explained that when one thinks of psychology, they would usually think of more commonly known aspects such as clinical psychology, which made him quite interested in psychology within organisations due to its novelty. “Then I guess I got the job,” Joel laughed as he recounted his experience. 

Joel in CPH

As CPH’s lead recruiter, Joel ensures that open job positions in CPH are filled quickly and with the right people, so that CPH can carry out its mission to enable clients and their families in the community. Outside of recruitment, Joel is passionate about improving the quality of life of every CPH employee, and creating a working environment where each employee can do their best work. Armed with his knowledge of Organisational Psychology, Joel is involved in the shaping of many aspects of CPH - from employee engagement and wellbeing to learning and development. 

As he is in a internal facing role, he does not see a direct impact of his work on CPH’s clients and their families in the community. However, Joel instead looks at internal feedback from employees. He gains additional motivation and encouragement when receiving feedback that expresses gratitude and thanks to the Corporate Services department, as it means that he is doing his job well.

CPH for Joel

“The people here are what makes CPH so special, I’ve never joined an organisation that felt so welcoming before.”

CPH has become a Home, a Family, and a place of growth for Joel. In CPH, Joel is able to feel the warmth of his colleagues. He feels that CPH is similar to a home, not only because he spends quite some time working (haha!), but because of the supportive and warm people within it.

Joel shared the colleagues in the Corporate Services department frequently check in with each other.  Colleagues from other departments – including the leaders, are approachable and helpful as well, often offering a helping hand to anyone in need, which makes the CPH all the more accepting as an organisation, ensuring that no one is being left to struggle on their own. “There’s a very low power distance here, you don’t feel that you can’t approach your seniors or reporting officers to request for help, or to give suggestions.”

Despite CPH being a place of home for Joel, CPH also pushes him out of his comfort zones for growth and development. Joel shares that being in CPH has exposed him to different viewpoints, both similar and different, helping to broaden his perspective. Other than personal development, working at CPH has also allowed Joel to learn and venture into new areas in his professional life with its learning culture, where he is often encouraged to go for educational courses that would allow him to upgrade himself and learn new skills. He is also given autonomy to try new ways of doing things, reassured that in CPH, failure is not to something be punished – but an opportunity to learn from. 

“I applied for the job wanting not to be an unemployed bum (laughs) but CPH has given me more than that. It’s more than just a job.”