ANNUAL REPORT 2020/2021

RESURFACING

The most important part of exploration is coming back to tell the tale, and sharing the experience among friends and peers. Unwinding after a dive also allows divers to recharge and reflect, and to prepare for future adventures.

Our members and staff also need to relax and unwind. ISCA’s wellness and bonding activities are opportunities to strengthen networks in the industry and build a community. The Institute’s employee welfare activities boost staff morale and help our workforce remain healthy and loyal.

With the social distancing measures arising from Covid-19, ISCA had to cancel large-scale bonding activities for members, such as ISCA Run and ISCA Games, in 2020. The Inter-Professional Games for members of ISCA and other professional bodies was also cancelled for the same reason.

To get around the social distancing restrictions, we converted the ISCA Mingles networking sessions into virtual events. We also partnered with Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales to hold joint sessions where members from each professional body could mingle and network with each other.

At the virtual sessions, speakers were invited to share on topics such as “Moving from Boss to Coach”, “Navigating an Uneven Recovery and How to Impress Your Clients With Your Whisky Knowledge” and “Uncertainty is the New Certainty: Investor Relations in a Post-19 Environment”. In all, more than 850 attendees came to three ISCA Mingles virtual sessions in 2020.

We started 2020 with the annual Lunar New Year luncheon for our staff. However, in-person employee engagement activities came to a halt when safe distancing measures were in place to minimise community spread of Covid-19.

The pandemic has provided the Institute an opportunity to rethink the employee experience, by respecting individual circumstances, while adapting to rapidly changing circumstances. Prompt updates, and regular virtual check-ins and meetings by managers with their respective teams have ensured our employees remain connected and engaged. Staff also had the opportunity to bond over virtual training sessions and virtual yoga classes, which were organised to encourage a learning culture and promote employee well-being. In 2020, we continued to confer Excellent Service Awards and Long Service Awards to deserving staff, as well as Certificates of Appreciation to staff volunteering in ISCA Cares.

To express our appreciation to our staff for going through this challenging period together with us, we gave each staff a Christmas gift pack that included ISCA-branded reusable masks, a water tumbler, vitamin supplements and toiletries.

As the Covid-19 situation continues to evolve, we aim to deliver a more targeted and dynamic employee experience that continues to provide flexibility for our staff, while ensuring their well-being and employee cohesion.

In view of the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, ISCA Cares, the Institute’s charity arm, increased the number of beneficiaries for its bursary to 83 recipients and its total bursary disbursements to more than $160,000 in 2020. This is the highest amount of bursary disbursements and the largest number of beneficiaries since ISCA Cares’ inception in 2015.

The bursary aims to give youths from financially vulnerable families access to quality accountancy education in local polytechnics and universities. Besides receiving financial aid, beneficiaries have the opportunity to be mentored by experienced accounting professionals and can apply for internship programmes at the offices of ISCA Cares’ corporate donors. The bursary disbursements were made possible with the strong support and generosity of ISCA members and the accountancy profession, including ISCA Cares’ largest corporate donors – BDO LLP, Hong Leong Foundation, PwC Singapore Foundation, and RSM Chio Lim LLP.

To comply with social distancing measures, the annual ISCA Cares Bursary Awards Ceremony was held via Zoom in October and about 80 guests attended the virtual event.