Changi Airport Group Wins Inaugural 'Singapore Service Excellence Medallion'
On 28 November 2011, Changi Airport Group was conferred the prestigious 'Singapore Service Excellence Medallion' by the Institute of Service Excellence of Singapore Management University. The first such award in Singapore, the Singapore Service Excellence Medallion recognises the achievements of organisations and individuals in inspiring and sustaining a culture of service excellence. The Medallion is also the latest and most prestigious of initiatives of the national GEMS (Go the Extra Mile for Service)* Up movement to catalyse a transformation in service amongst organisations in Singapore and to produce worthy role models for all to emulate.
The Award is presented to the most outstanding organisation that has consistently demonstrated supreme levels of customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and business excellence.
Speech by Lee Seow Hiang, CEO Changi Airport Group:
"Changi Airport Group is deeply honoured this evening to receive this inaugural Singapore Service Excellence Medallion. We thank the organiser – Institute of Service Excellence, for this unique privilege and distinction.
Changi Airport Group has about 1,300 employees, but to run the airport well, Changi needs a community of over 28,000 people. Today, CAG collaborates with over 200 companies and agencies to deliver the Changi Experience. We would not have achieved this award without the steadfast support of these service partners and their staff. We are honoured that some of our partners are with us this evening to join in the celebration of this award.
For Changi Airport, service is not an add-on activity. It is at the core of who we are and everything we do. CAG is first and foremost a service company. Having this clarity helps us build a strong service culture because everyone knows it is our DNA, and our raison d’être.
Delivering service excellence is also about a firm belief in the Power of One – one individual rising to the occasion and making a difference for another. At CAG, we talk about the Changi Experience as it focuses attention on the individual. It forces one to think “What can I do for each customer?” “How can I make their specific experience of the airport a memorable one?”
So when CAG was corporatised, we decided to enshrine this focus on the “individual” into the new logo. We deliberately positioned the globe above the last letter of Changi to symbolise a huge Capital “I”. “I” stands for the Individual – a reminder to us that despite the more than 40 million passengers we serve each year at Changi, every individual counts. Every compliment and every complaint matters to us.
The letter “I” also symbolises the many individuals who serve at Changi. Whenever one of them takes the initiative and reaches out to a passenger or visitor, a moment of magic is created. That is the Changi Experience.
At Changi, we are privileged to be in the business of Connecting Lives. Each day, Changi is blessed with many heart-warming stories of individuals, whether they are our service cleaners, our taxi coordinators, frontline helpers or backroom planners, each stepping up and touching the lives of individuals.
This evening, we humbly accept this Service Excellence Medallion on behalf of these many individuals, who work selflessly and often behind the scenes to make the Changi Experience a daily reality.
This award is a tremendous honour that will spur us to continue to make Changi a very special place for travellers and Singaporeans alike, for many years to come."
* GEMS Up is the second phase of the GEMS national campaign which was launched in 2005. Five agencies - the Institute of Service Exellence at the Singapore Management University, SPRING Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency and the National Trade Congress Union, spearheaded the movement to promote a new paradigm shift of service excellence via a three-pronged strategy, namely Promotion, Publicity & Recognition for Service; Service Capability and Development; and Research & Thought Leadership for Service.
