AIA's RM36Mil Boost for Customer Service and Staff Amenities
7 mins read
AIA Financial Centre links head office with operations nerve centre
Kuala Lumpur, 16 June 2014 – Malaysia’s leading insurer, AIA Bhd., today unveiled its newly refurbished RM36 million AIA Financial Centre in Jalan Ampang, an initiative which had involved the restacking of its head office operation from three buildings to two and streamlining of its front-line services under a new 5,000 sq ft customer service centre. The AIA Financial Centre houses the insurer’s 29-storey head office Menara AIA and 12-storey operations nerve centre at Wisma AIA, both of which are now linked.
Present at the launch today were Mark Tucker, Group Chief Executive & President of AIA Group Limited, and Regional Chief Executive, Ng Keng Hooi. The event coincided with the first anniversary of the new AIA in Malaysia following the integration of AIA’s life insurance businesses in the country in June 2013.
Speaking at the launch, Mark Tucker said: "Malaysia is one of AIA’s key markets and we are very excited about our future in this dynamic market. The opening of our new look headquarters reflects our deep commitment to the Malaysian market and to our customers, employees, and life planners here, as well as to the wider community."
The new customer service centre, designed to ensure faster service and greater convenience to AIA customers, has 15 servicing and cashier counters, four self-service terminals and an e-cashier machine. Four helpdesk counters will be added next month to handle simple enquiries. The centre will cater exclusively to AIA’s walk-in customers.
To ensure its life planners continue to be well supported, AIA has created a dedicated Life Planner Service Centre at its agency office in AIA Cap Square Tower across Jalan Ampang. It will launch dedicated service centres for its life planners in several other locations in the Klang Valley in the coming months.
AIA Bhd. Chief Executive Officer Bill Lisle said the company gave much thought and devoted significant resources to create a vibrant work environment, one which sparks creativity and increases opportunities for collaboration amongst its employees and life planners.
"As we continue to focus on strengthening our multi-distribution capability in 2014 and beyond through active recruitment of life planners, we want to ensure that our employees enjoy quality of life during their time spent in the office as this will foster better engagement and teamwork," he explained.
The renovation project included linking Menara AIA and Wisma AIA via a 30-foot urban canopy which connects the two buildings and serves as an outdoor meeting terrace for AIA staff and life planners.
A new grand lobby has also replaced what was once an outdoor space that supported minimal activities. The bigger space, with a capacity of over 300 people, has been designed to accommodate employee engagement activities and launch events.
The office makeover project also involved the massive refurbishment of a food court now called Soul Food Place that spreads across 10,000 sq ft and easily fits 400 people at any one time. Of special interest here is the AIA Vitality Island which promotes healthier food options such as fresh salads, sandwiches, grilled and baked meal options and fresh fruit juices.
In addition, the sixth floor of Menara AIA has been transformed into a 6,000 sq ft staff recreational area that offers a new gymnasium, staff lounge that is equipped with pool tables, foosball tables, video game consoles and a jukebox as well as a renovated auditorium with a seating capacity of 300 people.
As for work space, the open concept was adopted to promote maximum flexibility and collaboration while respecting confidentiality. Each floor is equipped with a large pantry to encourage greater interaction among staff during break time.
Lisle also disclosed that AIA had submitted an application to Kuala Lumpur City Hall to build an overhead walkway connecting the AIA Financial Centre with AIA Cap Square Tower, which houses some 250 of its agency offices across Jalan Ampang. "Once this materialises, this area can truly be described as the AIA Financial Hub," he added.
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About AIA Bhd.
AIA Bhd. is a leading insurer in Malaysia, where we have been privileged to do business since 1948. We offer a suite of high quality products including Protection, Health, Personal Accident, General Insurance, Employee Benefits, Retirement and Family Takaful options to meet our customers’ protection and financial security needs at every life stage. Through our wide and diverse distribution footprint which comprises a tied agency force of close to 17,000 members, our exclusive bank partner’s branches nationwide as well as corporate sales teams and brokers, we give our customers the choice of deciding how, when and where they connect with us.
Part of the AIA Group, the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group, AIA Bhd. in Malaysia has the financial strength, experience, service centre network as well as a well-trained team of more than 2,000 staff to serve its 3 million customers nationwide. As at end 2013, AIA Bhd.’s total asset worth was RM42 billion, with a paid-up capital of RM767 million.
About AIA
AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively “AIA” or “the Group”) comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has operations in 17 markets in AsiaPacific – wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Macau, Brunei, a 97 per cent subsidiary in Sri Lanka, a 26 per cent joint venture in India and a representative office in Myanmar.
The business that is now AIA was first established in Shanghai over 90 years ago. It is a market leader in the Asia-Pacific region (ex-Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets. It had total assets of US$147 billion as of 30 November 2013.
AIA meets the savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accidental and health insurance and savings plans. The Group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients. Through an extensive network of agents and employees across Asia-Pacific, AIA serves the holders of more than 28 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.
AIA Group Limited is listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code “1299” with American Depositary Receipts (Level 1) traded on the over-the-counter market (ticker symbol: “AAGIY”).
