“In 2008, as Deputy Chairman of the People’s Association, I pondered over how to transform the organization. It was almost 50 years old, with an entrenched culture, set in old ways. Most did not realize that it suffered from mission drift. In fact, the senior management had worked out new vision and mission statements. The Board and I decided that these statements from the top would not make any impact on the grassroots movement, as there would not be buy-in. We decided to transform the organization. I remembered the work that Sequoia did for the National Trades Union Congress, another mass-based grassroots organization which was just as old, and how Sequoia helped to re-open minds, light new fires. So the People’s Association engaged Sequoia. Sequoia did not let me down. There was the passion behind the facilitation that sparked new life. While some of the older employees struggled in the first couple of sessions, even feeling the pain of change, they too came around. Sequoia team drew out from the participants their thoughts, their suggestions. They did not impose. The basic question was: “What do you want the community to be in 5 years’ time?” Over 2 years, we developed a new Vision for the People’s Association, and the Community 2015 Master Plan for the grassroots. Today the People’s Association is moving back to its original mission, operating in a new environment. Just as Sequoia helped to transform the NTUC and PA, I am sure it will help transform any organization seeking to change, to stay relevant.”

“We engaged Sequoia Group to design a Leading Change Programme for HDB Middle Managers. Over our 2-year long partnership, we have enjoyed working with facilitators Druga and Natasha to align our Middle Managers with HDB’s transformational efforts, and equip them with tools/skills to lead change within their teams. Druga and Natasha were able to gain a good grasp of HDB’s culture and operations and designed a programme well-suited for HDB’s needs, even taking the initiative to include and deliver elements beyond the original project scope (e.g. 1-1 physical interviews with our Senior Leadership, additional post-programme survey) in order to achieve better outcomes for our programme design and post-programme follow-up. With their warm, approachable and vibrant personalities, they were able to connect well with our Middle Managers, and enabled them to be forthcoming in sharing. They have also proven to be professional, experienced facilitators who are astute, clear in delivery, and able to value-add to our participants’ learning by sharing their wealth of experience. We particularly appreciated Druga and Natasha’s creativity and flexibility, in terms of being able to seamlessly weave in additional materials requested by us and accommodate changes to the programme without compromising on the programme outcomes.”