Earlier today, PropertyGuru Group CEO and Managing Director, Hari V. Krishnan sent the following note to PropertyGuru Group employees.

Dear Gurus,

This August we announced the addition of iProperty Malaysia to the Group. Over the subsequent period, we have brought you several updates on our progress towards integration. We are now near the completion of our integration planning and have finalised our unified goals and go-to-market approach that will strongly position our Malaysian business to grow and create significant customer value in 2022 and beyond.

The bringing together of two companies and teams is a complex process – a process that we approached through a journey of:

• Discovery: getting to know the iProperty Malaysia business and teams; and
• Design: with two leading property marketplaces, Propertyguru.com.my and iProperty.com.my under one Group, building our unified strategy to serve Malaysia.

I am grateful for how all Gurus involved in this journey have come together to work effectively as one team. We have now reached the point at which we start implementing the team’s recommendations. The aim is to arrive at a set-up that is best at making home ownership more achievable for Malaysian property seekers and provides business efficiency to agent and developer partners.

Our ‘Two Brands, One Team’ approach in Malaysia.

PropertyGuru Malaysia and iProperty Malaysia are two strong brands that have built unique audiences. We will maintain the two brands and work as one team in Malaysia. The focus is on our internal collaboration to drive innovative solutions that serve our Malaysian property seekers and customers better. To achieve this, we have decided to combine all functions (Product, Technology, Finance, Sales, Marketing, and HR) of the two brands and form one combined organisation in Malaysia.

While we have tried very hard to minimise the impact for our Gurus and provide meaningful
roles elsewhere in the Group for many of the impacted people, unfortunately, we have not been able to do this for everyone. After careful consideration a decision was made that no more than 35 of our colleagues will leave the Group.

We fully recognise that this decision has a great impact on those who are directly affected. This decision is not a reflection of the contributions made by the Gurus who will be leaving us, but is the result of our new combined organisational structure and our strategic goals for our business in Malaysia.

Our approach to limit the number of roles impacted.  

• Right from the start, we instituted a hiring freeze to ensure we did not hire anyone until our strategy was clear.

• We facilitated internal transfers for many Gurus into existing open roles in Malaysia and elsewhere in the Group.

• We have also considered and are presenting changes in scope, role and/or reporting lines to many of our Gurus in Malaysia

I believe that we have done what we can to limit the impact on our team.

To the Gurus who will be departing as part of this restructure, I wanted to first thank you for all that you have done for the Group, and to assure you that we will be doing our best to ensure you can move forward with support and dignity. This is a very difficult decision and process. I wish you the very best for your journey ahead.

Our support to those impacted under the restructuring.

We are committed to treating all our departing Gurus with respect and care, and we will endeavour to make this a smooth transition for them by providing the following:

• Enhanced severance packages, which includes these Gurus retaining their office
  laptops free of charge to make it easier for them to find their next roles and to
  minimise disruption to their lives.
• Job search support:
  • Outplacement service for three months with a personal consultant to support each Guru with counselling, their transition from the business and job search.
  • With their permission, we will create a database of impacted employees to allow for easy sharing with potential employers. We have seen this measure work very well for other companies in the region, and it even resulted in us hiring some of our Gurus from those databases.

Our path forward in Malaysia

Firstly, I can share that all impacted Gurus have already been spoken with today and we do not expect any further departures due to the restructure.

I believe that we have an amazing opportunity to create great value for the property ecosystem in Malaysia with us coming together and having a combined strategy for the country as it emerges from Covid-19. The new Malaysia organisation structure will come into effect from December 1, 2021. Please expect to hear from your local managers in the coming days to understand more specifics on the plans.

But for today, I ask that all Gurus come together to support our departing colleagues and all Gurus in Malaysia through this restructuring process.

Thank you.
Hari