Manulife US REIT - Annual Report 2021

83 working arrangements, physical and mental health talks as well as the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep our employees safe at home and in the office. An initiative known as ‘Fuel Up Fridays’ was implemented every second Friday of eachmonth, where staff were granted one day off to refuel their learning needs in the morning and use the afternoons to relax and recharge. Additionally, all employees were granted five extra days of leave during the year to rest and improve their mental well-being. The disruption inwork culture caused by the pandemic and working from home has sharpened our focus on employee engagement and recognition. In 2021, our Ambassadors of Change (AoC) once again played an important role in engaging our staff as they diligently worked from home. Regular dialogues (online or in person) continued with staff at all levels on how engagement might be improved, and team cohesion activities, including Breakfast on the House (BOTH) plus other bonding sessions were organised. All staff were provided with an opportunity to recognise and be recognised through Podium. This is a global digital platformthat rewards employees receivingappreciationwith vouchers. In 2021, 100.0% of MUST’s staff across all levels used Podium to recognise or be recognised by colleagues, enhancing opportunities for engagement. We continually support our human capital through training and career development. In 2021, the average training hours per employee increased to 50 hours, a result of the expanded training opportunities accessible to staff. To build sustainability competency, all Singapore staff, as well as the independent directors undertook a day of training in ESG and Materiality Reporting. During the year, a Pursuit LearningHubwas launched by theGroup to provide tailored LinkedIn learning plans through a fully automated, AI powered platform. In 2021, tailoring employee experiences in response to workplace challenges have yielded a 2.0%YoY improvement in our staff engagement score (as measured by the Gallup Global Engagement Survey). This is an improvement inmean percentile rank to 89.0%and a strong score against Gallup’s overall benchmark for Manulife. This is the third year in a row that the Engagement Survey scores have increased. Serving our Communities During this second year of the pandemic, we continued to drive our CSR initiatives and support our communities in whatever way we could. In line with our community development strategy, we contributed about S$26,000 and clocked about 190 volunteer hours on CSR efforts towards our focus areas of helping the vulnerable and isolated elderly, and supported social enterprises. This included meaningful virtual engagement and fundraising activities withMethodistWelfare Services (MWS) andSt Luke’sHospital. We also rallied tenants across our portfolio to participate in donation drives organised by local food banks and charities for families in need. Beyond community engagement, we remained committed to supporting social enterprises through the procurement of all our corporate gifts and events from these sources. Driving Sustainable Growth Ethical and responsible corporate practices are integral in delivering long-term value to our shareholders. Our robust corporate governance structure allows us to monitor any changes in relevant laws and regulations to ensure that our internal policies and practices remain compliant and of the highest standard. In 2021, there were no incidents of corruption or non- compliance with any sustainability-related laws and regulations. Testament to our high governance standards, MUST also retained its SGX Fast Track status for the fourth year running. We also achieved an upgrade in ourMSCI ESGRatings to ‘AA’ in 2021 and MUST was ranked in the top 2% of companies globally in Sustainalytics ESG Risk Ratings. In addition to receiving accolades in Investor Relations (IR) and corporate governance, MUST’s sustainability efforts were well-recognised by major ESG benchmarks with a 5 Star rating inGRESB Real Estate Assessment and ‘A’ inGRESB Public Disclosure. Engaging our Investors Inwhat turnedout tobeanother year of COVID-19 challenges and restrictions, it was essential for MUST to maintain frequent and timely communication with the investment community. In 2021, to deepen our engagement with investors and stakeholders across the financial industry and the investor universe, MUST launched its official LinkedIn page. Leveraging theuseof socialmediaplatforms,we shared U.S. officemarket updates, portfolio performance as well as sustainability best practices. Since its launch in September 2021, the page has garnered over 1,000 followers as at end February 2022. As part of our GreenDot Series, we launched our inaugural MUST Go Green (MGG), aweek-long thought leadership initiative to raise the awareness of ESG. Themed as the ‘Rise of ESG’, conferences were led by industry experts andone-on-onemeetings with ESG investors took place. This initiative has cemented our green flag in the SREIT space and resulted in numerous enquiries from ESG investors and funds to learn more about MUST and its future. As MUST continues to navigate safely out of the pandemic, and endeavour to overcome the challenges that lie ahead to support the global transition to net zero, we would like to express our thanks to the Board and our stakeholders for their strong support in our ESG initiatives through 2021. Jill Smith Chief Executive Officer (CEO) SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021