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Background
Around the world, people are becoming increasingly mindful of their personal health and wellness, especially with their choices of food products consumed daily. According to a report by NielsenIQ, health-aligned products have been seeing an increase in sales – more specifically, a 31% growth from 2020 to 2021.
At a glance
Given that healthy living has taken on a heightened significance in today’s world, Lilo Health Food Pte Ltd (Lilo Health Food) sought to introduce its selection of healthy food to the local market and beyond by advocating for family togetherness through quality homecooked family meals.
However, to achieve the above, it was imperative to first ensure that its production processes within the local shores are understood and carried out effectively and efficiently by its current and new employees prior to the expansion. In pursuit of this, Lilo Health Food embarked on a workplace learning project with Institute for Adult Learning Singapore (IAL) through a NACE@IAL consultancy project.
Why is having a structured onboarding process important?
Source: Article by Forbes, titled “Why Effective Onboarding Is More Important Than Ever”.
Transforming the workforce through the NACE@IAL consultancy initiative
Through the NACE@IAL project, Lilo Health Food sought to empower its production operators with the capability to perform well at their roles through familiarising them with the production process, as well as teaching them how to operate production equipment safely and effectively.
Learning is a lifelong process; to stay curious, self-motivated and willing to embrace new challenges and opportunities for growth. On this front, we joined the Learning Enterprise Alliance to develop the capabilities of our workforce through workplace learning practices.
Ms. Lily Loh, Director
Identifying existing performance gaps
To enable new and existing operators to be familiar with their job roles, the project team at Lilo Health Food first had to identify the performance gaps existing at the workplace. This was done through an interview with the production supervisor, as well as observation on the ground regarding the production process and the usage of the equipment by employees.
Based on the above, the team managed to identify the following gaps:
- There was no structured training programme to equip new production operators in using the production equipment within the manufacturing facility – this is where the crucial business core activities take place.
- Concerns in handling both food and equipment safely.
Integration of workplace learning interventions
After the identification of gaps above, the project team at Lilo Health Food, together with IAL’s workplace learning consultant, worked together to co-develop and implement the following:
- An onboarding plan, inclusive of assessment checklists
- A training package for new hires
Scaling up on the workplace learning imperative
At the end of the project with IAL CWLP, Lilo Health Food was able to achieve the following outcomes:
The implementation of workplace learning interventions did not come easy, as the project team faced several challenges along the way.
Firstly, given that lean team structure at Lilo Health Food, particularly the Operations team which only comprised of one member of staff, the creation of the training package took up a significant portion of time to put together. This was on top of the Operations Manager’s daily duties.
Secondly, there was the issue of language literacy. The factory supervisor, who is also the production supervisor, could read, write and speak only in Mandarin.
To mitigate the above challenges, the team, together with IAL’s workplace learning solutionist ensured that the training programme, forms and checklists were developed in both English and Mandarin so that all employees were able to comprehend and utilise them effectively.
Ultimately, the journey to developing its new hires would not have been made possible without the commitment of the business owner and the production supervisor in equipping new operators with the knowledge and skills to perform at their roles efficiently and safely.
The knowledge and capabilities of IAL’s workplace learning solutionist in developing a structured training package also played a vital role in ensuring the project was met with success.
What’s next for Lilo Health Food
Following the completion of the NACE@IAL consultancy project, Lilo Health Food is looking to develop a training package for its production supervisor and employees from another function in the near future.
Ready to embark on a workplace transformation project with us?