Back
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only disrupted operations but affected the pace of growth among businesses as well. With stringent measures put in place following a nationwide lockdown, working from home became the default and this led to a widespread utilisation of technology as the world sought to keep pace with the new normal.On the e-Commerce space, demands such as 24-hour online shopping, seamless international deliveries and growing consumer expectations in terms of experiences, personalised shopping and seamless transitions saw a surge. There was an increasing need for business to digitalise operations and tap on new technologies to increase productivity and further enhance operations and processes.
At a Glance
Given that knowledge and skills have become the global currency of 21st-century economies, Parlour Group Pte Ltd (Parlour Group) sought to build the skillset of its employees by preparing and equipping them with the global skills of tomorrow. In addition to this, the rapid business expansion also meant that there was a need to recruit and retain new hires. For current employees, there was also an urgent need to improve their work processes and increase their work efficiency to keep pace with the expansion of the organisation.To keep true to its mission and values in empowering employees and clients alike to build confidence, Parlour Group embarked on a workplace learning project as a member of the Learning Enterprise Alliance (LEA) with IAL in 2022, given the opportune time to review its state of business for rationalisation.
Transforming the workforce through the Learning Enterprise Alliance (LEA)
Through the LEA project, Parlour Group sought to create career opportunities and attract new hires to join Pink Parlour, a subsidiary under Parlour Group, and develop its talent pool; establish a robust talent management strategy to improve staff attraction, development, retention and continuous certification; and lastly, to develop organisational capabilities in the areas of talent management and development."I was at a stalemate with some of my business processes especially onboarding and was only able to feel confident until my leaders received IAL’ s guidance. The format of coaching and approach is efficient for anyone with a busy schedule. IAL's guidance and wisdom have been invaluable and I feel my business will be stronger because of it."
- Mr. Derrick Ronald Seeto, President
"The LEA project has helped us get organised with a structured program and schedule for our onboarding process for new hires, which details the job description and competency skills and career progression. The consultants at IAL are very professional, organised and knowledgeable in the industry and it has been a rewarding and engaging learning experience for us."
- Mr. Fairoz Mohammed Kareem, General Manager
Identifying existing performance gaps
To strengthen the competencies of its workforce at Pink Parlour, the project team at Parlour Group had to identify the performance gaps existing at the workplace. This involved the following activities:- Utilisation of the industry framework and references to re-design the recruitment, development and retention processes; the job description and competencies of therapists will be reviewed and updated, and career pathways and learning roadmaps will be created for the job role
- Introduction of coaching as a learning method to facilitate the career development of therapists as part of the talent management and development strategy; workplace learning aids will be created to guide managers in the facilitation of coaching sessions with their staff
- Review of internal onboarding system and related processes for better employee experience and engagement; the improvements serve to provide clarity to managers and therapists in their onboarding journey
Integration of workplace learning interventions
After the identification of gaps, the project team at Parlour Group, together with IAL’ s workplace learning consultant, worked together to co-develop the following learning resources:- Creation of structured career and progression pathways and learning roadmaps to attract, develop and retain talents
- Creation of workplace learning aids to guide Managers in coaching therapists to perform effectively at their roles
- Creation of a guide to facilitate the onboarding process of newly hired therapists
Scaling up on the workplace learning imperative
At the end of the project with NACE@IAL, Parlour Group was able to achieve the following outcomes:1. Creation of the Therapist Playbook, which included information such as vision, mission and values, critical core skills linking to values, job descriptions, skills and competencies required, career pathways and learning roadmap to support the therapists’ career at Pink Parlour. It also detailed the onboarding process and relevant checklists to support the onboarding process.
2. Creation of a Manager Guide, which included information and tips on how to coach and guide the Therapists for performance at work. Relevant videos from www.workplacelearning.ial.edu.sg on topics such as coaching, providing and receiving feedback, guided reflection, were identified as resources to help Managers in managing Therapists for performance and coaching.
3. A total of 9 Managers and Team Leads, and 5 Therapists were impacted through this project. Managers are now able to effectively coach and develop the therapists; while the therapists now have a structured process for communication to enhance their experience journey.
The implementation of workplace learning interventions did not come easy, as the project team faced several challenges along the way.
As the project team included members from Singapore and Philippines, a significant challenge was the co-ordination of meetings to accommodate the schedules and locations of team members. In addition, there was also the issue of manpower constraints in each Pink Parlour outlet. It was challenging to bring everyone together to a single location for the face-to-face familiarisation sessions
familiarisation sessions. To mitigate the above challenges in terms of face-to-face interaction, all communication was facilitated through online sessions. Ultimately, the journey to developing a skilled workforce would not have been made possible without the following factors:
1. Support and responsiveness of project team members through the WhatsApp Chatgroup in seeing through the deliverables for the project
2. Support by the President (Project Sponsor), General Manager (Project Champion), Managing Director, Senior General Manager, and Regional Human Resources Manager during the LEA project journey
3. Commitment and teamwork among all stakeholders, including the various team members from the operations
4. Establishment of a structured framework, creation of workplace learning aids, and curation of workplace learning resources by IAL’ s workplace learning consultant