For a business in the food and beverage (F&B) industry where jobs are sometimes regarded as unglamorous with long working hours, one company has been doing things a little differently to attract and retain talent.
“We feel that getting people to come into the industry is already a challenge, keeping people is another challenge.
“Our main priority is skills training for our staff,” said Christina, who added that good workers make good ambassadors for the company. Career development, too, enables the company’s employees to feel more involved, which helps in retention.
“Between staff coming in and going out, there is this very important period in the middle whereby we need to groom our staff. That’s why we are very pro-training in our company and have a lot of training programmes that range from technical skillsets to soft skills,” said Christina.
This commitment to the development of its staff saw the Jumbo Group recognised as a Human Capital Partner under the Human Capital Partnership (HCP) programme.
Prioritising the development of human capital, HCP is a tripartite initiative between NTUC, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP).
Equal Chances For All
In addition to having more than 40 in-house courses in different languages and developed by the company’s training department for staff, the company also has a Fast Track programme.
“If you go through the normal promotion structure, it may take you four to five years to climb the ranks to become a supervisor in an outlet. It slows down employees who have potential, so we came up with this programme. We will identify staff with potential and groom them for a supervisory position within 12 months.
“Staff will work towards being a part of the Fast Track programme, and we give everyone a chance. We started with the service staff and now, subsequently, we’ve extended this to the kitchen staff.” shared Christina.
Some 42 staff have successfully gone through the programme since it started in 2011. The company also has a LEAD programme to groom newly-promoted staff to become effective leaders. It consists of nine modules conducted in two runs every six months and aims to impart the necessary skills for staff to make the leadership transition.
With a view to the future, the company has been actively working with partners like NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) for recruitment and to raise awareness of opportunities in the F&B scene through educational institutions and initiatives like work experience programmes and learning journeys.
