TOURISM is an important sector of Singapore’s economy. The country - a global village of connectivity with its doors open to the world - has battled various threats over the years when it comes to tourism, from bird flu and Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) to the Covid-19 pandemic that ended up shutting tourism businesses almost overnight.
Living in uncertainty and dealing with unexpected changes over the past 2 years has not been easy. Everyone had to deal with such a phenomenon for the first time in our lifetimes. There were no guidebooks or model answers to the problems that arose from the pandemic.
Sometimes, we need to forget the earlier methods of dealing with business and instead, focus on the business and the growth areas that are present today. There is freedom to dream anew, to use creativity, failures, learnings and new approaches to tackle old and new problems that may arise. Now is the time to be adaptable, come what may.
I have met many business owners and employees during this trying period and one word summed up their concerns: uncertainty. Yet, there remains a common thread of resilience to pull through, with the objective of sustaining the businesses and more importantly, the jobs.
As Singapore’s economy recovers, not only do businesses need to prioritise on their own recovery, they also need to take the next steps to understand new consumer patterns, embrace innovation to sharpen their competitiveness, and redesign jobs to ensure that workers are enabled to ride on the digitalisation wave of their businesses.
This is particularly so for the lifestyle sector, including those from food services, retail, hotels, Mice, attractions and tour & travel, which are all labour-intensive and were heavily impacted by unprecedented restrictions and implementation of the various safe management measures over the past 2 years.
The uniqueness of this sector rides on a simple analogy – take good care of your employees who will, in turn, take good care of your customers. Give the customers a unique service experience and they will return.
Often, we see that companies who value their employees are more likely to succeed than those that do not. Value is not just derived from monetary rewards and benefits, but it also entails how employees are included in the business transformation process, decision-making and given the necessary training and reskilling opportunities to help springboard the company’s business.
Over the years, Workforce Singapore (WSG) has been fortunate to partner many employers that care for their workers and ensure that their wellbeing is taken care of, particularly during this difficult period.
To better aid companies and employees during this time, WSG developed the Service Industry Transformation Programme (SITP) and introduced various Career Conversion Programmes (CCP) that companies can tap on.
Like many other food and beverage operators, So Pho has had to navigate through a challenging business climate. Through the SITP, it managed to optimise its operational efficiency to manage costs and overcome manpower constraints by implementing a revised manpower schedule. With this, it was able to expand the job roles of their workers and optimise work processes. This helped reduce 26.5 man-hours per day at its Novena outlet.
In addition, So Pho also went through the CCP and redesigned the job scope of its front-of-house employees. The new role of a front-of-house ambassador was created to directly support customers’ dining experience and alleviate the back-of-house manpower crunch.
The ambassador was trained in digital and communication skills to troubleshoot a new integrated point-of-sale system, as well as simple culinary skills to optimise its manpower utilisation and productivity. This resulted in savings in man-hours and service delivery time, as well as a leaner and higher quality workforce, resulting in greater customer and staff satisfaction.
Another SME that has fared well is Aux Media Group. Prior to the pandemic, it was in the business of organising mass events. However, it had to pivot its business model to offer extended reality (XR) to regain its business clients when Mice activities could not take place.
Nearly 40 per cent of its existing employees’ job roles were assessed to be at risk of redundancy. To avoid any potential retrenchment, the company saw an immediate need to equip its employees with the technical know-how to implement XR technology, aligning with the company’s new business model while futureproofing their careers.
About 20 employees participated in the CCP, undergoing a 6-month training programme to acquire extensive knowledge in XR and other niche skillsets to operate XR technology. This allowed them to be redeployed to take on new job roles within the company with a salary increment of 10 to 20 per cent. The company is in a better position now. It has opened 2 additional studios and is hiring more people to man them.
Every challenge presents an opportunity, a lesson to learn and a chance to grow. The sector’s resilience and ingenuity was tested during this difficult time but many have managed to transform and overcome it.
This proved that companies have the capability and capacity to embrace and be ready for constant change. It is critical that workers continue to upskill and be adaptable to stay relevant and employable, and companies to rethink their business models, sustainability and resiliency.
The relaxation of safe management measures and the reopening of Singapore’s borders were a reprieve to many. However, new challenges such as increasing costs and competition for local talent have added continued pressure on businesses.
Attracting and retaining talent by redesigning jobs is an important step that employers can take to make jobs enticing and meaningful. Grooming existing talent, and giving them the opportunity to grow within the organisation and rewarding them equitably is equally important.
Growth can emerge in the face of challenges, and the greatest innovations come from the most limiting of barriers. As the tourism sector opens the doors to the world once again, so should employers. A key takeaway from the pandemic is to never neglect one’s employees. They are the precious assets who will celebrate a company’s successes, and be there to plough through the difficult times too.
Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sme/as-tourism-sector-rebounds-businesses-must-value-their-employees-even-more