Parlour Group

Establishing a robust talent management strategy through workplace learning

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 the IAL’s Centre for Workplace Learning and Performance given the opportune time to review its state of business for rationalisation.

Why the need to develop and attract the right talents for the job?

Superior talent are eight times more productive

High performers are 400 percent more productive than average ones. In highly complex occupations, performers are an astounding 800 percent more productive.

Good talent is scarce and a challenge to hire and retain for businesses

A whopping 82 percent of companies don’t believe they recruit highly talented people. For companies that do, only 7 percent feel confident about retaining them.

Stay ahead of competitors by leveraging on technology to predict and analyse HR data

People Analytics has gained traction over the years to provide reliable predictions to aid organisations in managing its workforce, such as providing insights and warnings when top talent may be thinking about leaving.

Source: Article by McKinsey, titled “Attracting and retaining the right talent

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.

Read on to find out more about Parlour Group’s transformation journey in detail below.

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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 SeetoPresident

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 KareemGeneral Manager

I couldn’t be happier with the service and solutions provided by IAL. They have a deep understanding of their craft and have done a great job communicating with me through the process.

Having worked with them for quite a while, I have clearly seen a huge impact on the project.

Ms. Anne Bautista JamesSenior General Manager

As HR Regional Head, the LEA project was an absolute solution to issues we are currently facing. It gave us a clearer picture of the process and how we are going to move forward.

It was a breath of fresh air! With this new process co-developed with IAL, we are confident we are on the right path.

Mr. Bryan B. AspanRegional Human Resources 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:

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.

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.

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.

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:

What's next for Parlour Group

Following the completion of the LEA project with NACE@IAL, the project team at Parlour Group seeks to further refine and improve on implementing its Therapist Playbook and Manager Guide through the use of tech-enabled learning tools such as Google Classroom.

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