Attracting and retaining homegrown talent, Days Hotel Singapore at Zhongshan ...

An orientation session for staff 

WHO Two new hotels, Ramada Singapore and Days Hotel Singapore at Zhongshan Park, managed by Wyndham Hotel Group, have successfully tapped local talent, which makes up 70 per cent of their current staff strength of 219. Both properties offer a total of 800 rooms.

WHAT For new talent entering the workforce, they have a choice to be enrolled in the hotels’ Master of Experience (ME) Leap! Programme. All staff or associates, known as MEs, will be trained and assessed on the fundamentals of front office management and FB operations, progressing to undertake advanced tasks in the roles of their choice. They will also be tasked to role-shadow a member of the senior management team and understudy an area of business management.

Meanwhile, mature and experienced candidates are targeted via a non-discriminatory application and interview process where many personal factors including gender, race and age of the candidates are deliberately left unknown until an official job offer is made.

Once onboard, staff are retained via various talent management initiatives. For instance, non-management associates are enrolled in a gain-sharing scheme where productivity gains from the team will be translated into monetary rewards. A series of competency tests will then qualify associates to move up to a supervisory role and receive a skills-based increment.

Employees are also offered perks such as a five-day work week, flexi-work hours to commence work between 07.30 and 09.30 and end work between 17.00 and 19.00, as well as telecommuting for project-based work, even for employees in operating departments such as rooms and FB. 

WHY Candice Lim, director of human resources for Ramada and Days Hotels Singapore at Zhongshan Park, said: “We are definitely committed to hiring locals as they are well acquainted with the local market and have greater adaptability and understanding of the local environment.” 

She said university graduates were attracted to the comprehensive training and development road map as they had the unique opportunity to work in two hotels and be cross-trained in different areas across all facets of hotel operations.

As for the non-discriminatory job application process, Lim said: “It allows us to be very objective in our assessment of candidates and to base our selection processes strictly on their credentials.

“By putting forward a clear focus on the type of talent we are looking for, regardless of their age, gender and race, we are able to build a positive environment in recognising exceptional performance.” 

Emphasising the importance of investing in HR, Lim said: “Being in the people business, our associates are our most valuable assets.”

TARGET Both hotels are looking to recruit another 100 staff members across all levels and functions for both hotels, including various managerial positions. 

Attracting and retaining homegrown talent, Days Hotel Singapore at Zhongshan ...