Attracting talent in retail

When it comes to considering retail as a career, the ‘retail reality’ is that retail is generally not the first choice for students when choosing their course of study or career path. Vanessa Ching looks into this challenge and how retailers can seek to dispel this negative perception.

Retail management has been an invisible profession, so much so that when people think of retail as a profession, they often think only of the frontliners. These usually part-time positions which involve dealing with all types of customers and enduring long hours of standing at the store are not lucrative to many.

Getting a foot into the industry

Behind the scenes, there are indeed many long-term career prospects in retail, from retail management to visual merchandising, purchasing and more. The future in retail is in fact a promising and lucrative career path.

To spread awareness, Singapore’s Temasek Polytechnic has been marketing its retail management course with a tagline: ‘Think Retail, Think Professional’, to encourage prospective students (and their parents) to consider a career in the retail industry. Its students, having graduated from the school’s retail management course have gone to take up numerous roles in retail.

Ng Yi Min, RMT diploma graduate and retail & product specialist, Sake Inn, shares her perspective: “When I first started, I thought my faith in humanity would slowly degrade as the days go by. And meeting bad customers would become a norm. But the truth is, retail management is nothing like that at all.

“Being the forefront of a major outlet requires me to understand the niche market more than anyone else. Managing a retail outlet is more complex than it looks. It involves building healthy work relations with my employees which in turn leads to greater customer service, a key product that every retail store should offer.

“Retail management is [also] not just about life in a store. With greater emphasis placed on e-commerce in today’s market, [one] can buy anything and everything online! Therefore, to achieve success in that market, I have to ensure that my products look appealing online.”

To get a foot into the retail industry, having frontline customer service experience is certainly beneficial and would serve the individual well in his/her career.

Another graduate, Amelia Kuik, RMT diploma graduate and buyer for i.t., shares: “Everybody loves shopping. And lucky for me I shop for a living! Being the buyer for a big franchise requires me to have first-hand knowledge of the retail trends in Singapore. I achieve this through first-hand interactions with the current trends … The retail industry is very dynamic. Fashion comes and goes so it is important for me to understand customer interests, from observing buying patterns to coordinating marketing events, I’m able to analyse what makes the retail world succeed.”

Steps by Retailers

Samuel Tan, course manager, Diploma in Retail Management, School of Business, Temasek Polytechnic, says: “In general, young people and parents may associate careers in the retail industry to be sales-related, unglamorous and involving long working hours. This misunderstanding could be the outcome of the job packages or specifications not being well designed or communicated properly.

“Retailers could be more creative with the use of different platforms to share with the public the types of jobs available in their companies. For example, they could feature top performers or long-serving staff in advertising campaigns that are used in-store and online. Isetan Tokyo, for example, recently broadcast a music video of their staff dancing in the Shinjuku Main Store — a creative campaign that has garnered much public interest and brought staff closer to Isetan customers and the general public. Home Team has similarly adopted the use of a real policeman in their campaign; an image that has now become familiar with every Singaporean household.

“Retailers need to be aware and address the changing needs of potential employees including their lifestyles and aspirations when presenting job offers and specifications. This could be further reinforced with the support of Retailers’ Association or career road shows.”

Career advancement

Getting the employees onto the path is one thing. What about retaining talent in the business?

“Retailers need to review job scopes and career advancement opportunities to further engage and retain the younger generation of employees. Greater exposure through job rotations or involvement in special projects could be packaged into the jobs to make them more attractive,” adds Tan.

“Big retailers may be able to offer overseas work opportunities or travel trips to neighbouring countries for learning experiences. This can be mutually beneficial as staff will be challenged to meet new expectations and can also review the competition from these countries. Retailers may also consider reviewing the work environment such as more attractive uniforms to appeal to the younger generation of employees. Generally, employees appreciate being valued by their organisations which can be expressed with rewarding opportunities to develop and advance in their careers.”

In developing talent, schools have teamed up with the industry by way of internship programmes to help students transition into the working world. In this line, Ikea Singapore has structured a partnership with Temasek Polytechnic to bring this further and beyond an internship programme.

Ikea Singapore turns ‘classroom’ in retail management

Ikea Singapore’s partnership with the local educational institution in what is believed to be the first partnership of its kind for Singapore’s retail industry.

The partnership looks to enhance student learning through in-store lessons and involvement in actual business projects at Ikea.

The school’s retail management course provides training in retail management processes, technologies and trends in the industry, and Ikea Singapore’s participation will be in the form of:Curriculum collaboration; internship; and sponsorship of an Ikea Innovation Award. Ikea’s participation will span all three years of the diploma course.

Says Daniel Yeow, director of School of Business at Temasek Polytechnic: “The Ikea store will be transformed into an ‘external classroom’ where our students will understudy and be mentored by Ikea co-workers. Together, Temasek Polytechnic and Ikea will create a learning platform for the students to hone their industry-relevant skills as well as to acquire first-hand experience in retailing.”

The collaboration will thus enhance the level of professional training in the school and for Singapore retail in general.

Ikea’s curriculum input includes classroom lectures by Ikea, as well as in-store visits and lessons, and involving students in a project to propose a creative solution for an Ikea product category. For this year, the students in the final year of the course will spend four months working on a campaign to produce branding strategies and an integrated marketing communications plan for the new Ikea METOD Kitchens.

The best-in-class internship will provide students with a mentor and 12 weeks of hands-on experience at Ikea Singapore.

The top graduate in the course will be given an Ikea Innovation Award worth S$1,500 (US$1,059).

Jing Li, deputy store manager at Ikea Tampines in Singapore, believes “the partnership will elevate Singapore’s retail industry by building much needed skills and giving students an inside look at one of the world’s most successful retail operations”.

“At the same time, we hope this programme will help us to cultivate the next generation of leaders, exposing young people to long-term career possibilities in everything from sales and customer service to supply logistics and goods flow management,” she says.

It will also mark the first time that Ikea Singapore has opened its doors to students with a fully structured internship programme.