Navigating the Ever-Evolving HR Landscape

Michael Serchia, Vice President of Talent and Culture Development, Villa Restaurant Group

Michael Serchia, Vice President of Talent and Culture Development, Villa Restaurant Group

1. What are Some of the Major Challenges and Trends that have been Impacting the HR Industry Lately?

Globally, we are seeing companies having to institute hybrid work arrangements following the pandemic as employees are reluctant to move back to a fully office-based environment. We are also seeing a focus on mental well-being and a move towards greater diversity and inclusion in the workplace, plus the continual leveraging of technology to deliver better/ faster HR services. All these trends present challenges but also opportunities for companies to pivot to the future of work to better meet employee needs and expectations.

As the leading public transport operator in Singapore, the nature of SBST’s business requires the bulk of our employees to be on the shop floor to operate our buses/trains and man our interchanges/stations. However, we do provide flexible work arrangements to cater to those who prefer permanent morning, afternoon or night shifts to better meet their work[1]life requirements. We also allow for transfers to back-office roles, such as operations and corporate support functions, for suitable frontline staff who need to change jobs due to life cycle transitions. At the heart of it all, we believe in the meaning of work, which is encapsulated in the latest tagline for our Bus Captain recruitment; “Make a Difference”. This has allowed us to see higher employee engagement scores over the years, and be one of the top 200 employers in Singapore in 2022 based on the annual survey by Straits Times and Statista.

2. What keeps you up at Night when it comes to some of the Major Predicaments in the HR Industry Space?

For Singapore, we continue to have low birth rates and young Singaporeans have increasingly higher educational and career aspirations. What this means is that companies need to compete for an increasingly smaller but better qualified local workforce. Like other companies, SBST has had to up the ante in terms of our career proposition, not just in providing attractive compensation and benefits, but also having ample learning and advancement opportunities. In this regard, we have tied up with various institutions of higher learning, including National University of Singapore, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic and Institute of Technical Education (ITE), to support employees’ personal/ professional upgrading as well as develop green harvesting avenues at the recruitment frontend. Recently, we launched a Work Study Diploma in Land Transport Engineering with ITE where ITE graduates work with us and earn a salary while accrediting their experience towards a diploma over 2.5 years! Beyond a compelling career proposition, we are also reprofiling our workforce structure to cater for higher level jobs performed by better educated employees, even as we automate as much of the routine work as possible. Automation also allows us to change and modernize the working environment to suit the profile of the workforce.

3. Can you Tell us about the Latest Project that you have been Working on and What are Some of the Technological and Process Elements that you Leveraged to make the Project Successful?

Over the years, SBST has leveraged technology to improve HR service delivery as part providing a better employee experience. Being a service provider, we strongly believe that engaged employees will take care of our commuters and customers. We also have a strategic service initiative known as CARES, which stands for Caring, Agile, Reliable, Safe and Secure. CARES represent the values we expect of our employees in how they relate to one another, and our commuters/customers.

"All these trends present challenges but also opportunities for companies to pivot to the future of work to better meet employee needs and expectations."

We are currently in the last leg of implementing an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). ATS helps to digitalize the recruitment process from manpower requisition to employee onboarding. There were initial apprehensions in having an ATS as most of our employees are front-liners who may not have diploma or above qualification, hence the concern that applicants may feel challenged in using the system. However, with the rise of educational level and increased use of smartphones for online/on-demand services, this is less of an issue now. Notwithstanding this, we simplified the application form and streamlined attendant processes to ensure that the system is rolled out smoothly. For our Bus Captain position, most applicants now indicate their interest through our Facebook page and apply electronically thereafter.

4. Which are Some of the Technological Trends Which Excite you for the Future of the HR Industry Space?

With an ATS, SBST will be able to better slice and dice our data on recruitment, confirmation and attrition. Compared to a more manual process previously, this will provide insights on how to better engage and retain our employees. The system can also remove innate biases in shortlisting suitable candidates who may not be considered in the past.

Beyond this, I am keen to see how artificial intelligence (AI) can support HR going forward in the different areas from recruitment to onboarding, from training to answering queries etc. I am also excited by how AI can pull together various data sources, including from ATS, engagement surveys, exit interviews, or even leave to overtime records to predict the attrition of key employee groups. This will allow us to respond in advance and avoid losing a good employee or at the very least, afford us more time to backfill in advance. Knowing what are the predictors of attrition will allow us to better address potential areas of concern to better engage and retain employees.