Picture this, you’re a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) boss just starting your business. When you first start, you’re a one-person show.
You have no employees and no human resource experience to know how to begin the hiring process, even if you wanted to hire.
That was Royal Wings General Manager Diana Ho when she first started the travel agency back in 2013.
The SME focuses on providing travel services for companies who want to travel abroad for conferences or team-building activities. Destinations include Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Korea.
“We started in 2013. At that time, I was the only one in the company. I was doing everything from customer service to handling the travel itinerary, to the sales and marketing. I started to hire staff, but the HR process was quite basic back then,” she said.
Today, Diana has four employees working for her. One of whom was hired through the P-Max programme, an Adapt and Grow initiative.
Recruit, Train and Retain
The programme aims to help SMEs better recruit, train, manage and retain their newly hired Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs). It also gives SMEs the know-how to establish better communication channels between management and staff, by adopting progressive HR practices.
For job-seeking PMETs, it helps them match with suitable SMEs.
SMEs that complete the six-month follow-up and retain their newly hired employee will be eligible for a one-off grant of $5,000.
As one of the first NTUC U SME partners to embark on the programme, Diana said: “The programme was an eye-opening experience for me. Through the workshop, I learnt how to implement good HR practices such as setting goals for my staff and making clear their KPIs.”
Two years on, the staff that went through the P-Max programme is still with Royal Wings.
“It’s not a one-off thing. Even though companies can only go through the P-Max initiative once, the take away from the scheme has a lasting effect. Today, even without an HR department, I know what entails good hiring practices and what doesn’t. I give my staff clear guidelines of what is expected of them, so there is no confusion between us,” added Diana.
As a U SME Advocate, Royal Wings is now getting other SMEs on board the scheme.
“As a company that has benefited from the initiative, I recommend this programme with NTUC to other SMEs who are looking to strengthening their HR practices and hiring suitable candidates for the job,” said Diana.
For more information on the P-Max programme, visit P-Max @ U SME.