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Magazines Archives - 2009 September Lend Lease’s new training centre all set to equip retailers for brand and service excellence LEND LEASE Retail Pte Ltd, named after its Australian real-estate parent company, has opened its S$1-million (US$702,815) trainingand- career centre last July across the road from the new [email protected] somerset mall on Orchard Road. The centre provides free courses for the malls retailers, as well as anyone seeking new careers in retailing, which is in line with the Ministry of Manpowers Workforce Skills Qualifications initiative.
Michael Kenderes, development director of Lend Lease, explained in an interview with Retail Asia that the centres courses differ from traditional classroom programmes in that they are customised to retailers requirements, based on a research on retailers conducted by the company prior to the centres launch. We shall also be providing induction training for all our retailers which will focus on [email protected]s key brand attributes, service provided by the new centre and the centres retail mix and offerings, he said. Lend Lease maintained that, apart from being a mall operator, it aims to help Singapores retail industry be the best it can be. Service excellence is about knowing what customers really want and understanding what delights them, Kenderes maintained, adding that the centre would make the mall stand out because of its ability to ensure consistent service excellence at every touch point in the development. In addition, with the courses cofunded by Lend Lease and local enterprise board SPRING Singapore, this initiative is a boost to the industry under the current economic circumstances where companies are cutting costs and training might be considered an extra, Kenderes added. The service training that we as landlord are able to provide means they have one less thing to worry about, and yet be prepared to offer their customers an unsurpassable service experience when we open in December, he said. Not only do the trainers at the centre n e w s have extensive retail industry experience in both local and international environments, but they are also qualified with the Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA ) and are able to teach in a number of languages, including Mandarin and Malay, Kenderes said. The courses will touch on areas like maintaining a professional image, business etiquette and customer interaction. The net for training has also been cast far and wide, and we have not limited it to front-line staff. In fact, it is extended to backend employees, our own staff, retailers from other malls and even those who are simply in search of jobs in the retail industry. Together, this will be a shot in the arm for Singapores service levels, Kenderes asserted. Lend Lease, which also manages the Parkway Parade mall in Singapore, has reported a positive response to its courses, with the October and November slots filling up fast, and will be running additional courses into the New Year.
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About 120 operations at the mall, ranging from speciality retailers like Paris Miki, Mee Mee Eye Care and Cocoa Trees to F&B outlets such as Ding Tai Fong and BreadTalk, have signed up their employees for courses which commenced last month at the centre.