“In a labour-intensive industry like ours, we have to embrace technology to achieve productivity gains and think of ways to stretch our dollar. For example, to appeal to our visitors’ visiting patterns, we worked closely with our Operations team to extend an hour of operations without increasing our manpower costs.”

-Mr Leong Yue Weng, General Manager, KidZania Singapore

[Photo: Children putting out a ‘fire’ in the city / Source: Kidzania Singapore]

KidZania Singapore partnered e2i to implement several new technologies and systems, to reduce labour intensity and improve the operation efficiency of the new theme park.

Even before KidZania Singapore opened its doors, it has partnered e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) to hold a two-day dedicated job fair to recruit Team Leads and Zupervisors, who were then trained and primed to receive its eager young audience.

[Photo:  Mr Leong Yue Weng, General Manager of Kidzania Singapore / Source: Kidzania]

General Manager of KidZania Singapore, Mr Leong Yue Weng shared, “e2i was one of the partners we were fortunate to have when we first started building our workforce.

We were able to leverage on e2i’s database to make our hiring easier and commence our team members’ training programmes even before our park was ready.”

Recognising the need to train staff for the attraction’s unique concept and offerings, KidZania Singapore also sought e2i’s support in developing their staff through a Place-and-Train programme.

Staff went through 10 weeks of structured training to equip them with necessary skills such as facilitating, role-playing, and understanding children behaviour.

[Photo:  Children getting dress in uniform for their courier ‘job’ in Kidzania city]

“Compared to other theme parks, the level of interaction with our visitors is significantly more intensive, especially with children. As such, our team members have to be equipped with the necessary skills to interact with kids, and selected Team Leads were also sent to our sister park in Kuala Lumpur to learn their operations before returning to Singapore to train their respective teams here,” Mr Leong elaborated.

[Photo:  A little girl dressed as an air stewardess in a simulator airplane in Kidzania, Singapore]

He further pointed out, “It is a real challenge for any theme park to maintain the energy behind its guest experience, which hinges on its greatest asset — motivated staff. Team members are cross-trained in a number of tasks to ensure that there is always something to look forward to at work, which is supported by various initiatives and technologies to simplify the challenges it creates for manpower planning.”

[Photo:  Kids taking on roles as pizza chefs – they get to make their own pizzas]

With the implementation of technology to enhance productivity through e2i’s Inclusive Growth Programme, KidZania is able to reduce labour intensity and improve the operation efficiency of the theme park.

To ensure customised solutions are in place to help staff with time-consuming daily tasks, KidZania Singapore implemented productivity initiatives, including an E-Scheduler, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) wardrobe management system, Integrated Human Resource Information and Payroll System, and Smart Board solutions for virtual training.

[Photo:  Kids can take up jobs and earn a salary called ‘KidZos’, then spend them in the city]

A believer of embracing technology, Mr Leong is always thinking of new ways that technology can help enhance productivity and prepare his staff to be future-ready.

For those interested in a tourism career, Mr Leong advised, “It is important for our future workforce to be multi-skilled, even more so in an industry as dynamic as the tourism industry.

Opportunities are plenty in this industry, and there is no one-job wonder to successfully progress through, for experience is highly valued.”

(This story was extracted from the SLF Annual 2016.)

e2i has been working closely with KidZania since 2015 to recruit, train the new team, and improve productivity, in preparation for their opening. Through dedicated job fairs and place-and-train programmes, e2i was able to support KidZania to scale up and develop their staff. With the implementation of technology to enhance productivity through e2i’s Inclusive Growth Programme, KidZania is able to reduce labour intensity and improve the operation efficiency of the theme park. 

For more information on the e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), click here.

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