On the Talent Hunt: Retail staff want career mobility. Here’s how our department store seeks to give them that, and more

Ms Morwena Tan, deputy general manager at BHG Singapore, describes the challenges the department store has faced in hiring and retaining staff. To improve career mobility, it expanded the job scopes of its 160 staff members, who have expressed more fulfilment in their jobs as a result.

"In 2020, the pandemic accelerated our plans to launch our e-commerce platform. Doing so has been challenging, but undoubtedly, our biggest issue continues to be manpower.

Hiring and retaining staff has been tough for retailers, especially since we reopened after the Covid-19 circuit breaker in 2020. We are particularly impacted by the lack of frontline staff. On the flipside, there are many job vacancies, which means employees are spoilt for choice.

To manage the shortfall, we rely on part-time and seasonal staff. But it’s not all doom and gloom. The labour crunch has an upside too.

To improve retention, we expanded the job scopes of our 160 staff members. While this may seem counter-intuitive, we recognised that staff across all age groups seek career mobility. Our employees have become more versatile — they can wear many hats which gives them a broader understanding of retail and increases their value."