Human Capital Development

100% retention and $20,000 saved by fixing the HR system

Reported result 100% retention, over $20,000 saved
Sector
Manufacturing and installation
Duration
11 months
Verified by
Ong Shu Huai, Managing Director

The situation

Durablinds Trading manufactures, fabricates and installs blinds and glass systems. It had reached the size where the founder's judgement could no longer substitute for a system.

The company's own statement of the problem, before the project:

"There are no structured programs to develop leadership and people management skills of the managers."

Its fourth strategic goal was stated as "developing human capital processes and systems to support growth." The constraint was not demand. It was that the business could not add people to itself without adding friction.

What we did

An Enterprise Development Grant Human Capital Development project, June 2018 to April 2019, delivered in four phases: diagnose, co-create, implement, evaluate.

Diagnose. Identify the actual drivers of engagement in this workforce rather than importing a generic model.

Fix the policy layer first. In the client's description of the scope, the work covered "revision of existing Overtime Policy to ensure consistency and transparency across levels, revision of HR Policies and Salary." Employment contracts were standardised for executive and non-executive staff, and salary and overtime calculation was brought into line with Ministry of Manpower requirements.

This ordering matters. Coaching managers inside an inconsistent overtime policy trains them to administer unfairness more smoothly.

Then build the managers. The client describes the team as "deeply involved in the training and development of the key middle management team through executive coaching and training."

Then define the direction. Vision, mission and values were developed with the leadership so that the new systems pointed somewhere.

What was achieved

The client's signed account, covering a ten-month period:

"Successfully achieving 100% Employee retention rate and higher employee engagement of executives and office staff"

"Achieved cost savings of more than $20K through increase personal productivity of department heads"

"Improved material and manpower planning, project execution by 80% by Production Supervisor during the project period"

"Improved client service support by providing solutions within 24 hours of request"

"Achieved zero mistake on Vendor report during project period"

Retention at 100% in a sector that competes hard for skilled installers is the result that compounds. The $20,000 is the one the finance director notices.

In the client's words

"The team at iGROW has shown ability to help our company to pivot our business towards more success. We believe iGROW can help other organizations to thrive during challenging times and highly recommend iGROW for future projects." Ong Shu Huai, Managing Director, Durablinds Trading Pte Ltd

Why this worked

Policy before coaching. Most human capital projects begin with training because training is visible and pleasant. This one began with the overtime policy, because inconsistent pay treatment was the thing actually generating the disengagement. Fixing the system removed the cause; coaching then had something to build on.

Compliance treated as an outcome, not an obligation. Bringing salary and overtime into line with MOM requirements is usually filed as risk management. Here it also delivered the retention number, because transparency about pay is what staff had been missing.

Productivity located in specific people and specific work. The $20,000 was not a modelled figure. It came from named department heads changing how they spent their time, which is why the client could state it plainly and stand behind it in writing.