Ramping Up Career Roadmap in Freight and Logistics: How IAL Supports dnata Singapore

Description

At a glance 
 

By 2027, Singapore’s logistics market is projected to exceed a staggering $300 billion. This growth presents a golden opportunity for enterprises in the sector. However, there is a catch: attracting and retaining skilled talent has become increasingly challenging.  
 

To overcome the dual challenges of attracting and retaining talents, dnata Singapore, a company that provides a full suite of ground handling operations and who is committed to continuous learning and design, embarked on a workplace learning project with the National Centre of Excellence for Workplace Learning at IAL (NACE@IAL),

NACE@IAL offers a suite of outcome-focused consultancy services specially designed to guide enterprises like dnata Singapore to embark on employee-driven workplace learning projects.  
 

Steps undertaken to map out a structured career progression pathway: 
 

1. Identifying gaps in learning and performance 
 

The job redesign process commenced from a series of staff engagement sessions. Honest conversations were held with IAL’s consultant to identify career concerns across different levels of staff from the Import and Export Teams.  

Common concerns raised included: 

• Lack of awareness of career pathways within the logistics industry  

• Lack of clarity in staff’s personal career pathway within dnata Singapore 

• Absence of career planning conversations between staff and supervisors 

• Staff’s misunderstanding in their career progression ownership  

• Misguided tendency to view promotion as the only way for career progression 

• Lack of communication between staff and supervisors for skills upgrading plans 

• Inconsistency in on-the-job (OJT) experiences for their new hires 

With that information, dnata Singapore is able to identify gaps within their company’s training and development plans and come up with ways to institutionalise a structured career progression pathway that include career conversations. 
 

"In the journey of growth, embracing workplace learning and job redesign is essential. By doing so, enterprises ensure a steady supply of skilled workforce, ready to seize market opportunities. The workplace training gaps uncovered in the dnata Singapore case are not uncommon and can be remedied through collaborative efforts involving all internal stakeholders. IAL stands ready to support our partners in their growth story."

- Ms Carol Chen, Director, Centre for Workplace Learning and Performance, IAL

2. Interventions for cultural transformation  
 

After identifying the gaps, the project team at dnata Singapore worked together with IAL’s consultant to co-develop and implement the following: 

1. Design and implement a clear career pathway in dnata Singapore modelled after the Skills Framework for Logistics. 

2. Design and implement a career planning and development conversation process for all employees. 

3. Provide formal workplace training methods to equip mentors and OJT trainers with necessary skills to bring new hires up to standards within the Import and Export teams.  
    

3. Overcoming challenges 
 

To successfully transform the company, dnata Singapore had to mitigate various challenges including availing supervisors for the career coaching conversation training by the IAL consultant. As the training was conducted on-site at their premises, interruption to work schedules was unavoidable. However, with clear organisational support, the career coaching conversation training and the OJT Train-the-Trainer programme were successfully delivered, equipping the participants with a career anchor tool to conduct the conversations. The OJT Train-the-Trainer programme also increased the capability of frontline supervisors to conduct workplace training for their staff.  

4. Achievements in the workplace transformation journey 
 

At the end of the project with NACE@IAL, dnata Singapore was able to achieve the following outcomes successfully.  

The career pathway for their Cargo’s Import and Export Departments was developed with clear guidelines to help staff identify their career progression goals, including promotion requirements. A career profile with actual staff interviews was also included for every new staff to help them understand the expectations in their job role. Supervisors, with their newly-equipped skills, successfully conducted career coaching conversations with their staff independently.  
 

What’s next for dnata Singapore? 
 

Following the completion of the project with IAL, dnata Singapore is looking forward to training more frontline supervisors in career coaching skills and as workplace trainers.