The Right Strategy– Key To Achieving Growth

To achieve inorganic growth, our Client acquired another small but popular jewellery chain. The challenge lay in integrating professional management and human resources practices in to the acquired company and set up a long-term strategic view on delivering sustained business growth.

The HR team from the holding entity (Our Client) was tasked with bringing about the transformation. We partnered with the HR team in conducting a Business Strategy workshop and working with key stakeholders in crafting a 5-year business strategy, including the immediate one-year business objectives, functional objectives, and goals.

Based on the long-term business strategy we defined the necessary retail competencies and mapped the existing showroom staff against the same. We then balanced the team by letting go of those who did not fit into the manpower plan and trained the rest of them, to manage the competency gaps over a 6-month period. We also put in place a new recruitment model in-line with the retail expansion plan and new format of stores that were being considered as growth drivers. We also designed and implemented an employee engagement process called ‘Super Star’, apart from a ‘Customer First’ program to improve customer service score. To strengthen the core of the HR function, we evaluated the current systems and identified the gaps as a prelude to developing a future-ready comprehensive HR Policy manual.

The acquired jewellery chain was set on a remarkable business transformation thanks to the efforts made in developing a long-term strategy and aligning functions, teams, and individual employees to the same. The increased ownership of the plan helped deliver game changing ideas like the first ever jewellery kiosk in the region - It helped spread the retail presence in high traffic zones at relatively lower rentals.

The well-defined performance score card for each individual and function allowed the continuous monitoring and improvement in the achievement of strategic goals. The consistent training under the ‘Star’ programme, of new and existing employees, and the ‘Customer First’ programme improved the customer satisfaction scores from 55% to 75% with many outlets exceeding the 90% mark under the ‘Dubai Service Excellence Scheme’. The renewed recruitment model, (psychometric test, written test, and interview) ensured right resourcing in the system. The ‘Super Star’ engagement programme culminated in an annual award ceremony that recognized and rewarded outstanding performers.