An Investment into Customer Service

e2i Initiatives

Words by Hoe Ziqian

Jinjja Chicken is an innovative and trendy Korean chain restaurant best known for their Korean Fried Chicken and Jjajangmyeon. It currently has outlets in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Inspired by South Koreaʼs rich food culture and its pali-pali or culture of speed, Jinjja Chicken serves up classic Korean dishes such as Bibimbap and Seafood Jjamppong, as well as urban Korean street food like Tteokbokki, Kimbap, Bulgogi Burger, Fried Chicken, all in a hip and casual setting. Jinjja Chicken is all about the comfort food, at equally comfortable prices, with an energy and experience to match.

Bernard Tay, Director of Jinjja Chicken, revealed that the collaboration between the company and NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) was the result of a positive experience of a fellow comrade in the local F&B community.

Tay shared, “The Professional Development program came highly recommended by our friends from Ser Seng Herbs (Turtle) Restaurant. They previously engaged e2i’s services to improve their overall service offering and we personally felt that the overall service level of their restaurant and attitude of their workers have improved tremendously since they embarked on the program.”

That recommendation was the jolt of confidence that Jinjja Chicken needed. They reached out to the team of professionals in e2i, who were more than happy to share the benefits of the Professional Development grant and how the program can be tailored to help the company improve the quality of training that its employees receive.

The Professional Development grant helps local companies upskill and train their existing Singapore or PR workforce by funding a significant portion of course fees. Companies can claim up to 70% funding per eligible employee per program. This helps to lower the barrier for F&B companies, which often operate on wafer thin margins, especially in the current COVID-challenged environment.

While the funding provides the push to encourage more small-medium enterprises to upskill their employees, we cannot overlook the importance of a company’s willingness to invest in its employees as it provides a clear indicator of their management philosophy.

In the case of Jinjja Chicken, the company understands that food and service form the key pillars of its competitive edge as a young F&B brand. And both pillars require the same foundation – its people.

As part of the Professional Development program, the training partner engaged by Jinjja Chicken utilised the mystery dining approach to gather feedback about the actual service level and degree of consistency across the various outlets.

The team of mystery diners were briefed on the specific service elements to look out for and subsequently deployed to the various Jinjja Chicken outlets. Posing as actual consumers, they were able to independently assess the level of competency of the service team through the lens of the customer.

Through the observations gathered by these experienced mystery diners, a bespoke training program was developed by the training partner, targeting the specific weaknesses identified. It also made sure that existing strengths are reinforced for a well-rounded approach.

Jinjja Chicken sent a total of 17 employees to the customer service-centric course and Tay was delighted with the impact of the overall program. “Our team members have improved their customer service skills and I can feel a strong positive attitude growing in our team.”

Upon completion of the Professional Development training program, the 17 team members each received a basic wage increment in recognition of the effort and time dedicated towards the improvement of their craft. The encouragement from this increment goes a long way to reinforce the culture of continuous improvement that Jinjja Chicken is looking to foster.

The positive vibe from this first batch of graduates of the Professional Development program in Jinjja Chicken has reverberated through the company. It is only a matter of time before the company reaps the full benefits of its foresight to invest in the upskilling of its employees.