The Air Transport, Land Transport and Public Education sectors registered a significant increase in scores from the year before, where Air Transport scored 75.5 points (+2.66 points/ +3.7% year-on-year), Land Transport scored 66.8 points (+3.44 points/ +5.4%) and Public Education scored 75.7 points (+1.56 points/+2.1%) year-on-year) on a 0 to 100 scale.
The rise in the Air Transport score was was led by a marked increase in the customer satisfaction score for Changi Airport at 81.4 points (+6.28 points/+ 8.4%). This year marked the first time Garuda Indonesia was measured based on high interaction incidence with consumers.
This is also the first time that Taxi Booking App sub-sector was introduced to account for the recent increase in the availability and adoption of mobile apps within the land transport space. Uber ranked first at 69.7 points in the Transport Booking App sub-sector, followed by Grab at 69.0 points, ComfortDelGro scored 68.0 points while Other Transport Booking Apps came in at 67.2 points. Overall, the sub-sector achieved 68.8 points for customer satisfaction.
Within the Public Education sector, ITE saw a significant dip in scores to 72.5 points (-1.51 points/-2.0%) from 74.0 points the year before. “Generally, student support services in terms of counselling, career advice and financial assistance as well as quality, dedication and mutual respect exhibited by teaching staff were found to be key quality drivers impacting upon satisfaction ratings for the education sector,” added Mr Chen Yongchang.
The latest results are based on a total of 13,355 face-to-face surveys of 7,026 locals, 2,295 tourist and 3,984 online respondents conducted between April 2016 and July 2016.
For a full breakdown of the results, please click here.
Disruption in the education sector
Despite the improvement in the Public Education sector score, with the Universities sub-sector leading the way with a score of 77.1 points, the industry is seeing many changes, including the deregistration of a number of private institutions. Dr Lim Lai Cheng, Executive Director of the Academy of Continuing Education, and Academic Director of the Office of the Provost and Fellow of the School of Social Sciences at Singapore Management University, notes there are two natural disruptions currently occuring in the education sector. The “UnCollege Movement” where students take a gap year to either explore or focus their interests and passion before committing to university, or choose to define their own educational paths, including pursuing entrepreneurial avenues. The other natural disruption revolves around the way people are learning today, with the popularity of online learning. The unnatural disruption Dr Lim refers to are the control measures employed in Singapore’s education sector, with strict regulation and a strong values culture that needs to be adhered to.
Andragogy and modularisation
Learning is moving in a different direction where some believe people don’t need full degrees, instead they need knowledge in bite-size chunks, and they need it “on-demand”. This means that learning needs to come in tiny little bits, and certification for learning needs to come in tiny, bite-size pieces, too.
Dr Lim believes that modularisation is the way to go for adult learners. “Adult learners need to be graded via recognition of prior learning and experience at work. There should be two different sets of assessments.” She also stresses the importance for working professionals to return to university every five years “to upgrade their iOS”.
Students seek new ways of learning
Dr Lim believes young people are looking to develop their competencies and new models of education such as the Minerva Schools where students spend time in different cities, ensuring they have cross-cultural and global exposure to industries, while focusing on developing core competencies in critical thinking, creative thinking, effective communication and effective interaction. As for adult learners, Dr Lim believes there are three factors that will make for a good course. “The key elements are flexibility such as the mode of study and location, contextualisation which refers to the ability to immediately apply what theyhave learnt, and thirdly, networking.”
Redefining job scope, professionalising the industry
As Neeta Lachmandas, Executive Director of ISES noted, both Tower Transit and Fedex are organisations heavily dependent on their frontline size, and their success is attributed to the focus they place on their employees. Mr Andrew Bujtor, Managing Director of Tower Transit had the challenging task of recruiting 1000 employees in a period of 12 months, with the view to employ Singaporeans. “We changed the scope of the role of a bus captain, where employees could focus on ensuring the safety of their passengers and their expertise in driving,” says Mr Bujtor. Bus captains would not be required to conduct duties such as refuelling, cleaning and parking of buses at the end of each day. Through skills and career development, professionalising the bus industry and enhancing the working environment for all, Tower Transit has been able to hire the right people, with a turnover rate of 10%, in line with industry standards.
Addressing the manpower issue in logistics
Managing Director of Fedex Express Singapore, Mr Khoo Seng Thiam, believes that in order to avoid recruitment, focus should be placed on retention. “If staff are happy, they will stay, and want to strive to do better. In turn, they refer friends and family to work with us.” At Fedex, 75% of the management team don’t hold degrees, instead progressing within the organisation due to the commitment that Fedex has to lifelong career progressions.
The “Purple Promise” is the promise that every employee makes for its customers, and that is to make every FedEx experience outstanding — that includes the experiences of internal as well as external customers. “As a deeply rooted philosophy, this promise ensures we look after our staff well,” adds Mr Khoo.
Empowering frontline staff
Both Tower Transit and Fedex Express have exercised interesting concepts to empower their frontline staff. At Tower Transit, Mr Bujtor pushed to flip the organisational chart upside down, placing its frontline staff in the centre. “I see myself and the management team working for the staff on the ground. We work as a team to lift and support frontline staff.”
Mr Bujtor also encourages an open door policy because listening to feedback is a fundamental cornerstone of setting up the right culture. “We truly value the hard work that bus captains put in, and respect the people who work in the business. These are the key learnings for me. It’s important to fix problems quickly. If you can’t fix them quickly, make sure you communicate what’s being done, so things will be fixed in the long term.”
At Fedex Express, a Managing Director Advisory Board was formed, made up of frontline staff who meet with Mr Khoo once a month to provide advice on issues that matter most to the cohort. “The main objective is to ensure are successful and satisfied, so real issues are always covered and addressed,” adds Mr Khoo.
Attracting millenials to the transport sector
Mr Bujtor recognises that the historical context of long serving employees doesn’t apply in today’s workforce, so it is necessary to adapt in order to attract the younger generation. Focusing on where they can be after they join us, Mr Bujtor is happy to see the organisation used as a learning ground and stepping stone to a career in the broader transport and logistics industries. “I want them to learn new skills and gain experience which they can take to a new career path after spending five years with us.”
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