Sakae Holdings gives young talent the opportunity to grow quickly together with the company.
These are exciting times for home-grown enterprise Sakae Holdings. With a stable of brands that includes Sakae Sushi, Hei Sushi, Sachi, Senjyu and Crepes & Cream, the company now manages more than 200 outlets worldwide, spanning countries like Malaysia, Thailand, China, Japan and the United States. Recognising that it will need new talent to support this expansion, Sakae is making a concerted effort to attract fresh graduates.
Mr Gwee Jin Hai, a 25-year old graduate of the National University of Singapore, joined Sakae just last year, but has already gained significant exposure to the different functions in the company – from human resources to business development, training, marketing, operations and projects.
Mr Gwee is also heartened by the amount of control he has over his projects – from planning to execution. Indeed, Mr Douglas Foo (above), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sakae Holdings, feels that the SME environment is an ideal choice for young graduates as it gives them the opportunity to implement their ideas and see through entire projects.
“This gives them the satisfaction of making real contributions to the business. At the same time, they will have better promotion prospects as the company expands,” notes Mr Foo .Mr Gwee has also had the chance to travel overseas and work on a project in India. “It was indeed an eye-opener, especially since such opportunities to go on business trips do not come easily for inexperienced staff like me,” he adds.
Harnessing Raw Talent
Sakae has partnered with SPRING on the SME-SPRING Executive Development Scholarship programme, which grooms future leadership talent. The first batch of scholars will be graduating early next year.
“Through this initiative, we have an opportunity to source for top talents equipped with not only excellent academic qualifications, but also an entrepreneurial mindset and a passion to contribute and make a difference in local SMEs,” he says.
Mr Foo firmly believes in the importance of reaching out to talent as early as possible and developing a strong pipeline for the future. He is also comfortable with letting young talents work at the strategic level to grow the company.
Reproduced with permission from SPRINGnews June 2013 Issue. Published by SPRING Singapore
