| Catching
up with a trailblazer |
| |
Jean Tan is a
Singapore Sports Council (SSC) officer who is always
on the go. Bubbly, exuberant and zealous about her
work, she is continually seeking out new and better
ways of getting things done.
When Jean joined SSC as a Centre Assistant Manager
in 2002, she was posted to the Yio Chu Kang Sports
For Life Centre (now called Sports and Recreation
Centre). In a year, she learnt the ins and outs
of running a sports centre.
So when the Hougang centre opened in February 2003,
she was all ready to take up the challenge of getting
a new centre going.
Jean said, “I worked with my manager to start
the centre from scratch. Given only the bare facilities,
we had to organise programmes and get people to
come. Because we were dealing with a young and rather
‘hip’ population living in Hougang,
we had to constantly brainstorm for new ideas to
attract them.”
The Hougang centre was the first to offer Ashtanga
yoga classes and the take-up rate was good. This
sparked a trend in other centres. Jean also piloted
several other first-time projects in Hougang like
The Gym Patron Tracking System, CardioMix and Linedance
Jam.
To keep up with current trends, Jean even went to
the extent of making “mystery visits”
to private gyms to observe how they sell their packages,
schedule their classes and design their flyers and
brochures. She said with a grin, “I call this
cross-learning and upgrading my knowledge!”
Jean and her manager also tried to create differentiation
by introducing new services at their centre. For
example, the gym provides towels as a goodwill gesture
to users who forget to bring theirs. Certain shoe
and shorts sizes are also available if gym users
come inappropriately attired.
Another service initiative is the mystery user pilot
project which Jean mooted. Under this scheme, mystery
users are paid to act as customers to test the centre’s
service delivery process. The mystery users have
to fill in a detailed survey form about various
aspects of service, such as how the staff greet
them, sell the programmes and answer queries.
In line with this scheme, Jean and her team members
involved in piloting this project developed standard
operating procedures for the counter staff. These
procedures specify very clearly and in detail how
the staff should respond at every stage of a service
encounter. The service staff were also given a service
excellence package which contains information such
as contact details of other centres, a phone greeting
script and FAQs.
The pilot project ran from January to March 2004.
The findings highlighted the strengths of the counter
staff as well as the areas for improvement. Many
recommendations are now in the process of implementation.
Setting up the operations of the Hougang centre
was a challenging and satisfying experience for
Jean. She said, “We started from scratch and
now it’s one of the best performing centres.
There is a three-month waiting list for our studio
classes. Our gym patronage is also strong —
10,000 users on average every month.”
But before Jean could find time to rest, she was
promoted in April 2004 to the position of Marketing
and Promotion Executive for the eight Sports and
Recreation Centres in the East Zone.
Her new job scope entails promoting the use of SSC’s
facilities to schools, companies, organised groups
and individuals. She also plans programmes at the
zonal level. Her new position promises many challenges
and opportunities.
Eager to venture into more uncharted territories,
Jean said, “I guess what keeps me going is
the love for my job. Exploring different approaches
and devising new ways to counter problems is my
way of enjoying my work!” |
