LAVINIA CHEN

Key Roles & Responsibilities

• Pioneer "Head of HR" to setup HR functions for both corporate office and retail operations
• Establish strong collaboration with key stakeholders to ensure alignment of HR goals with business objectives
• Lead a HR team of 2 to implement the full-suite of HR from recruitment, onboarding, employee relations, compensation & benefits, talent management and payroll
• HR business partner for employee relations, grievances and disciplinary issues
• Support Malaysia and Indonesia market setups

Key Achievements

• Setup full suite of HR functions for Singapore in 3 months leading up to first store opening in November 2023
• Create job profiles, job grades and build salary ranges
• Hired over 150 store employees for 12 stores and 15 junior to middle management level corporate employees in 14 months
• Implemented HRIS (QuickHR) within first 3 months of operations to support time management, leave & benefits and payroll
• Build and implement HR policies, processes and employee handbook for Singapore
• Work closely with Operations to optimize labour cost at 26% while ensuring staffing rates are maintained at 90%
• Design recruitment posters and name cards as well as employee recognition cards for internal engagement

Key Roles & Responsibilities

• Led a team of 3, focusing on Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations and Compensation & Benefits
• Primary business partner to local stakeholders, Starbucks Asia Pacific HR team and Maxims HR team located in Hong Kong
• Plan and execute large scale recruitment and employee engagement events for over 150 stores and 2000 store employees
• Design and execute high potential and bench talent management programs
• Initiate and execute employer branding efforts to make Starbucks an employer of choice

Key Achievements

• Organized first Sports Day in 2023 for over 300 employees
• Initiated and implemented first HR think-tank series called "Hacking HR for Ops" addressing common HR challenges for store employees
• Designed and launched hi-potential talent development program for both corporate and store employees
• Achieve 100% staffing for 150 stores, with average monthly recruitment numbers of 120-150 new hires
• Maintain labour costs at around 23%, leading to business profitability
• Reduced 'Time to Hire' from 17 days to 12 days
• Reduced turnover rates from 3.5% to 2.9%
• Led Starbucks to win best employer awards (#15 ST Best Employer), HRD 5-Star Employer of Choice, SkillsFuture Employer Awards and be featured on local news platforms

Job Roles & Responsibilities

• Led a team of 2, focusing on recruitment, employee relations and talent management
• Manage HRIS and ATS to support smooth operations for corporate office and store employees
• Manage Starbucks career website, in-store and social media recruitment collaterals
• Partner compensation & benefits team to craft employee incentive and referral programs
• Partnered Singapore government bodies and tertiary institutions to improve employer brandings and to recruit
• Manage employee grievance and industrial relations cases

Key Achievements

• HR project leader for Workday HRIS and Kenexa ATS implementations in 2019/2020
• Launched Starbucks x Lifelong Learning Institute (LLI) learning cafe in 2021 as part of SkillsFuture week
• Refreshed Starbucks career website in 2022 and was featured in the career website
• Run quarterly immersive recruitment sessions attended by 40pax per session leading to new hires of about 10pax per session
• Partnered ITE West to launch annual career talks and coffee competitions
• Launched Starbucks LinkedIn account

Job Roles and Responsibilities

• Led a team of 2, managing full suite of training and development for both Starbucks corporate and store operations
• Develop and execute annual learning strategies and training needs analysis for 90 stores and over 1200 employees
• Contextualize and redesign leadership and retail learning programs for local market delivery
• Primary L&D market partner to Starbucks Asia Pacific team in Hong Kong and Starbucks Global team in Seattle
• Master trainer in Singapore, certified to conduct all Starbucks leadership, foundational and coffee training programs

Key Achievements

• Launched first Training Needs Analysis in 2014, using surveys and interviews to identify critical training gaps
• Designed Starbucks first Career Development Guide in 2014, with focus on career progression pathways and suite of training available at each position
• Launched LMS (MecWise) in 2015, supporting training administration and eventually hosting learning content
• Trained and certified 8 advanced classroom facilitators, 12 class facilitators and doubled number of barista trainers in stores
• Reduced new barista training from 78 hours to 55 hours
• Doubled new hire success rate (new hires staying > 90 days)
• First in Starbucks Asia Pacific region to launch Great Leaders Program - a strategic leadership program. Trained over 100 store managers and over 40 management level office employees