Empowering Employees, Fostering Trust
Porcelain Skin is a premium skincare brand from Singapore, founded by Jenny and her daughter, Pauline. With the goal to promote healthy skin from within, Porcelain Skin has won over 110 awards for its spa treatments and product line since its establishment in 2009. As a digital pioneer, Porcelain Skin’s vision is to combine craftsmanship and modern technology to create the future of skincare.
Pauline made digital efforts a part of her team’s everyday work culture across the whole organization. Understandably her employees felt like it was additional work to their current workload. They questioned why they needed to change what they were already doing, and it was difficult to persuade them. Progress was slow, and even after implementing it, some employees still did not use it. As such, there were behavioural changes that Porcelain Skin needed to work on.
To gather agreement on digitising efforts, Porcelain Skin uses data to justify why they do certain tasks and the strategies to use. As a result, every department head will take ownership of their own digital efforts. Each department would manage and solve their digital problems, then propose a budget and plan their efforts around this. As such, the process to gather agreement within the organization becomes much easier to manage.
Porcelain Skin believes in creating an open and honest culture; from customer sales to staff attendance and business decisions, they ensure their actions are consistent with the values they uphold. Open feedback is highly encouraged where employees can recommend improvements to their standard operating procedures(SOP) which were designed by the frontline staff. Staff are trusted to work in a transparent manner and the company does not track their attendance. Instead employees have scorecards indicating the company’s expectations for their performance, and can accomplish their work in whatever way they think best.
“We give people autonomy and that makes people feel more empowered to do what is right.”
Porcelain Skin’s Advice for Other Retailers
In order to create products that truly benefit the end user, it is important to gather feedback from the individuals who will be using them. This requires effective communication and understanding of the user’s pain points. Pauline’s experience in human resource practices highlights the importance of empowering employees and creating a positive work environment.
While digitalisation can solve some problems, it is not a one-time fix. It is an ongoing process that requires adapting to changes and anticipating future needs. A digital solution implemented today may not be sufficient in the future, and companies must be prepared to transform and evolve to remain relevant.
“We thought company culture was fluffy things, like values, vision, and mission. Then I realised that it’s so important to highlight the culture in the organisation, because along the way there are so many decisions that we need to make.”
