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HR INSIDER HR INSIDER
“We are in a very competitive
environment. So, peoples’ mindsets,
flexibility and adaptability are things
that are challenging us.”
“When we are small, we are a ‘big
family’; but as we grow, holding people
together and still continuing to have a
fun working environment is not easy.”
HR in the airline business
For a company that lives and breathes
“Scootitude”, it might be surprising that
Tan believes talent engagement is a key
challenge across the aviation sector.
“More than half of your staff are not in
the same office as you,” she points out.
“Coming up with policies for all
the millennials and the use of social
media, as well as educating yourself
about what to communicate and what
not to communicate in the public arena
can be quite a challenge.”
Tan also says the use of ‘big data’ to
predict trends as well as the talents
an organisation selects is another
ongoing issue.
“Particularly in this industry, safety
consciousness and awareness are two
key attributes that will continue to be
of major importance to aviation. We
will be looking further at doing more
to inculcate such a culture across the
whole company, beyond technical and
operational area,” she explains.
Tan says the utilisation of technology is
of vital importance to Scoot’s operations.
a variety of positions.
“It was about setting up the structure
and getting people to come in with the
exact skillsets that we needed in order
for us to start up on time,” she explains.
“We were only incorporated in June,
2011 and we had our first flight in June
2012. It was really a lot of effort required
and we were therefore most focused on
talent acquisition when we first started.”
According to Tan, the low-cost
airline, owned by Singapore Airlines, is
now transiting people from a start-up
phase into a growth phase.
“We constantly need to manage and
change mindsets. We are no longer
in a start-up where we are just task-
oriented,” she says.
Tan says the complexity of the airline
business is another obstacle.
“Once we start up the operations, it’s
about being profitable and about gaining
a position in the market,” she states.
In the eyes of most people, cabin
crews need to be prim and proper;
such is the assertion of Theresa Tan,
Head of HR for Scoot.
“It’s always the ‘Singapore Girl’ kind
of image,” she says. “But, our image is
really a bit different.”
How different, you may ask.
“I think we give a lot of
empowerment to our staff to have their
own personality,” Tan explains.
“For example, our cabin crew are allowed
to dye their hair in different colours,
which is not a norm in most airlines.”
According to Tan, the airline’s cabin crew
is epitomised by its “Scootitude” culture.
“Scootitude is about our crew
being empowered to engage with our
passengers onboard,” she says.
“If it’s Chinese New Year, they can
dress up and sing and dance along with
them. When it’s Halloween, they paint
their faces.”
This fun-loving culture is personified
most vigorously by none other than
Campbell Wilson, CEO of Scoot.
“He himself painted his face during
the SG50 celebrations and there was a
video of that,” says Tan.
“Scootitude is really defined by that
type of culture.”
The transition phase
Tan reveals that when Scoot was first
set up, the most pressing need for the
carrier was to secure skilled people for
Air carrier Scoot continues to shift
away from its start-up mentality as
it rapidly expands its business. But
the company’s zany and colourful
culture is here to stay, says Head
of HR, Theresa Tan
Sham Majid
sham@hrmasia.com.sg
AT A GLANCE
Total number of employees at Scoot
(Singapore): 834
Size of the HR Team (Singapore): 16
Key HR Focus Areas:
- People Engagement
- Leadership Talent Development
- Employer Branding - Pro-active
Talent Acquisition
- Change (and Growth) Management
GOING AGAINST
THE NORM

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groups such as cabin crew,” she explains.
As for the hiring of cabin crew, Tam
also cites that Scoot’s talent pool
comes mainly from the polytechnics
and their fresh graduates.
“Hence, we engage and collaborate
a lot with these schools. We have not
yet moved into Institute of Technical
Educations, but that will be an area we
will soon go into for cabin crew.”
Tan also says Scoot will be looking
to grow its talent pipeline through
the introduction of graduate talent
development programmes.
“For the past four years, due to our
development phase, we have not yet
implemented this strategy,” she says.
“One area we are looking to be very
strong in is numbers and in analytical
skills, such as financial analysis.
“We want people to be able to undertake
competitor studies in response to the
market movements. This area of revenue
management expertise is not something
you can easily acquire within Singapore.”
Plotting training “routes”
From Tan’s perspective, the career
pathways of pilots and cabin crew are
very structured.
“When they come in, they are already
aware of things such as how many hours
they need to fly to reach a certain level,
and when they qualify they go through a
selection process,” she elaborates.
As for non-flying crew, Tan
acknowledges that it’s quite difficult to
fit somebody into a fixed career roadmap.
“Obviously, you are aware of the next
level and for example, if you come in as an
executive, the next level you can go to is
that of an assistant manager,” she says.
“So, you know where you are going.
As to how long you will take to get
there, I think it’s quite difficult to have
a fixed timeline.”
With the airline industry being highly
regulated, Tan points out that most of
Scoot’s training programmes focus on
addressing these regulatory needs.
“For cabin crew, we do have
leadership training to make sure they
are really able to lead in stressful
situations within the aircraft itself.
Pilots also require training to go from
one level to another,” she explains.
Tan also reveals that crew resource
management is another important
aspect for Scoot’s HR team.
“It’s an aviation-specific method
of interpersonal skills focused on the
outcome of reducing human error and
maximising flight safety,” she says.
“Those are the programmes that we
usually structure for our employees to
complete during their careers with us.”
As Scoot has been channelling all its
energies since 2011 into acquiring people
with the necessary skills, Tan reveals
that affording training opportunities for
ground staff has been difficult.
This year though, Scoot already has
a programme in place to roll out for
ground staff.
“It’s more of a leadership
development programme for managers.
We are going to introduce different
modules for the managers as well as
coaching sessions,” she explains.
“I feel that different people learn
differently. So, we are not looking to
fix with just one type of development
programme.”
With Scoot constantly looking to
expand its global footprint and open
more flight routes, Tan says more
career opportunities will mushroom,
even some overseas-based positions.
“For example, if we set up joint ventures
overseas, we have staff who aspire to be
posted internationally. China is another
area that we are expanding into,” she adds.
It’s all about the talk
While Scoot may not boast the resources
or glamour of its full service carrier rivals,
it attempts to punch above its weight
through its culture and personality.
In order to foster this spirit, it
becomes even more imperative to
effectively engage with employees.
Tan stresses that one of the
key elements of this is effective
communication.
“In the different categories of staff that
we have had since the start-up, even in the
small meetings that we have with our staff,
our CEO himself is involved,” she says.
“Probably, four or five times a year
in our office, we will have a mini-town
hall meeting where everybody will just
gather around in the office itself.”
“For the crew specifically, we have
different sessions that we organise for
our CEO to speak and engage with staff.”
For example, Tan says Scoot employees
are aware that the organisation has
ordered 20 new aircraft which will be
delivered over the next few years.
“So, the growth is listed in front of
them for the next three to five years.
With all these plans ahead, they know
where we are focusing.”
Recently, Scoot also changed all of its
aircraft to 787 Dreamliners, something
employees are keenly aware of.
“We are the first to have the whole
787 Dreamliner fleet here. It’s really
all about communication; when people
know what is coming, they know what
they are working for,” Tan elaborates.
Rewarding for contributions
From the start, Tan says Scoot’s
philosophy has been that the organisation
is not the top payer of talent.
“Obviously, we can’t compete with
full-serviced carriers,” she states.
Hence, the company pays employees
for what they contribute and what they
work for, along with how they perform.
“I think the crew look for things like
the ability to change their rosters, to
control their own lifestyles, and when
they fly and do not fly,” Tan explains.
“They feel rewarded when we give
them these small little things. They can
also exchange points for little awards.”
“With the kind of mobile office that
we have, the only way to communicate
and connect ourselves together is
actually through technology,” she says.
“That is the strategy we have always
adopted, and for the past two years,
we have been very focussed on getting
all our self-service systems up and
running in order to engage with our
staff and connect with them.”
Fighting with the big boys
It is not rocket science to figure out that
Scoot is in a constant battle with its more
established counterparts when it comes
to earning a slice of the aviation pie.
“We are competing with the full service
carriers all the time,” Tan confesses.
“Even with cabin crew, you can see
Emirates and other Middle Eastern
airlines will come to Singapore to conduct
road shows and hire people from here.”
Just to give an inkling of the intense
level of recruitment competition
between aircraft carriers, Tan reveals
that when Scoot first started, the
organisation had less than five
Singaporean pilot applicants.
“I had to hire from overseas,” she recalls.
“Back then, we didn’t have the luxury of
time. To train pilots, you actually need to
plan ahead at least two years in advance.”
Tan says Scoot adopted a novel
approach when it came to recruiting
pilots and cabin crew as a result.
“I think pilots are a very small
community and they have their own
online forums. So, we targeted the
forums and went in to publicise our
vacancies, and this also applied to other
THERESA TAN
Head of HR
IVAN CHUAH
HR Manager
(Business Partner)
ONG CHING
LUI
HR Manager
(Business Partner)
KEITH NG
Senior HR Manager
(Compensation and Benefits,
Information Systems and
Shared Services)
GEORGE CHAN
HR Manager
(Talent Management)
GRACE TEO
HR Manager
(Talent Acquisition)
WHO’S WHO IN HR
Taking to the skies
In 2015, Scoot kickstarted its very own
customised, 18-month cadet pilot training
programme, developed together with
Singapore Flying College. After graduating
from this programme, cadets will undertake
additional training to ensure they are
fully equipped with the essential skills
and knowledge to fly Scoot’s Boeing 787
Dreamliner. “Our first batch of cadets are
expected to join the Scoot family in 2017,”
says Theresa Tan, Head of HR for Scoot.
For example, if a cabin crew
member does something positive,
their crew-in-charge or managers can
reward with them something known
as “Scootie Points”.
“They can then exchange these points
for things they value, one example
of which is specific destinations they
wish to fly to,” says Tan.
“They can request to be put in
flights to that specific destination.
To our staff, flying to their desired
destinations is like flying for a
holiday.”
Tan says ground staff also get to
travel at very low rates.
“They can buy unlimited tickets
for their friends and family as well,”
she adds.
Leading from the front
The “Scootitude” spirit is also
espoused by Tan herself.
“It’s not fixed that you must come in
everyday in corporate attire,” she says.
“Some days, I even come to work in
shorts.”
However, it is clear that Wilson
is the chief driving force behind
cultivating the “Scootitude” culture:
one that is open, dynamic, friendly,
and quirky.
“Our CEO doesn’t really have an
office,” she adds.
“He just rolls over two seats when
he wants to talk to me.”
Fostering diversity and inclusion
TheresaTan,Head of HR, Scoot, says the company has both female and male cabin crew who are
above the age of 50.
In fact, some of them are also in charge of crew.
“For us, we do not set an age limit as long as the employee is physically fit,” Tan explains.
Tan says Scoot also hires female pilots, with the airline having started with one female captain.
“We now have two female captains and one whom we recently hired as a second officer. Another
has just started her cadet pilot programme,” she adds.