On the 13th November 2025, Singapore’s F&B and retail HR leaders gathered at The Mars Bar for the latest StaffAny’s HR Happy Hour session. Today’s theme was ‘Beyond the Kitchen: Shaping Tomorrow’s F&B Leaders’ with guest speakers Angie Tung, HR Manager, and Jacob Ng, L&D Assistant Manager from RE&S Enterprises sharing their expertise with their fellow F&B HR practitioners.
Founded in 1988 by Osaka native Hiroshi Tatara, this food services group develops and manages popular brands and concepts like Kuriya and Ichiban Boshi and now has around 1,600 staff. Over cocktails and warm conversation, Angie and Jacob shared how they cultivate leadership across 80+ outlets starting from the ground up with StaffAny’s Janson Seah as moderator.
Developing Future Leaders from Day One
Angie and Jacob shared that the leadership pipeline starts with its structured Management Trainee (MT) program, designed to fast-track high-potential individuals into restaurant management roles.
Unlike other MT programmes, they mentioned that a customised, outlet-specific training approach is used. Trainees are not rotated randomly across brands. Instead, each concept has its own specialised track whether sushi, bakery, yakiniku, etc. and trainees train to become masters of their selected domain.
The training is holistic, spanning operations, branding, leadership, and even conflict resolution. Participants go through probation, structured coursework, and a rigorous “shift verification” process to assess their readiness for real-world restaurant leadership. Special emphasis is placed on crisis management and safety, two areas that are often neglected in traditional management tracks.
Promotion Without the Wait
They also shared that internal staff who show promise can be nominated into the MT program at any time to help employees progress in their careers. This agile model allows HR and operations leaders to respond quickly to emerging talent and offer a clear path forward.
This responsiveness helps front line employees see a future for themselves in the organisation, building loyalty and momentum at every level.
Retention Through Structure, Support, and Heart
Beyond technical training, the MT program integrates soft skills development, regular feedback, and human-centred support.
The HR team works closely with area managers to ensure the training materials are relevant, and that trainees receive real-time mentorship. If a manager needs additional resources, like product sourcing knowledge to boost staff confidence in selling their dishes, HR steps in to close the gap. This high-touch support system helps reduce burnout, increase engagement, and equip managers to lead more effectively.
What holds everything together is a culture that is rooted in Japanese values of care, teamwork, and continuous improvement. One line that Angie’s team loves is “progression, not perfection.”
These values are reinforced daily. HR team members regularly join outlet teams to experience the on-the-ground service crew journey. HR business partners are accessible and responsive. No member is left to figure things out alone. One value: “In it together” encourages everyone from the managerial staff and HR to be there to help out the outlet staff and managers every step of the way.
Culture That Scales
In the end, RE&S builds up its leaders through shared understanding. Their cultural pillars guide everyone from restaurant managers to service crew to HQ staff.
Its culture allows it to scale its operations without compromising on leadership quality or staff experience, and its culture and career prospects encourage employees to stay. By investing in its people, Jacob and Angie showed how this approach helps their F&B chain to build a generation of future F&B leaders who are well-rounded in soft skills, hard skills, and even crisis management.
A Toast To Growth
As always, the evening wrapped up with drinks, laughter, and lively networking among Singapore’s HR community. Whether attendees were managing a single store or leading HR for an entire group, the message was clear: great leadership starts with intention, structure, and care.
Thanks again to Angie and Jacob for generously sharing their approach to people development.
We’ll see you at the next HR Happy Hour.
