Connecting People and Business: Industry Insights from HR Happy Hour with Low Jia En @ Hard Rock Cafe

HR as the Connector of the Business

One of the most important themes of the discussion was the role HR plays in connecting people with business strategy.

In organisations with lean HR teams, professionals often need to work closely with multiple departments. HR partners with operations to understand manpower and training needs. They collaborate with finance during budgeting cycles and workforce planning. At the same time, HR increasingly works with marketing teams on employer branding initiatives in order to attract today’s tech-savvy talent.

The HR function of today has gone beyond being an administrative function. HR leaders help ensure that the organisation’s people strategy aligns with operational and commercial goals.

Training as the Foundation of Performance

In the F&B sector, many employees join with little prior industry experience. Because of this, training becomes the most important lever for improving both customer experience and business performance.

At Wine Connection, product knowledge is particularly important because staff must be able to guide customers through wine selections. Training therefore focuses not only on operational skills but also on storytelling, product knowledge, and customer interaction. In fact, it was noted that training has the strongest impact on sales performance.

The company runs regular training sessions and invites industry experts to share knowledge with frontline staff. Continuous training ensures employees feel confident when interacting with customers and helps maintain service standards across outlets.

Ultimately, training can also be measured through its impact on key outcomes such as sales performance, employee retention, and customer satisfaction.