Case study: How Singapore Airlines drives excellence in its teams

With teamwork embodied as one of its core values – which it defines as working with pride as a
worldwide team to achieve success together – team building is not just a programme or activity
for for Singapore Airlines.
“The emphasis of teamwork or team building in our company is evident as all employees are
encouraged to embrace and exemplify it from the moment they join us,” says Casey Ow Yong,
vice-president of talent management and development at Singapore Airlines (SIA).
The company believes that success in service delivery very much depends on the quality of the
individual, teamwork and execution and the accolades that SIA earns from customers are, more
often than not, the result of effective communication and smooth co-ordination across
functional areas.
Hence, SIA has embedded the team building element in many of its learning and development
programmes, its flagship programme being FUS3ION.
FUS3ION is a team building training initiative designed to enhance and promote integrated
safety, security and service excellence (denoted by the “3” in FUS3ION) among SIA staff from
flight operations, cabin crew, engineering and ground services.
It is managed by SIA’s human resources’ corporate learning centre which works closely with the
programme facilitators from each of the four operational units who will roster or schedule staff
from their respective areas for each run.
FUS3ION aims to develop participants to be members of high-performing, cross-functional
teams who share common goals and accept each other as internal customers deserving of a
high level of service. Participants become champions of FUS3ION and propagate the FUS3ION
message among colleagues.
“Through FUS3ION, we hope to bridge the invisible barriers that might hamper effective cross-
functional co-operation in any situation,” Ow Yong says.
The participants of the programme include staff from the airline’s four key operational areas –
technical crew (pilots), cabin crew, ground services and engineering.
The technical and cabin crew are rostered to attend, while staff from the other two operational
areas are scheduled to attend as part of their annual training plan. One of the operational areas
will also have their senior vice-president participating in the programme through hosting
dialogue and interaction sessions with participants to further demonstrate the value and
importance the company places on the programme.
No programme is without its challenges. For the FUS3ION programme, the main challenge is to
get staff out of their “comfort zones” to share the challenges they face with one another.
For the FUS3ION programme, the main challenge is to get staff out of their “comfort zones” to
share the challenges they face with one another
To overcome this challenge and encourage staff to contribute in the discussions, SIA places an
emphasis on the objective of the programme and the sharing of past success stories as well as
some ice-breaker activities and role plays to improve communication and deepen
understanding.
As a result of this programme, SIA’s employees have a deeper appreciation and understanding
of the roles, responsibilities and challenges faced by their colleagues in other operational areas
resulting in employees being able to work as a team better to manage any situation.
At the same time, the programme improves collaboration among teams, ultimately leading to
its customers benefiting from the delivery of service excellence.
“We have received consistent high ratings and favourable feedback from the participants of the
programme. Success stories and learning points are often used as case studies in the
programme itself to enhance learning,” Ow Yong says.