Almost Paradise upskills its senior workers to keep up with the times with the help of e2i 

Retailing a multitude of beauty products via its store Shine Stars Hair & Nail, Almost Paradise Pte Ltd strives to make its workplace senior-friendly by streamlining and upskilling its existing employees.  

Almost Paradise incorporated in 2008 with the intention of creating a one-stop shop for skincare, nail, and hair products. Priding itself in employee retention, Almost Paradise’s staff have been with them for over 4 years. 

The company soon expanded into business-to-business orders on top of their walk-in customers. However, the company’s processes stayed at a low-technology level – resulting in record errors and a decrease in staff efficiency due to tedious multi-tasking. Recognising the need for change, Almost Paradise reached out to NTUC’s Employment & Employability Institute (e2i) 

Upskilling the silver generation at Almost Paradise with e2i 

Choosing to invest in their existing staff by equipping them with the tools required to perform high volume orders and deliveries, Almost Paradise sought the support of e2i through its WorkPro Job Redesign Initiative. This initiative provides funding for the implementation of point-of-sale and inventory management system to help companies ease tedious processes to create better work environments for Singaporean workers aged 50 and above. 

A spokesperson from Almost Paradise says: “As our sales revenue increased, we noticed our older staff members struggling to keep up. Orders were taken down on paper before being keyed into the system, the margin for human error is great and leads to miscommunication with our clients. Our backend delivery workers also had issues with the constant change in schedule, resulting in time wasted time on the road.” 

With the help of e2i, the company made plans to invest in a mobile ordering and delivery app to automate these laborious processes. The app helps the company update its product details and prices, manage existing orders and check delivery statuses – all at the touch of a button.  After training and implementation by e2i, the older staff members have learnt to adapt and evolve with technology resulting in three members obtaining a 23% increase in salary.  

“Since the app has come into play, we have reduced our time spent on generating delivery orders and labour hours by about 50 percent. We are very grateful for programmes like e2i that help SMEs like us grow as a business,” concludes the spokesperson from Almost Paradise.