Commune Lifestyle levels up skills capability For the furniture industry as Skillsfuture Queen Bee

SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) has partnered Commune Lifestyle as a SkillsFuture Queen Bee to drive skills development in the furniture industry.

Commune Lifestyle is a homegrown furniture design and lifestyle company set up in 2011. It has established a strong regional presence with more than 80 stores globally. As a strong advocate of workforce upskilling and an industry forerunner in areas such as branding, design, digital adoption and internationalisation, Commune Lifestyle has been sharing its expertise and best practices with other small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the five furniture sub-sectors, namely manufacturing, contract manufacturing, retail, designers, and materials, and guiding these companies to start their skills development journey.

Minister for Education, Mr Chan Chun Sing, and Minister of State for Education and Manpower, Ms Gan Siow Huang, visited Commune Lifestyle today and interacted with its management and SME owners participating in the SkillsFuture Queen Bee programme to understand the industry’s business challenges and growth plans. He also observed a training class on Design Innovation, which was conducted by the Singapore Furniture Industries Council Institute (SFIC Institute) as part of the visit.

Identify and close skills gaps for SMEs

Since its appointment as a SkillsFuture Queen Bee in August 2021, Commune Lifestyle has reached out to over 130 SMEs in the sector to understand their skills needs and challenges. It has created an “UpScaling with Commune” initiative, and curated a range of skills and training solutions based on feedback from the SMEs. Companies that participate in the UpScaling with Commune initiative will benefit from:

(i) Competency-based training programmes delivered by Institutes of Higher Learning, the National Centre of Excellence for Workplace Learning and SSG-supported training providers, which are tailored to each SME’s specific needs. These include training courses in conceptualising furniture design, optimising delivery for e-commerce, and advising on furniture products conducted by the Singapore Furniture Industries Council Institute, in addition to industry-relevant courses in adaptability, creative thinking, digital fluency, and workplace learning provided by other SSG-supported training providers.

(ii) Masterclasses and outreach programmes organised by Commune Lifestyle in the areas of digitalisation, branding and internationalisation, and talent development.

(iii) Peer learning sessions involving sharing by industry members, business leaders, and Human Resource professionals, to build a Commune Lifestyle network and encourage SMEs to learn from their industry peers.

As of Mar 2022, more than 25 SMEs have benefitted from the initiative. Mr Marcus Wong, Director of Danovel Pte Ltd, one of the participant SMEs shared, "UpScaling with Commune has been very rewarding one as we are able to learn from an industry expert/leader on the potential paths towards digitalisation while avoiding unnecessary pitfalls or mistakes that they have gone through previously. It helps us to navigate better during our transformation journey too."

Mr Joshua Koh, Chief Executive of Commune Lifestyle, said “We are very honored to partner with SSG to roll out this SkillsFuture Queen Bee program for the furniture industry. Every industry is unique and as such, have industry specific challenges that need to be addressed differently thru tailored training programs that are relevant and impactful. We hope that we can share with the industry some of the best practices especially in the area of digitalization, branding and internationalization so that the Singapore furniture industry can continue to grow to greater heights.

Mr Tan Kok Yam, Chief Executive of SkillsFuture Singapore, said “It bodes well for the SkillsFuture movement, when companies lean forward to support one another in their upskilling journey. As an SME, Commune Lifestyle’s commitment as a SkillsFuture Queen Bee is particularly commendable. It demonstrates that smaller companies too can play a lead role in contributing to the national skills development agenda. SSG is also heartened by the collaborative spirit of the participating companies, and looks forward to working on future initiatives with Commune Lifestyle and the Singapore Furniture Industries Council.”

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