We place great emphasis on enhancing our staff’s knowledge and competencies so that they can deliver exceptional guest experiences, improve work processes and increase safety in our parks. We partner with employees to drive their own and/or team members’ development, and adapt our course offerings to ensure relevance to their learning needs.

Our approach to holistic learning is through the 70:20:10 development model: 70 per cent is experience-based, e.g. on-the-job training; 20 per cent comes from relationships in the form of networking, coaching or mentoring; and 10 per cent is through formal or structured classroom learning.

Our training programmes are very diverse, with topics ranging from communications, leadership and management, personal effectiveness and service excellence to functional/technical skills, such as animal management and enrichment. We also believe that overseas study trips, conferences and workshops are key components for staff development, in particular to enhance domain knowledge and expert skills for the Life Sciences team, as well as to keep abreast with the latest best practices in the zoo fraternity.

In our efforts to make every manager a people manager, a leadership development framework aligned to a set of leadership competencies unique to WRS was developed, along with recommended training programmes to help build staff’s transition to the next leadership level. This serves as a common benchmark on leadership standards for development and performance in our organisation.

By achieving mastery of skills and strengthening our competencies, we can continually strive towards greater excellence and make Wildlife Reserves Singapore a more fulfilling environment to grow in.