MLS Jan 2018 Local Attachment MLS local report final | Page 27

2.2.6 Spirit of Innovation The collaborative and close working relationship among the staff of KidZania contribute to an environment where staff feel safe and welcomed to make suggestions that would help improve their work processes. It also helps that the ‘zupervisors’ go through some form of job rotation from time to time where they will man different establishments and learn from different ‘district leaders’. This gives the staff different perspectives and experiences which help to encourage innovative practices in the workplace. An example of an innovative practice suggested by a staff and effectively implemented was to encourage visitors to reuse the hairnets and face masks required at different establishments such as KFC and Pizza Hut. In return, visitors would receive extra ‘Kidzos’ for their effort. This idea was implemented and has worked well ever since, helping KidZania save cost and be more environmentally-friendly. At KidZania, innovation is also injected into the leadership development programme, a programme designed for potential leaders identified by the management. These potential leaders are given training to further hone their leadership skills and opportunities to take on middle-management tasks. As part of their training programme, the potential leaders are to come up with effective and sustainable innovative practices that can improve the work processes or the organization as a whole. They would run through these ideas with the management, who will then assess and fine-tune before giving them the go-ahead to implement those changes in the organization. To keep the spirit of KidZania current and updated, KidZania also engages their 7 to 12-year-old visitors in a group known as the ‘Congrezz’. This group of young visitors form the ‘legislative branch of the Government’ and comes together with the management to discuss topics that are of importance to them. At the same time, they review the current activities available at KidZania and also provide valuable suggestions, ranging from the types of activities to how the activities can be organized at KidZania. The management would take into consideration the feedback and suggestions from their little stakeholders and from there, improve their work practices for greater level of engagement with their customers. 26