Weekends are typically for rest and relaxation, but on 27 and 28 October, 40 undergraduates flexed their innovation muscles at the inaugural Frasers Property Idea Jam in Singapore. 

This is the first event of its kind organised by a real estate developer in Singapore, and it gave participants an exclusive peek into Frasers Property’s approach in creating and seizing opportunities in the dynamic world of real estate and property development.

The participants ‘jammed and hacked’ one of four challenge statements centred around the theme of ‘Customer experiences that matter’ over two gruelling days at the purpose-built Frasers Learning Academy in Alexandra Point. Participants were given the opportunity to have “reality check-in” chats with business mentors and receive guidance from them. The event culminated with them pitching their proposals to a judging panel comprising Patricia Goh, Senior Vice President & Head of Group Investment at Frasers Property Limited; Kong Wan Sing, Founder and CEO of homegrown co-working powerhouse JustCo; and Steve Melhuish, Founder and Vice Chairman of PropertyGuru Group, Asia’s largest online property search portal.

Frasers Property Idea Jam is the brainchild of Priscilla Tan, Senior Manager for Singapore HR, Group HR; and Tim Mou Hui, Assistant Vice President for HR Communications, Group HR, who both sought to find new ways to capture the share of younger talent and to strengthen brand awareness amongst this group.

Priscilla says: “As a progressive company, we value diversity in our workforce.  Two years ago, we started going out to the universities to engage undergraduates proactively. We launched our Management Associate Programme (MAP) to grow our talent pipeline. The following year, we launched a LinkedIn publicity campaign for the MAP, which helped us to garner more than double the number of applicants from the inaugural year. Frasers Property Idea Jam builds on these successes and aims to cement our mindshare amongst the undergraduate pool.”

Mou Hui adds: “Beyond strengthening our reputation as an employer of choice, we are also enhancing our top of mind brand recall amongst our younger stakeholders. By having a positive impression of Frasers Property, we hope that they will be more willing to shop at our malls, work in our office buildings, and stay at our serviced apartments or hotels. We believe that we can reap a reputational dividend over and above the talent we identify from this event.”

And identify talent, they did. Senior management from Frasers Property were on site during the pitches to spot talents, and a few have been highlighted for internship or possible special consideration for the MAP opportunities.