Kawan Lama Group, in line with the mission of bringing values for the betterment of lives through business development and continuous growth, gives a chance to high-potential young talents to reach great achievement. Completing Management Trainee for the Consumer Retail business pillar, in 2022, the Store Manager Development Program (SMDP) for the Food & Beverage business pillar was initiated.
As a brand with rapid growth, the opening of new Chatime stores in various locations results in a need for many new Store Manager positions. This is the purpose of SMDP, a special program that creates future leaders faster. The SMDP participants are bachelor's graduates from any major or Diploma 3 in Hospitality, with a GPA score of 3 out of 4, maximum age of 25, and have a passion for the food & beverage industry.
Store Manager Development Program has a total duration of six months and comprises three phases, which are Staff, Assistant Store Manager, and Store Manager, all are undertaken as on the job training. The participants get hard skill and soft skill lessons, ranging from corporate overview, ‘integrity, rules & regulations’, leadership, product knowledge, opening & closing procedure, store administration system, flow control management, inventory, selling skills, expense management, also values of Kawan Lama Group, usually called I AM ELITE. The graduates become the Store Managers of Chatime and are stationed regarding operational needs.
Novana, an SMDP second batch graduate, said, “The SMDP program very helped me, because it could be a way of learning about business pillars, becoming a good leader, boosting business growth strategy, and many more, surely with the assistance of experienced mentors. Various facilities made the learning process more comfortable and fun. My friends’ support, full of energy, made me finish the program with great results. Even though now I've graduated and worked as a Store Manager, I won’t stop learning and doing my best.”
"One of my greatest accomplishments was that I could join SMDP. As a fresh graduate, the program was suitable for those who started a career at work. During six months, we were formed to be competent leaders who could answer challenges in the F&B world. A program that encouraged us to perform higher than our previous limits. Moreover, the program offers a chance to be an Area Manager for our next step. From the training given, as well as career enhancement opportunities, all those things satisfied me to join F&B Indonesia through SMDP," said Marcel, another second batch graduate.
The first batch of SMDP resulted in eight graduates in 2023. While the second batch started from October 2023 until March 2024 where nine participants successfully graduated.
Devin Widya Krisnadi, CEO of F&B ID, said, "F&B business tends to be fast-paced and fast-moving, not merely the jobs, but also the business trend. To lead the business, we need more than just great skills, but also flexibility to fresh ideas and inspirations. That's why through SMDP, we want to get young talents who are not just smart but also have fresh ideas, in line with F&B ID's spirit to keep innovating in serving daily happiness."
“Considering F&B ID’s need to fill Store Manager positions in various new stores all over Indonesia, whose number is continuously increasing, aligned with the business growth of Kawan Lama Group, we, as Human Capital Directorate, launched the Store Manager Development Program or SMDP. The career acceleration program is a golden bridge for selected participants who have passed a tight selection process, to be formed as Chatime Store Manager. Hopefully, SMDP can bring new colors and innovative ideas from these special young talents to deliver the best service or soulfull experience to the customers,” stated Sandra Hardjana, Human Capital Director of Kawan Lama Group.
