Singapore Team wins Accor’s 2022 Take Off! international student competition
The Winning Meta Trio Beat 178 Teams by Submitting their Innovative Ideas on the Topic of Talent Attraction
(Singapore) Since 2012, Accor, a world leading hospitality group, invites thousands of students around the world each year to be inspired and get creative with its student competition, Take Off! Challenge. In this year’s edition, a team of students from Singapore were crowned winners after three months of competition.
For the last 10 years, Accor has been challenging students worldwide with various issues connected to the group’s activities, and this year’s topic is Talent Attraction. The question given to the students was ‘What innovative practices can Accor adopt on the post-Covid rebound to attract talent?’ The winning team proposed a holistic, innovative recruitment solution by creating a virtual world in the Metaverse to attract and better match talents with available jobs within the organisation, integrating gamification and entertainment to hire new talents.
“This competition is instrumental in strengthening our ongoing school partnerships, as well as to inspire the next generation of talents to join the world of hospitality after completing their studies,” said Sonya Brown, Senior Vice President, Talent & Culture, Accor Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea. “Accor has a long-standing commitment to deliver an optimal experience for our employees - our Heartists® - by putting people at the heart of everything we do. We are thrilled to see continuously strong interest and participation in the Take Off! Challenge from schools and universities across Southeast Asia. We’ve always been impressed with the quality of students’ ideas and presentations. Most of all, we are very proud to witness the winning team this year coming from our region.”
The Take Off! Challenge aims at growing awareness and interest for the hospitality industry amongst students from any school around the world. The competition also allows talented individuals to be identified and to subsequently join the group. One of them is Harry Greig, a student from New Zealand and finalist of the Take Off Challenge 2014 edition. Harry started with Accor at Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort in Cambodia as a trainee in the Marketing & Communications division shortly after completing his studies and has since been promoted to a regional Director of Communications role for Accor Upper Southeast Asia.
“I will always be incredibly grateful for the way in which Accor Take Off! enabled us to meet some of the group’s most innovative leaders and challenged us to question the status quos. My friends and I look back with such fond memories when we recall the various challenges along the TakeOff! journey”, said Harry Greig, Communications Director for Accor Upper Southeast Asia.
The 2022 winning team from Singapore, baptized Meta Trio, emerged first among 179 teams of international students from eight regions. This is the first time a Singaporean team has progressed to the final top five, and clinches first place. As the grand winners, the trio will be sponsored a trip to Paris and invited to Accor’s global headquarters for an opportunity to meet Accor’s Chairman and CEO, Sébastien Bazin, as well as the group’s Global Chief Talent & Culture Officer, Steven Daines.
The Meta Trio team is composed of Chia Pei Rong, Phuan Shi Yun, and Ng Min Feng. The young ladies won the jury over not only for their astute project concept, but also for their delivery filled with poise and confidence. To view Meta Trio’s project, click here.
