A team of students from Singapore was crowned the winner of this year’s edition of Accor’s Take Off! Challenge after three months of competition – there were 179 teams of international students from eight regions.
Since 2012, Accor invites thousands of students worldwide each year to be inspired and get creative with its student competition by challenging them with various issues connected to the group’s activities.
This year’s topic was Talent Attraction, and students were posed the question: what innovative practices can Accor adopt on the post-Covid rebound to attract talent?
The winning team from Singapore, Meta Trio, 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 recruits.
“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 South-east Asia, Japan and South Korea.
“We are thrilled to see continuously strong interest and participation in the Take Off! Challenge from schools and universities across South-east 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.”
Apart from growing awareness and interest for the hospitality industry among students globally, the Take Off! Challenge also aims to identify talented individuals to subsequently join the group.
This is the first time a Singaporean team has progressed to the final top five, and clinched first place. The winners 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.
Making up the Meta Trio team are Chia Pei Rong, Phuan Shi Yun, and Ng Min Feng, who won the jury over not only for their astute project concept, but also for their poised and confident delivery.
