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Barnes: At TWG Tea, we want everyone to have a pleasant smile, present themselves well, have confidence when they speak and use appropriate [tea] vocabulary . Types of workshops
What kind of workshops and training sessions does TWG Tea Institute organise? Barnes says all TWG Tea staff are required to attend the brand experience workshop, which provides basic knowledge about the history and culture of tea. It covers only the major varieties of tea, without going too much into detail. “We don’t overdo it, as there are many types of tea. We limit it to the first six, which are really important to know,” she says. Participants also get to partake in a tea preparation session using the TWG Tea method. The main thrust of this workshop is to help TWG Tea staff embody the brand personality. Participants are asked to debate the importance of verbal, vocal and visual skills required of a TWG Tea staff, irrespective of whether one is at the front house or back-end of operations. “At the end of the day, we conclude that all three are important,” she says. “At TWG Tea, we want everyone to have a pleasant smile, present themselves well, have confidence when they speak and use appropriate [tea] vocabulary.” Barnes assures that TWG Tea is not trying to create “robots” out of its staff. On the contrary, the brand experience workshop is meant to imbue the company’s values of thoughtfulness, gracefulness and willingness — which coincides with the TWG abbreviation, she says. This should help create a “pleasant environment” for staff to work together. “We want them to come to work like it is an exciting thing to do every day.” on the brand. “We really don’t want TWG Tea to be the brand that is old-fashioned and fuddy-duddy — the kind where you would only bring your grandmother to tea or you would never go with your girlfriend because you don’t want to be caught dead there,” Barnes says. TWG Tea Institute also organises a leadership course for managers. This is open to all departments in the company — from front house to back-end operations. The workshop aims to train leaders and identify their leadership styles, says Barnes. “We all have different strengths and weaknesses. Some people know how to manage inexperienced people. Others only know how to manage those who are already proficient. We want to make everyone proficient at the minimum level, so that when new staff arrive they can teach them the basics,” she says.
Barnes recalls how little she knew about tea when she and her husband — TWG Tea CEO and president Taha Bouqdib — founded the company. Bouqdib was focused on developing TWG Tea products and planning the design and layout The TWG Tea Institute invests in staff by providing training and learning opportunities, which will be useful for a promotion or a move to a different role Barnes: At TWG Tea, we want everyone to have a pleasant smile, present themselves well, have confidence when they speak and use appropriate [tea] vocabulary ALBERT CHUA/THE EDGE SINGAPORE of the outlets. That left the responsibility of communicating the brand to its stakeholders with Barnes. “But I didn’t know anything about tea,” she says. “I felt bad for every new employee who arrived at TWG Tea. I could sympathise with their difficulty and stress when they were confronted by a customer.” That circumstance led Barnes to educate herself by reading extensively and learning about tea from Bouqdib. She shadowed him through many tea-tasting and appreciation sessions. She also learned about the history of tea through stories told by Bouqdib. “It was like an old-fashioned way [through] oral tradition,” she says. Barnes even wrote a book about the TWG Tea brand. Now, however, the establishment of the TWG Tea Institute should go a long way towards helping new and future staff get acquainted with the luxury tea brand. “If they leave, they should at least know and be able to recommend [several] varieties of tea.” This article appeared in Issue 836 (June 25) of The Edge Singapore. Subscribe to The Edge now
