Not Holding Anything Back

In addition to having a strong vision and dreams, The Stansfield Group believes in going all out with its service

"It might seem odd to talk about idealistic dreams to a successful businessman. But Mr. Kannappan Chettiar, founder of The Stansfield Group, is no stranger to dreams and visions.

His dream of providing a solution for serving the educational needs of society's late bloomers has paid off. The Stansfield Group has attained the Singapore Quality Class (SQC) status, a measure of business excellence. Mr. Chettiar stated, 'We have invested heavily in upgrading our infrastructure in anticipation of creating an education hub in Singapore, and we have been the main initiators for this effort as well.' Comprising the Stansfield College, Singapore Institute of Commerce (SIC), the Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE), the St James English School, and the Winfield Hall of Residence, the group is run by 110 full-time staff with the help of 30 part-timers.

'There are many people interested in the business of education hoping to make a quick buck,' said Mr. Chettiar. 'The reality is that this industry requires people with commitment and competence in both the education and commercial spectrum, without which the "commercial education" would fail.' Stansfield was ranked 32nd in the 2002 Enterprise 50 awards, the only education provider to be included in the list. The Stansfield College and the SIC are also two of the three Singapore-based schools recognized by the London School of Economics.

According to Mr. Chettiar, 'Profits to us are the leftovers after doing a great job.' Staff development is key to Stansfield. Five percent of the annual payroll is earmarked for upgrading training and education programs for the staff.

'On top of this, staff are also encouraged to develop their own learning maps in line with their lifelong learning objectives, regardless of whether it benefits the organization or not,' said Mr. Chettiar. 'This way, they will not be displaced one day due to structural changes within the environment. Always looking to improve, guide us through.' Stansfield recently launched a Career Alignment Centre to provide its students with job placement and other related services, as well as e-learning facilities. Maintaining transparency on its websites is also a matter of pride for the company, as is the adoption of the hands-on approach. 'Each director takes a hands-on approach for his own center,' explained Mr. Chettiar. 'I also keep my ears to the ground by giving weekly talks so that I can interact with and understand the market.'

'We stretch ourselves to serve the customers, and all processes are completely aligned towards this.' The guiding principle of Stansfield's growth and development, said Mr. Chettiar, lies in 'NHAB'. This stands for 'Not Holding Anything Back. We go all out to serve another individual, and we have a strong vision and dream to guide us through. Fueled by a passionate vision and guided by solid principles, Stansfield looks set to continue being a straight-A enterprise in the future."