Case Study

How Valiram used data to redefine retail talent strategy across Southeast Asia 

Traditional methods like relying on previous experience, references, or standard interviews were no longer producing consistent results for Valiram. They needed a new approach - one that would allow them to identify and develop their retail talent based on potential rather than previous experience. On consultation with Thomas, they decided to conduct a deep analysis of employee performance across four major markets - Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia - and four distinct brand and product categories: Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Michael Kors, and Swiss Watch – Valiram’s luxury watch division. 

The goal was to answer one key question: What does great talent mean to Valiram, and how do we measure excellence consistently across very different markets and retail environments? 

Valiram and Thomas began by selecting two performance groups from each brand and region: Consistent high achievers and underperformers. Each employee completed Thomas assessments, which included behavioral profiling, aptitude testing, and personality questionnaires. 

The results provided a rich dataset that revealed striking contrasts - not just between high and low performers, but also across markets and brands. 

“What was fascinating,” said the Thomas Professional Services team, who led the project analysis from Thomas, “was how different high performance looked in different environments. In the watch division, for example, success meant being methodical, building long-term client relationships - almost romancing the customer. In Bath & Body Works, by contrast, the successful staff were fast, responsive, and high energy. It was a completely different selling ceremony.” 

Webb agreed: “In a luxury boutique, as a Brand Ambassador, you’re required to develop brand equity, story tell our creations, consistently aiming to surprise and delight the customer. Compare that with Victoria’s Secret or Bath & Body Works, where our service aspirations are just as high, but often with significantly less time afforded; the customer is walking in to buy something right now. The retail Store Associate who thrives in one environment might fail in the other.”

Another major insight came from comparing countries. In places like Malaysia and Indonesia, where formal education, especially higher education, is less common than elsewhere, traits like curiosity and initiative stood out as key differentiators among top performers. In Singapore, by contrast, emotional intelligence and strategic relationship-building were more closely linked to sales success. 

One surprising finding? “Low performers often rated themselves highly. There was a disconnect between self-perception and actual behavior. That kind of insight is hard to get from a CV or a standard interview.” - Thomas Professional Services Team. 

With the findings in hand, Valiram took decisive steps to revamp its talent strategy. “We didn’t want this to be just a report we read once,” Webb emphasized. “We used the data to rethink and reshape how we attract, recruit, develop, and retain talent.” 

Job descriptions were rewritten to reflect traits linked to high performance, and interviews were redesigned to include behavioral role-plays and store-based assessments. “We’re not just asking about experience anymore,” Webb said. “We’re observing behavior. Can the candidate truly connect with a customer; are they competitive in the right way; do they show curiosity when they’re in a store?” 

Valiram also used the data to redesign training and coaching programs. Traits like conscientiousness may be hard to train, but curiosity, communication, and collaborative competitiveness are cultivated through structured development. 

 “We want our teams pushing each other in a positive way, not working in silos. Whether it be the Sales Associate in store, the Store Manager, or the support teams back in Head Office, every individual in our organization contributes to delivering an exceptional customer experience in our stores,” Webb explained. 

Perhaps most ambitiously, Valiram took their insights back to the source - Malaysia’s education system. “We’re actively partnering with top notch educational institutions. We took the findings to them and said: This is what success looks like in the retail industry - how are you preparing students for this, and where can we work together to accelerate this?” 

The impact was significant. In fact, Webb was later invited to join the advisory board of UITM, Malaysia’s largest comprehensive university, to help shape the Retail and Business curriculum. 

The numbers validate the approach. Group-wide attrition, once hovering at 37–38%, dropped to 31%, with early-stage attrition (within the first six months) also decreasing. “Historically, we lost a significant amount of our new hires in the first six months,” Webb noted. “It’s a common trend in Asia’s retail market, where people will change jobs for as little as a marginal pay increase. But we’re seeing real movement.”

Other key performance indicators like time-to-fill, time-to-competency, and internal promotion rates also showed improvement. Of the 344 employees promoted in the latest cycle (roughly 19% of eligible staff), an overwhelming majority had noticeably demonstrated the behaviors Thomas identified as linked to long-term success, with these behaviors integral to the promotion sign offs. 

“Ultimately, we’re trying to match our people strategy to what the data tells us,” said Webb. “If the people we hire show these traits, and they’re getting promoted and staying longer, then we know we’re on the right track.”

For Valiram, this project marked more than a tactical shift - it signalled a culture change. 

“This wasn’t about using Thomas as a vendor,” said Webb. “It was a genuine partnership. We don’t believe in purely transactional relationships with external vendors. We believe in working with partners who challenge us, who bring insight, and who help us evolve.” 

That evolution continues as Valiram expands the insights from this project to new brands and regions. As the Thomas Professional Services Team put it, “You start with data - but if you do it right, you can turn strategy into, behavior, and performance follows.”