AI-Powered HR: Strategic Talent Retention Through Human-Centred Problem Solving

Singapore companies face rising turnover, higher hiring costs, and intense competition for skilled talent. On average, replacement costs can reach 6–9 months of an employee’s salary, and SMEs in particular report high difficulty retaining mid-level talent.

This workshop equips HR professionals, people managers, and leaders with practical, immediately applicable strategies to retain talent, reduce turnover costs, and strengthen workforce stability. Through a realistic case study, participants will learn to identify early attrition signals, uncover root causes, and co-create actionable retention strategies.

The LUMA human-centred innovation methodology and GenAI tools will be used to guide ideation, reveal patterns, and support decision-making, enabling participants to develop retention strategies that are practical, measurable, and effective in Singapore’s competitive workforce environment.

At the end of the programme, participants will be able to:

• Identify key drivers and early warning signals of attrition
• Analyze root causes of turnover in your organization
• Design practical HR retention strategies tailored to your business context
• Generate, cluster, and prioritize retention initiatives using the renowned LUMA methodologies
• Leverage GenAI tools to accelerate idea generation, pattern recognition, and decision-making
• Develop a Retention Action Blueprint

Outline

1. Spotting Early Attrition Signals

• Recognize behavioral, performance, and process-related signs of potential turnover
• Analyze HR data and AI insights to detect hidden patterns of disengagement
• Assess the cost and business impact of losing key employees
• Discuss real-life case study examples to identify early warning signs

2. Understanding Why Employees Leave

• Identify root causes behind turnover (career growth, leadership, workload, recognition)
• Apply abstract laddering to connect retention challenges to strategic business outcomes
• Prioritize the most critical areas for intervention
• Explore organizational patterns contributing to recurring attrition

3. Defining “How Might We” Statements for Retention

• Translate root causes into actionable “How Might We” (HMW) questions
• Focus HMW statements on high-value, real-world HR challenges
• Prepare for structured ideation using LUMA methods and AI-assisted prompts
• Align HMW questions with business impact and workforce priorities

4. Generating Retention Strategies

• Conduct divergent thinking sessions to create multiple solutions per HMW
• Design initiatives across key retention areas
• Leverage GenAI to accelerate strategy generation and benchmark best practices
• Encourage bold, practical, and actionable ideas for immediate application

5. Clustering and Pattern Recognition

• Organize retention ideas into meaningful themes
• Detect patterns across clusters that reveal systemic issues
• Apply LUMA affinity clustering to group ideas effectively
• Highlight recurring challenges and opportunities for intervention

6. Prioritising Retention Actions

• Evaluate initiatives using an Importance vs Difficulty matrix
• Select high-impact actions with feasible implementation
• Distinguish quick wins from long-term strategic initiatives
• Prepare a prioritized action list to guide HR decision-making

7. Building the Retention Action Blueprint

• Develop a practical, step-by-step retention plan for the organization
• Define measurable outcomes, timelines, and responsible stakeholders aligned with business goals

Mr Rhonny Chan is an experienced workforce consultant with over 15 years in talent retention, job redesign, and employee development across sectors including public service, healthcare, education, F&B, IT, and consulting. He has helped organisations minimise attrition and strengthen employee engagement through initiatives such as staggered shifts for healthcare staff, multi-skilling F&B teams for weekend flexibility, and structured succession roadmaps for education providers. These interventions improved productivity, reduced staffing gaps, and clarified career pathways, resulting in measurable gains in retention, morale, and operational efficiency.

He also specialises in mentorship, leadership grooming, and digital workforce enablement, having implemented mentorship programs for consultancy firms to build leadership pipelines and AI-assisted scheduling dashboards for IT and logistics teams to optimise staffing and reduce fatigue. His practical strategies consistently enhance job value, empower employees, and future-proof workforce capability, delivering tangible outcomes such as smoother operations, higher staff satisfaction, and stronger retention across mid-level and critical roles.