Huttons Congress 2022

Today, Huttons Group announced the winners for Huttons Innovation Challenge, its commitment to environmental sustainability, innovative technology for its associates as well as refreshed its new vision and mission for the company.

The event was witnessed by Minister for National Development & Minister-in-Charge of Social Services Integration, Mr Desmond Lee, who graced Huttons Congress 2022 as Guest-of-Honour.

“After conducting in-depth data analysis and focus groups, I am proud to unveil our new vision and mission and key initiatives to position Huttons for the future. Our associates are talents with diverse backgrounds and experiences. 67% of them are Postgraduate Degree, Bachelor Degree and Diploma holders. Therefore, we have to constantly innovate through technology and training to serve them better,” Mr Mark Yip, Chief Executive Officer of Huttons Group proudly announces.

Firstly, Huttons Innovation Challenge, an industry-first initiative which was launched earlier in April, saw enthusiastic participation and quality submissions from the youths for the transformation of real estate. Participants explored topics such as the metaverse, smart, algorithm-based & AI technology, hybrid working arrangements affecting the demand in commercial and residential real estate and more.

The winners of Huttons Innovation Challenge received their recognition from Minister Desmond Lee in the finale. The 1st prize winners are a team of undergrads from NUS Business School, Department of Real Estate who walked away with $25,000 cash for their idea in sustainability through ‘URL’; Utility, Reliability and Liveability. The first and second runner-ups both tackled potential solutions for developers to leverage on the metaverse to market physical residential properties. Read the winning submissions’ summaries here: https://innovation.huttonsgroup.com/

Mr Lee said, “Real estate professionals play an important role to help clients understand the broader trends that affect the property market, and help them to make sound decisions. In fulfilling these significant responsibilities, it is important for the industry to continue to transform, to serve your clients better.

I am glad that Huttons and other industry players have continued to pursue initiatives in training and innovation. And through the inaugural Huttons Innovation Challenge, Huttons is galvanising students to re-imagine how we can transform the industry.

Please keep up the good work, continue to push ahead with an innovative spirit, and let’s bring Singapore forward together.”

Secondly, Huttons will commit to raise up to $150,000 towards the Garden City Fund’s Plant-A-Tree programme in support of the OneMillionTrees movement under NParks. The Garden City Fund (GCF) is NParks’ registered charity and IPC established in 2002. The support will contribute to Singapore’s transformation into a City in Nature, which is a key pillar under the Singapore Green Plan 2030. Trees play an important role in creating a livable environment serving as natural air filters, reflecting radiant heat and provide ambient temperatures through shade and evapotranspiration; and help to mitigate the urban heat island effect and climate change.

Mr Tan Chong Lee, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Development & Services Cluster, National Parks Board added, “It is heartening to see more corporations participating and supporting the OneMillionTrees movement. We are encouraged by Huttons’ commitment to take the lead to involve its community of property agents and clients to contribute to Singapore’s City in Nature vision. Their support will help us work towards our goal of planting one million more trees in Singapore by 2030 and ensuring that we continue to conserve our natural heritage and create a better living environment in Singapore for generations to come.”

Mr Yip said: “We raised almost $120,000 for Children’s Cancer Foundation in our December 2021 charity drive, and have been conducting monthly activities to go the extra mile for our society. This new pledge to plant up to 500 trees in a year further solidifies Huttons’ corporate social responsibility for the wider community.”

Internally, a new 30-day training programme; Start At Huttons, will enable associates to accelerate their careers by learning from senior leaders. The comprehensive topics include digital and social media marketing, virtual presentations, different market segments of real estate, relationship building and other soft skills. Ongoing open sharing sessions from top leaders and producers will further enhance associates’ productivity and efficiency.

On the tech front, Huttons launched several new features in their dynamic apps. The Ultimate Resale Search in LINK UP will complement Ultimate Project Search for associates to help clients search for their dream homes quickly based on different criteria from popular property listing platforms. They would be able to export the recommendations as a professional report and showcase to clients on the move.

The new Huttons Knowledge Management System (KMS) in Huttons i-Portal enables associates to search for information across projects, trainings, research, marketing materials and more easily via keyword search similar to Google. They may then share essential details to teammates or potential clients effectively.

“We aim to be the number one agency of choice, known both locally and internationally for providing the highest quality service, leveraging on innovative technology, market leading knowledge and training,” Mr Yip concludes.