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From store floors to international roles, UNIQLO Singapore ensures every employee is set up to lead with confidence and integrity. Juliana Tan, Human Resources Director, explains how values, development, and inclusion come together to shape a high-performance culture.
At UNIQLO Singapore, employees are seen as more than just team members. They are changemakers who contribute directly to the business. According to Juliana Tan (pictured above), Human Resources Director, the company creates an environment where employees are empowered from day one and supported through each step of their journey.
In this interview with Umairah Nasir, Juliana shares how UNIQLO cultivates leadership through inclusion, values, and diversity. She also reflects on a key HR lesson that shaped her own journey.
Everyone is a business leader
UNIQLO’s high-performance culture is guided by the corporate mission of its parent company, FAST RETAILING: 'Changing clothes. Changing conventional wisdom. Change the world'. This mission is not just an ideal, but a guiding principle across all operations.
Tan shares that UNIQLO adopts Global One and Zen-in Keiei management principles. These encourage employees to think and act with a managerial mindset, no matter their job title or employment type. During hiring, the team looks for individuals who share FAST RETAILING’s customer-first approach and demonstrate strong ethics and integrity. These qualities allow every staff member whether permanent or part-time to contribute as a business leader.
Living the values every day
Employees at UNIQLO are introduced to the company’s values from the start. More importantly, these values stay relevant because of what Tan describes as a genuine belief in the company’s mission. She adds:
"To us, corporate growth is closely tied to personal growth, and all employees have the ability to play an active role on a global stage."
To reinforce this belief, FAST RETAILING maintains a flat hierarchy. Each year, more than 2,000 official meetings are held between upper management executives and Tadashi Yanai, founder of FAST RETAILING. These sessions create space for open conversations, helping local teams align closely with the organisation’s values and organisation spirit.
LifeWear as a way of working
As Tan tells us, UNIQLO’s LifeWear philosophy is not just a concept or about product design. It is embedded in how teams operate. and in every part of the busness. :This starts with inculcating a culture internally - from terming our Headquarters Store Support Centre (SSC) to the way we hire and train our staff," she shares.
For example, fresh graduates can apply for the UNIQLO Management Candidate (UMC) Programme, which fast-tracks them to become future store managers. The programme equips them with the skills to lead teams, manage sales floors, and refine their leadership abilities.
During peak periods such as the bi-annual Thank You Festival and festive holidays, staff from across departments are called to support retail stores. This encourages deeper connection with customers and helps teams better understand the products they serve.
Employees are also offered immersive opportunities to connect with UNIQLO’s broader mission to sustainability. These include factory tours, UNIQLO Access Training focused on diversity and inclusion, and The Heart of LifeWear volunteer programme for migrant workers. These experiences, Tan says, help employees build stronger ties to the brand’s purpose.
Motivating employees through flexible growth
Keeping employees engaged comes down to relationship-building and offering room to grow. UNIQLO’s corporate culture is built on complete meritocracy and a unique promotion and demotion scheme. This allows staff to take on bold new challenges, whether they are early in their careers or joining mid-way.
"With our unique approach to talent management, employees do not have to adhere to a traditional career path."
Some staff have progressed from a UMC candidate to a store manager. Others have moved between SSC, and international assignments. Tan adds that UNIQLO Singapore’s longest-serving employee has been with the company for 16 years, thanks in part to this flexibility and opportunity for horizontal transfers.
Inclusion through action
UNIQLO’s MADE FOR ALL philosophy underpins its approach to inclusion. The company believes that everyone has a role to play in society and that retail can be a platform for positive change.
In Singapore, nearly 30 persons with intellectual disabilities (PWIDs) are employed across stores, earning the company the Enabling Mark (Gold) in recognition of its inclusive hiring practices. Since 2018, UNIQLO has partnered with APSN Delta Senior School to train and integrate PWIDs into its workforce. Store managers and teammates also receive professional training from Serving SPD to learn how to work alongside and support these colleagues.
Diversity at the company, Tan affirms, goes beyond ability. The Singapore team includes over 14 nationalities, and 67% of leadership positions are held by women.
"Having a diverse team helps foster a more inclusive environment, which ultimately provides different perspectives on how we can provide the best experience for our customers," she shares.
Building empathy through accessibility training
The UNIQLO Access Training offers staff a hands-on understanding of how persons with disabilities navigate daily experiences in retail stores such as using changing rooms, walking through narrow aisles, or reaching for high shelves.
Tan says the training not only teaches staff how to assist customers more confidently but also encourages awareness of non-visible disabilities.
"This empathy towards others is something that will not only help them serve customers better but also become better team players and leaders in the long run, which further strengthens the UNIQLO workforce."
Supporting global career growth
At UNIQLO, employees are given opportunities to build careers on a global scale. Career journeys can start in stores, at headquarters, or overseas, and progress across roles and countries.
To take an example, Tan talks about two employees: One joined the Japan operations team after graduating from university, later becoming a store manager in Japan before moving onto the Product Planning Division in the global headquarters. This employee currently holds the Asia Regional COO position.
The second, she shares, is an employee who joined the UK operations as a mid-career hire, becoming a store and then regional manager in the UK. After these roles, he launched his first store as store manager in EU new markets and today, he is the COO of EU Operations.
Staff also travel internationally for global convention and functional meetings. In turn, executive managers from global headquarters visit local sites to support teams on the ground. This is a reflection of the company’s Global One and Zen-in Keiei philosophy in practice.
Stories that show what’s possible
The leader points to several success stories that reflect the impact of UNIQLO’s people strategy. One standout is Nghi Le Huu Gia, who joined through the UMC Programme and became an area manager by the age of 28. As of March 2025, more than half of leadership and managerial roles in UNIQLO Singapore are held by women.
On the inclusion front, Johannes Cheong, a retail associate with down syndrome, has been with UNIQLO for over a decade. A graduate of the MINDS Hi-Job! Job Placement Job Support Programme (JPJS), he is also an avid badminton player and proof that inclusive hiring leads to meaningful careers.
One lesson from the ground
When asked about the most valuable lesson she has learnt in her HR career, Tan puts it simply: “Growth often comes outside of your comfort zone.”
She notes that being in a role that feels unfamiliar, or challenging is often the point where employees level up and learn how to become stronger technical experts and business leaders.
Photo / Provided
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