Shirley Lee
Head of human resources, ipac Wealth Management Asia
Interaction
To help with transparent, seamless communication, ipac sends regular e-mails to update staff on the latest internal news. Each month our CEO has a "staff communication pack" and we organise regular town hall meetings and discussions for employees to meet senior management. This allows them to put questions and share feedback on company matters, as at the quarterly meetings involving staff from our three country offices in the region. We also have an intranet function called "sharing wisdom", whereby staff can share documents and other information, and respond to surveys and polls. We also conduct an annual employee survey to understand our strengths and encourage staff to share their concerns and opinions. This helps us identify and address areas for improvement.
Importance
As a regional business operating in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, it is important to maintain co-ordination and co-operation between locations. With electronic communications, it is easy enough to share information, but we also need to provide different forums for people to discuss ideas and voice opinions. Doing this promotes interaction and relationship building. The risk otherwise is that people will be working in "silos", with no clear vision or mission to focus on. That would leave them with less sense of purpose and fewer resources to fall back on for assistance and guidance.
Results and feedback
Our staff can share information and readily engage in discussions between departments and country offices. The company benefits from two-way communication between staff and senior management, with both parties sharingfeedback openly, addressing concerns, or highlighting successes.
Sandra Ng
Director of human resources, JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong
Interaction
In our hotel, we have methods to ensure good communication with our associates and between departments. These include a daily rehearsal, which is an information pack prepared by the HR department to highlight any special activities taking place, give updates on training programmes, and pass on useful cultural tips. There are also weekly staff meetings and regular cross-department team-building activities.
Importance
The hotel business is about serving customers and colleagues well. That requires effective communication because we have to make sure that we understand and then meet guest needs and preferences.
Daily procedures in the hotel - from check-in and check-out procedures for guests, to dining services or hosting corporate events - involve many tasks and steps that have to be orchestrated between departments. If one message is not delivered properly, it may lead to a misunderstanding somewhere along the line about what a guest wants or expects. Therefore, effective communication and good teamwork are crucial for us.
Results and feedback
Every year, we conduct an "associate engagement survey". Among the areas it looks at are the level of teamwork between departments and the information each person needs to be able to do a good job. The good news is that we have been getting high scores in these categories. To complement this, we also have a "guest satisfaction survey", results from which reflect a visitor's overall view on the standard of service we have provided. Fortunately, the results have been outstanding and, especially in recent months, we have reached an average satisfaction score of over 80 per cent.
