We are committed to fostering an engaging and respectful work environment for our colleagues to unleash their full potential and inspire them to become our true ambassadors. Our commitment is supported by the following systems that set out the guiding principles, review our performance, promote an open dialogue culture, and grow our talents and put them in the right direction to advance their careers.
Our company has been growing and creating hundreds of direct employed jobs every year. We also observe the challenges of retaining our talents and attracting new people into the hospitality sector as the world changes and our industry transforms. We must continue to adapt to remain competitive and relevant.
We reinforce our company employer branding through engaging our colleagues contractually, experientially and emotionally through the entire employment life cycle. Eventually, we want our colleagues to be proud of working with us and we remain employer of choice.
In the coming years, we will focus on the following three critical components:
Respect for employee rights is fundamental to our human resources principles. As clearly stated in our Group Employee Rights and Equal Opportunities Policy, we are committed to a fair working environment that is free of discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation.
We also promote equal access to employment. We recruit and develop individuals solely on the basis of their suitability for the job, regardless of gender, age, nationality, religion or disability. We monitor our diversity profile through our workforce profile report including the distribution of gender, minorities and local hiring information.
We prioritise hiring the general workforce from the local community or country. We sometimes recruit expatriates meaning those colleagues who require a work visa. Their overseas’ hotel experiences and knowledge are critical to our business development and are essential to groom our local workforces for future success.
We continue to encourage the integration of employees with disabilities by offering them career opportunities and also implementing initiatives to address their special needs in the workplace. For example, Hong Chi Association in Hong Kong is our long-term partner with our hotels in Hong Kong. They are a non-profit making organization in Hong Kong dedicated to serving people of all ages and all grades of intellectual disabilities and their families. Some of their trainees are our long-serving employees in the company.
We are committed to creating an environment for our colleagues to achieve their career aspiration and at the same time nurturing a team of competent and motivated colleagues. Our groupwide learning and development programmes are made up of the First60 Certification programme, Langham Curriculum Certification (LCC), and Advanced Programme for Executives (APEX). These programmes help our colleagues gain new skills and experiences which they need to deliver in their current and future jobs.
Colleague performance is evaluated and benchmarked annually through our performance management system PRIDE (Performance Results Indicator & Development Engine). Colleagues are assessed based on their goal achievements and competency attainments during the year. A training and development plan will be designed accordingly to elevate their performance to the next level. Besides assessing performance, PRIDE also identifies peak performers, who will be put in the talent pool of the succession planning system and a high potential database. Peak performers are given exposure to different functions, taking up special assignments to accumulate skills and experiences in wider disciplines.
Caring for our colleagues begins with the health, safety and wellness of our colleagues. Our Group Occupational Health and Safety Policy ensures that all hotels maintain their health and safety systems that are consistent with local operating conditions and legislation, ensuring that our colleagues are able do their work safely. The senior management, human resources directors and security departments oversee these systems. The effectiveness of the system is monitored together with the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) system so that our improvement teams can effectively analyse the data, detect problem root causes, run improvement action plans and follow up on the results.
We promoted the wellness of colleagues globally through annual Global CONNECT events, such as Colleague Wellness Month and CONNECT to Happiness Day to celebrate the International Date of Happiness. The Colleague Wellness Month, for example, was dedicated to promoting a wellness culture and engaging colleagues in becoming happier, healthier, and more energetic people at the workplace. Wellness promotion programmes included, colleague health screening, info sessions on financial wellness and mental health, vistance health challenge, and various exercises classes like Zumba, Salsa, meditation and yoga. Healthy food was also included in the colleague canteen menu with rainbow coloured diet, superfoods, fresh fruit and smoothies.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are closely linked to our values and our culture of respect for colleagues, guests, and other parties involved in our business activities, and our communities. In 2021, we issued the Group’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy which sets out our commitment to fostering, cultivating and preserving a culture of valuing diversity and inclusiveness and upholding principles of equity.
Communication is one of our core values. We encourage open communication to create an inclusive and collaborative workplace culture for our colleagues. We ensure effective dialogue with our colleagues proactively by using a variety of communication channels such as SHOWTIME (daily briefing session), Daily Legend (daily newsletter), Town hall meetings and our intranet to communication clearly. We engage with colleagues informally through social media, annual parties, and outings to enhance their sense of belonging.
We also engage our colleagues more formally through the annual Colleague Satisfaction Survey at all hotels, conducted by an independent research company. The survey provides us with the opportunity to obtain feedback from our colleagues on key issues, and measure employee engagement.
