Marriott Asia Pacific Management, participating in the Best Employers in Hong Kong awards for the first time this year, took eighth place. In Hong Kong, the company has a regional office with staff in sales & marketing, information resources (information technology), architecture & contract (new hotel development), lodging operations and human resources. The office also manages three hotels, namely JW Marriott Hotel, New World Renaissance Hotel and Renaissance Harbour View Hotel. The award study covered the regional office and the three hotels. The employee questionnaires were randomly sent to 500 staff within the four units. The regional office works closely with the three hotels to ensure that the corporate values and human resources practices are being implemented consistently. Among the various practices for staff retention and development, Lillian Poon, vice-president, human resources for the Asia Pacific & Australia region, is particularly pleased with the training and development initiatives. 'We have different levels of training, ranging from a 15-minute daily session to an annual 40-hour management training. 'Before a day starts, all the staff are put through a 15-minute training session. In addition, there is training for new hires, which is called Marriott First 90 days, to ensure the new employees know the company and their job well.' Managers are also required to attend core management training and management development programmes. To provide all this training, the hotel maintains a first-class network of international trainers. 'We have external consultants, and we also have certified trainers within Marriott. The training programmes include the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and First Things First by Stephen Covey, plus various management courses,' says Ms Poon. Frequent skills training is provided across different disciplines, such as sales and marketing, food and beverage, and engineering. 'Through these training programmes, we are able to achieve a relatively low staff turnover rate compared to the market,' Ms Poon says. 'The hotel group conducts Associate Opinion Survey periodically and has frequently received positive feedback from staff on their training and development programmes.' Besides strong training and development, the hotel group also emphasises staff recognition. 'We have an annual associate appreciation week each May. All the 2,500 hotels globally will celebrate and recognise staff contributions within that week.'
