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Chris Davis

Michael Taylor

Today's busy managers need a quick fix to upgrade their skills. A number of local institutions have the answer

HONG KONG executives are busy, often rushing from one business meeting to the next. But they still need to update their business and management skills to cope with the ever-increasing complexity of business activities.

With limited time to spare, short courses, specialised training programmes or executive coaching could ensure sufficient training while accommodating a busy work schedule.

Many of Hong Kong's universities and teaching institutions offer a range of short courses aimed at upgrading skills. Independent commercial operations also offer short-term in-house training programmes and seminars for professionals.

The School of Continuing and Professional Education (Scope),  of  the City University of Hong Kong, offers more than 200 short-term courses three times a year in spring, summer and autumn. These include general interest and short courses in  disciplines such as food hygiene, languages, art and design, business management and Chinese medicine.

Scope director Charles Wong Kit-hung said part-time courses took busy work schedules and family commitments into consideration.

The International Service Alliance (ISA),  which provides training to the tourism and hospitality industry, recently launched a range of short courses spread over three months designed to meet the needs of 12 tourism and hospitality occupations.

Ray Pine,  chairman and one of the ISA founders, said that with 20,000 hotel rooms due to come on-stream over the next five years, there was a need for a well-trained workforce, including hospitality managers and executives.

A former head of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Polytechnic University, Dr Pine said ISA courses were based on the highly successful training programmes developed by the Canadian Tourism and Human Resources Council.

To help companies and individuals keep in touch with changing business trends, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) provides short courses and management seminars covering organisation and people management, strategic selling skills, financial management for non-financial managers and managing intellectual property issues.

These seminars and workshops aim to enhance the overall management skills of executives and entrepreneurs.

HKPC also offers skill-specific programmes such as information technology, data mining, best practices and successful management.

Charlie Lang,  who runs Progress-U Innovative, a professional coaching service, said companies and individuals were increasingly turning to coaching for leadership development, style issues and retaining talent.

'Coaching helps develop sound leadership, outstanding interpersonal practices and the ability to manage organisational conflicts,' Mr Lang said.

Mr Lang, also a co-founder of the Hong Kong Coaching Community (HKCC), said the city was seeing a steady rise in the number of professionals offering coaching services.

HKCC members offer a range of short-term coaching programmes that focus on enterprise, strategic and tactical coaching, personal productivity, personal leadership and selling strategies.

'In our executive coaching engagements, we look at the individual, the organisation and the unique challenges the executive has to face,' Mr Lang said. Working one-on-one, the aim was to develop a '360-degree' picture of the working environment, and identify both general and specific goals.

'Based on the findings, a coaching plan tailored to meet the particular needs and situation is implemented,' he said



Short courses suit hectic work schedules