In Hong Kong, it can be difficult to find a company that offers a basic level of training, never mind a comprehensive career development programme, but one company sets itself apart. L'Oreal Hong Kong enrols each new employee in a two-year tailor-made development scheme. The six-level programme, called FIT, aims to provide employees with a crash course in how the company operates, give them a sense of belonging, build loyalty and integrate employees with diverse personal and employment backgrounds.
'L'Oreal FIT helps new employees feel welcome, supported and respected and equips them for the fast-track in the company,' said Bocco Chen, recruitment and integration manager at L'Oreal Hong Kong. 'It is personalised to meet individual needs - employees will spend longer with certain teams or doing certain activities depending on what they need and their role.'
This training carries on the work started by L'Oreal's recruitment programme, which includes the marketing and sales contests Brandstorm and Estrat which identify new talent at universities.
L'Oreal's website states its employees are its greatest asset, and its training programmes suggest it is doing more than just paying lip service to the notion. 'Our learning-for-development is long-term - we don't call it training as it suggests it is one way,' said Mr Chen. 'Our programmes are designed for people who want something back from the process and to be beneficial to employees.'
Split into six stages, the programme begins with a warm welcome to new recruits, followed by activities that allow employees to experience work in the field and get to know L'Oreal's brands and products. 'By visiting clients in salons or by spending time at L'Oreal's counters as a beauty adviser, new staff understand what the end user or customer wants, what the middle user or client wants and how our competitors are doing,' said Cecilia Liu, corporate public relations manager at the company. 'You can't get this experience in the office.'
There is also a series of round table discussions where the managing director discusses the company's goals and culture, and a training session called L'Oreal Discovery. To prepare, new recruits are asked to research a particular brand - what L'Oreal calls 'discovering the DNA of the brand' - and present their findings to the rest of the recruits. 'We don't want to spoon-feed our staff. When they go through the process of going to the shops or asking their colleagues, they truly experience the brand,' said Ms Liu.