The fashion industry is one of the most attractive places for young job seekers in Hong Kong to start their career. And, according to international fashion company Hennes & Maritz (H&M), it is essential to start low.
The fashion company offers a two-week introduction training programme for all new recruits. 'It doesn't matter whether you work in the office, in the shop, or on the floor as a sales manager, floor manager or cashier. It is the same,' said Line Juhlin, human resources manager of H&M in Hong Kong.
The programme consists of a five-day theory course, which teaches its employees about the history of the company, customer services and garment knowledge. After that, each employee is expected to practise the theories on the shop floor.
H&M public relations manager Cher Chui said: 'We believe the store is the most important place for us.' She trained on the shop floor as a sales person for three weeks before taking up the PR job. She thinks this helped improve communication between office and frontline staff. 'We get to know the staff, feel the atmosphere and also get [a glimpse] of the experiences of the people who come to shop in our stores,' she said.
After a stint as a sales person in Hong Kong stores, the company provides training for each assigned position. Ms Chui, for example, was trained in Sweden by the Swedish PR team, while Ms Juhlin was sent to the United States for HR training.
Ms Juhlin said: 'It's tailor-made, depending on what position the person is going to get.' She said the company switched employees to different positions and stores. 'We want to develop staff by giving them new challenges in new stores.'