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Several learning programmes and engaging activities have been activated to help colleagues to find their personal passion at work, what is known as their very own ‘Shangri-La’.
This article is brought to you by Shangri-La Group
Headquartered in Hong Kong SAR, Shangri-La Group, part of the Kuok Group, has grown from a single hotel business to a diverse and integrated global portfolio comprising quality real estate and investment properties, wellness and lifestyle facilities. The Group owns, operates and manages 100+ hotels which our culture of thoughtful service and genuine care underpins our family of four brands: Shangri-La, Kerry Hotels, JEN by Shangri-La, and Traders.
As the business, socio-economic, and workforce landscapes continue to change rapidly, Shangri-La Group has updated its business strategies to stay relevant.
An organisational transformation journey has been underway since January 2023 to ensure strategy, people, and process challenges are addressed. Under this change journey, human capital strategies have been refreshed to support and drive the 2030 aspirations of becoming the best-loved hospitality group, pioneering new horizons and setting new benchmarks. A key focus has been enhancing the employee experience, particularly in response to the challenges posed by the pandemic.
With culture and engagement at the heart of all HR programmes, three innovative ideas are in place to embed the unique Shangri-La Culture and foster excellence in workplace. This includes:
- Supporting colleagues to “Find your Shangri-La”: A global brand campaign produced by a GRAMMY-award-winning director, which demonstrates how Shangri-La creates joyful moments and lasting memories for its guests, which was adapted for employees to participate in as well.
- Translating culture into a set of norms, languages, and behaviours: A new recognition programme called 'Moments of Joy' (MOJ) to recognise commendable guest feedback for the employees, enable peer-to-peer appreciation, and nominate colleagues who demonstrate Shangri-La Culture beliefs, empowerment or innovation.
- Weaving Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) into business and culture: The refreshed ESG strategy, namely, the triple S of “Stay, Savour, and Shine” builds on increased engagement with internal and external stakeholders.
“We have translated our organisational culture into tangible norms, languages, and behaviours, enabling our colleagues to easily connect their personal values with those of the company,” shares Vivian Zhuo, Group Chief Human Resources Officer, Shangri-La Group.
As part of the cultural refresh, updates were made to all other benefit strategies as well. For example, apart from MOJ, a global employee benefit was re-launched in June 2023, that offers exclusive complimentary room nights and discounted staff rates in order for colleagues who have marked their service milestones in the Group to enjoy Shangri-La’s Asian hospitality from the heart.
Several innovations have been introduced under the Group’s learning umbrella as well.
Besides the traditional 'buy' and 'build' strategy, Shangri-La is developing its Management Trainee programme (called ‘S+ MT’), which focuses on building young talents on their early career stage, especially the ones from non-hospitality backgrounds. This two-year programme aims to nurture next-gen business leaders and unleash their innovativeness to a new horizon. Going an additional two years to develop leaders, talents are equipped with functional and leadership knowledge & skills to meet Shangri-La’s future business needs, such as in the roles of Resident Manager and General Manager.
The results are commendable – 70% of the participants are indeed from non-hotel industry backgrounds, bringing new ideas to the fore, and the programme has seen a 96% retention rate.
Taking learning a step further, Shangri-La Academy, the Group’s learning and development function, supports the transformation journey to empower people to cultivate the mindsets, behaviours, and skills necessary to achieve the Group’s vision 2030.
The goal of the Shangri-La Academy is to assist every colleague in a continuous learning journey, from the basic skills to more complex leadership building. Till date, over 1,500 online and hybrid programmes have been curated and mapped to create different learning journeys to build organisational capabilities.
Among the senior levels, leadership development is equally crucial for Shangri-La to cultivate effective leaders, drive performance, engage colleagues, promote innovations, and ensure long-term success. Under the Group's 2022 – 2025 human capital strategy, leadership & succession is one of the main focus areas to strengthen senior leadership and develop talent pipeline. This commitment continuously build a forward-thinking leadership capabilities and align the leader’s understanding that will support Shangri-La’s sustained success in pursue of the next horizon.
Whilst the pandemic was one of the most challenging periods in Shangri-La’s history, clearly the company took the crisis as an opportunity to reaffirm its commitment in enhancing the employee experience and delivering a signature brand of heartfelt Asian hospitality. It is in the company’s nature to look after its people, to anticipate their needs and to care for them. Not only are the employees motivated to give of their best, they bring the Shangri-La magic to life.
Zhuo affirms: “Cultivating talent across Shangri-La Group is an ongoing, multi-year journey to which we are fully committed.
“After all, our people are our most valuable asset and cornerstone of our success. We not only financially invest in their growth and development, but equally important, we passionately invest in them emotionally to help them find their own ‘Shangri-La’ in Shangri-La.”
Photos / Shangri-La Group
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