From its beginnings as a watch retailer, the Emperor Group has expanded into a diversified group of businesses that includes financial services, property, watch and jewellery, entertainment, hospitality, media, furniture and furnishings, and food and beverage.
Representatives from the group will be on hand at the Career Forum to talk about its 18-month Executive Trainee Programme. The programme nurtures the brightest graduates so that they can be fast-tracked to managerial level, with trainees expected to become managers within five years, says Dr Tina Au-Yeung, Emperor Group’s human resources director.
The programme is comprised of three stages. During the induction stage, trainees are given an overview of the group’s businesses and a culture orientation, and get the chance to meet Emperor’s managing directors. Extensive rotations take place during the exposure stage, where trainees work in different business functions within the part of the group they have elected. Finally, the familiarisation stage sees trainees learn back-office roles such as finance, human resources and IT.
Throughout the programme, trainees attend designated classroom training in addition to the job rotations. They are also regularly assigned different tasks and projects during the programme to put their hard and soft skills to the test. Upon completion, they have to present to the CEO and senior management and are then evaluated on their performance and potential. “The group’s managing directors will also be present at their final project presentation,” Au-Yeung says.
While presenting in front of the board may sound like a daunting task, the group offsets the pressure of such activities with social networking events after work, where trainees can meet fellow colleagues from different departments in a more informal setting.
“There are programmes and activities to help trainees settle into our diversified ‘families’,” Au-Yeung says, “though they should also be proactive in integrating themselves into the work environment and make an effort to get to know team members from different departments.”
Emperor Group sees mentoring as one of the critical factors in the career success of its executive trainees. “Mentors have many vital roles and responsibilities: they are teachers and role models, agents, networkers, and counsellors,” Au-Yeung says. “Emperor adopts an informal approach at this stage, with a 30-45 minute meeting every three weeks in which a mentor acts as a sounding board for the mentee.” The trainee’s career aspirations are discussed throughout the whole mentoring process, she adds.
Au-Yeung advises students who are considering applying to the programme in a year or two not to just focus on academic studies, but familiarise themselves with the industry they want to work in so as to impress at the application stage.
