How do you keep your managers engaged and updated on management trends?

Introduction  

A holistic learning and development workforce is crucial to drive high-performing business results. At Wing Hang Bank (WHB), we value the regular technical training that we provide different levels of staff. However, we believe it is also necessary to offer experience-based management development programmes tailor-made for managers to strengthen their management skills.  

Importance  

We believe in the value of real-life business experience in keeping our managers abreast of the latest management philosophy. Early this year, our training department partnered with the Vocational Training Council (VTC) and launched a "High Performing Management Programme for Senior Managers".

This training programme was organised for our senior managerial executives from Hong Kong, Macau, and the mainland from January to March 2011. This is a brand new management programme delivered by VTC using a new approach in delivering management training. The core concept is to engage companies from different industries to share real-life management practices and their success stories. We believe this interactive approach to training is valuable to our senior staff, as they can meet with managers from different companies to share the best practices in various areas of management. We are the first company to partner with VTC by using this new approach for senior staff. 

Programme  

Our programme consisted of five topics, each illustrated with an authentic and local business management case. The companies and topics studied were Sony Corporation of Hong Kong for brand management, Ocean Park for risk management, the Hong Kong and China Gas Company for customer relationship management, McDonald's for human resources management, Fotomax for change management under brand extension. The training for each topic consisted of two parts. In the first part, chaired by a VTC facilitator, the latest management practices were introduced and debated. It was followed by group discussions and presentations.

The second part revolved around a real-life business management case. Senior executives from well-established companies were invited to share their experience and the strategies adopted in tackling the challenges, as well as the actual results. Our senior managers had the opportunity to present their views and to exchange success stories with these executives. An on-site visit to the business was also arranged. 

Feedback and results 

The programme was well-received by our senior managers, and the interactive nature of the programme was welcomed. They spoke highly of the unique opportunity to gain insights from the authentic business management cases of other companies. They also profited from the exchange of managerial experiences with guest executives. Our senior managers found it useful to translate the insights they gained from the programme into strategic visions tailored to WHB values.