Department stores
IF YOU HEAD down to the menswear division of Lane Crawford in Central's IFC mall, you will find one proud manager. Winner of the supervisory level award in the department stores category was Andy Fong Chi-hang, a passionate but modest retailer.
'I love the industry I work in. I always give my heart to the customer who I am serving,' he said.
Fresh from accepting his award, he stands next to four of his junior frontline colleagues who also enrolled in the HKRMA programme but did not win.
'We were hoping to win the team award this year, but SmarTone beat us to it. Maybe next year.' Unblemished enthusiasm and wide grins still remain on all their faces.
Mr Fong clearly takes his management role seriously, stating that his relationship with his staff is just as important as with his customers. 'I am always talking with them. If they have a problem, I'll listen to them and try to solve it. It's important to have a solid level of trust - it's great for teamwork and is a way of upgrading and improving our customer service,' he said.
Lane Crawford offers interactive classroom training followed by on-floor coaching. The training team works closely with the store management team to balance concepts with real-life cases. 'The company provides us with training and then, on the sales floor, I do my best to implement it,' said Mr Fong, who has been with the retailer for 41/2 years.
