FAB TALKS
People power
SSP Asia Pacific People Director Patty Wong was joined by Plaza Premium Group Director of Global Brand and Transformation Mei Mei Song to address a wide range of employee engagement topics, not least how to monitor staff happiness.
The duo examined how the workplace has changed post-pandemic, with both highlighting a trend for staff wanting to come back into offices and retail spaces in Asia Pacific.
The session was moderated by FAB Editor-in-Chief Elişa Roche, who admitted: “I am by no means an HR expert. But I am someone who has held many jobs and who can tell the difference between a great manager and company culture, and a not-so-great one.”
The on-stage discussion analysed what makes a rewarding atmosphere at work, concluding that people like to feel heard, to have flexibility and to enjoy opportunities for progression.
Song spoke about growing up in airports and how the travel industry feels like a part of her DNA. “I guess my party trick is that I still have the map of every airport in the world in my head,” she joked. Plaza Premium Group was founded by her father Song Hoi-see in 1998 and she has worked there for 11 years, after spending four-and-a-half years as a staff writer and, eventually, Editor of Tatler Hong Kong magazine.
Meanwhile Wong’s earlier career was in global executive search, collaborating with clients across various industries on senior leadership appointments. She described herself as “naturally optimistic” and said she loved working in HR because she wanted to “uplift and support others”.
The working week
Both speakers talked about how variety fuels their own excitement surrounding their jobs, stating that no two weeks are ever the same.
“When there is a new business opportunity, it’s my job to bring everyone together,” said Song as she described her role. “So I will work together with the product team, the design team, the marketing team, the experience team and so on to make absolutely sure that this idea can be executed. We are not short on good ideas, but it’s essential that they can translate into reality. If it can, I then work with the wider staff to make sure everybody understands the new concept.
“This business is so fast, and it changes all the time,” she continued. “If you had asked me five years ago what we do, I would have said we do lounges and hotels. But now? We do all of that and airport passenger services, benefits programmes, F&B – and it carries on growing. So you can see why internal communication is so crucial so that everybody can keep up and that’s another big part of my job.
“I spend a lot of my time trying to meet as many people in the company as possible because everyone comes from different backgrounds and perspectives. I will listen and then try to connect everyone so that we’re getting this great cross-section of collaborators and internal networking going on.”
Wong agreed that her role also varies widely from day-to-day.
“No day or week is ever the same and especially in the past three years during and post-pandemic,” she said. “As HR professionals we had to be really creative in our job while all that was happening. At the start of COVID we had to put contingency measures in place to make sure staff were looking after themselves and being safe around others.
“Now, we are still rebuilding organisations, while rapidly adapting to new workforce trends such as the hybrid model. But I’m really noticing that a lot of workers prefer to be in the office, especially in Asia Pacific, and it’s the same for front and back-of-house teams. I see that as a really good sign of recovery. It’s a much more enriching experience to be with other people.”
SSP Asia Pacific People Director Patty Wong shares a light moment with FAB Editor-in-Chief Elişa Roche
The elusive work-life balance
Wong said transparency, team culture and communication is crucial in all people matters but there is “no silver bullet” to a work-life balance for bosses or employees in the challenging airport food & beverage environment. She did, however, offer the opinion that the 24-hour nature of the business allows a good degree of flexibility.
“The work-life balance is something that is extremely personal to each individual and so there isn’t one model that fits all.” she said. “For some people it could mean being busy and getting stuck into a variety of projects and for others it could mean finishing on-the-dot when their shift ends to get home to family.”
SSP, she noted, works with Gallup to regularly monitor employee sentiment about their working lives, to help shape employment policy. She highlighted SSP Group CEO Patrick Coveney’s travels to more than 30 SSP markets in the last year, during which he talked to employees, learning more about their roles and experiencing their challenges first hand.
Staff also participate in SSP’s ‘Fly, Learn & Grow’ initiative, which gives them opportunities to travel and see how things work across the company’s different markets.
Song noted that PPG has a high percentage of loyal employees who have been with the business a long time, and she described a feeling of “family and camaraderie” among staff. Many employees get opportunities to work and travel with PPG pre-opening teams, using their skill sets to help the company enter new airport markets.
Senior managers are encouraged to work and observe at PPG airport facilities to ensure they are grounded in the challenges of staff working on the ‘shop floor’. Song herself tries to do this as often as she can. During the pandemic, she built a co-working space from scratch in Dubai airport so that colleagues could work together safely.
“In any company, it helps to be transparent about your purpose,” she said. “Our company focus and strapline is on ‘making travel better’ and so that has to translate to the people who work with us too. I want colleagues to always understand why we are doing something and also to understand what value they have to us.”
FAB eZine
January 2024
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