Fostering the next generation of management is a critical responsibility in any company. The chronic problem for companies aiming to maintain sustainability is provision of an effective training system.

Guests at the luncheon meeting agreed that business needs to show willingness to hire young people. At the same time, speakers said corporate openness ought to be coupled with efforts by government and educational institutions. Still there is no panacea. Much of the effort aimed at effective training requires trial and error as well as innovative thinking.

Professor T S Chan, associate vice president (administration and planning) of Lingnan University, said that young people, notably the post-80s youth, are discouraged by lack of opportunities for them. "Reading a lot of books is not equal to excellence. Young people need more exposure to new things through exchange programs or internships," he said.

However, Patrick Wu, president and managing director at American Appraisal China Ltd, pointed out that "there is no mentoring system in Hong Kong companies as far as I can see."

Searching various recruiting websites, one can find a flood of Management Trainee programs, with bold descriptions about future career development. Yet Chong Got, managing director at Premium Motors Limited, said managers are often "scared" when they are assigned to coach a trainee. "Managers are very busy and have no time to teach from zero. Another concern is that each Management Trainee program involves at most five to 10 students. Considering the thousands of graduates every year, such a program really cannot be counted on too much," he said.

Instead of Management Trainee programs, Got put up an alternative approach which he named "the Business Experience program." The aim of such a program is to provide young people experience in a real business environment by rotating them through various positions in a company. Each week, the company can invite 10 students and assign them to different departments, such as marketing and customer service on a daily basis. Students are not taught but shown how a company operates in reality. By the end of the 5-day program, each student leaves having experienced a complete round of the business operation. "Instead of scrambling for a very limited quota, it can help more students by providing them a real-world business experience," he said.

Viveca Chan, chairman and CEO of WE Marketing Group, thinks Got's idea is a good one. She says it would encourage more companies, such as SMEs, to participate. Robert Young, director at Yip's Chemical Holdings Ltd, thinks that particular approach serves a different purpose. He still believes a more formal Management Trainee program is a good investment. Citing his experiences at Yip's Chemical, he said that the talented personnel who emerge from Management Trainee programs can shoulder greater responsibilities and move into leading roles.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung urged businesses to open their doors to the young, saying that "one opportunity can be life-changing." He said that to relieve budget concerns of companies, the minimum wage bill will not cover temporary internships. He said he hoped that will encourage companies to create more internships.

According to Cheung, the government has also extended the scope of the Working Holiday Scheme, the bilateral agreements signed between the SAR government and other governments. Under these schemes, Hong Kong citizens aged from 18 to 30 are permitted short-term employment in partner countries. The purpose of the one-year working visa arrangement is to broaden the international experience of young people. According to Cheung, Australia has recently lifted its yearly quota of 1,000 temporary placements for Hong Kong. After several rounds of negotiation, an agreement with Japan finally came into effect early this year.

China Daily

(HK Edition 07/30/2010 page4)