SHKP Quarterly

To foster a creative culture, Hong Yip encourages staff to think out of the box and put forward new, timely suggestions to address changes in real-life situations. Through the Innovative Suggestion Scheme Competition, for example, staff are encouraged to make bold and creative proposals to drive the company's continuous improvement. Furthermore, Hong Yip promotes a culture of service excellence through the annual Service Appreciation Scheme since 2015. The aim of the scheme is to recognize outstanding front- line staff, while facilitating mutual learning and healthy competition among them. "A mature team requires all members to perform their respective functions, while giving full play to their strengths, coupled with complementary support, and most importantly, open and sincere communication. Many great ideas can be put into practice only after the team goes through several rounds of discussions, as well as problem identification and resolution. Without a good communication culture, it is difficult to implement even the best concept." To Alkin, 'colleagues' are not only close partners at work, but also companions who share common interests. He enjoys singing and ball games, and tries to join the company's weekly table tennis night. He said, "The Group's Chairman always reminds us to maintain a good work-life balance." By joining activities like ball games and singing, they can enhance their relationship with colleagues, learn more about each other's views and ideas, and build a stronger team. Working hard and playing hard with colleagues – this may well be the secret to Alkin's close relationship with his team. Hong Yip has also proactively developed mobile apps to strengthen communication between customers and staff for better work efficiency. An integrated estate mobile app, called SoProp, enables owners and occupants to keep abreast of the latest information about their estates, pay their management fees and book clubhouse services. Owners and occupants can also receive their digital management fee invoices through email and customer web portal, which replaces traditional print invoices for greater convenience and eco-friendliness. This suggestion earned Hong Yip the gold award in SHKP's 24th Quality Raising Suggestion Scheme. In addition, a mobile app developed by Hong Yip in 2014, called WeCom, enables real-time delivery of internal training programme updates, staff event updates and messages from management, which helps bring staff closer together. Innovation for a truly smart home As Internet instant messaging technology has matured, Hong Yip has introduced chatbots to newly completed residential developments to respond to customers' enquiries in real time with prompt follow-up action. Multilingual chatbots are adopted, providing 24-hour support for residents from around the world. Alkin said that the era of smart homes has quietly arrived, and Hong Yip is poised to take advantage of this. The SoProp mobile app offers various value-added services catering for the needs of different residential estates. For example, residents of Victoria Harbour, a luxury property development in North Point, can use the mobile app to order food from the clubhouse restaurant and have it delivered direct to their home. The mobile app has even got a 'Visitor Go' function. Residents can send a QR code to visitors who can use it to enter the estate and take the lift to the residents' floor, thus taking the visitors' privacy considerations into account and satisfying the security needs of the estate. In addition, the serviced apartments Victoria Harbour Residence features an intelligent home system, called Home Automation, which enables residents to control their home appliances, such as lighting, air- conditioning and TV, both at home and away from home. Adding value to properties to maintain their timelessness In addition to providing innovative property management services for new developments, Hong Yip regularly carries out improvement works in projects that were completed in early years to enhance their value, including eco- friendly and energy-saving facility upgrades (such as rooftop and vertical greening), fire safety enhancement of buildings and security measures. Take Sun Hung Kai Centre as an example, which is almost 40 years old. As the Group's headquarters, with tenants including large corporations and foreign consulates, the building needs continuous improvements to meet the latest standards for grade-A offices. To put green management into practice, Hong Yip optimized the lift and air-conditioning systems of Sun Hung Kai Centre and installed smart dynamic sensors in the common areas to reduce energy consumption. Through continuous innovation and improvement throughout the years, Sun Hung Kai Centre recently achieved the Excellent rating under 'Energy Use' in the BEAM Plus Existing Buildings V2.0 Scheme. Grooming talent and building positive team spirit Proper t y management is a challenging business, as it involves providing services for an extensive range of customers, and managing a large number of staff to ensure premium service quality. As senior management, Alkin has held many public service positions over the years (see table), which has allowed him to keep close tabs on industry development and peers, while steering the company forward along with the industry. Alkin believes that having an innovative and confident team is the cornerstone of Hong Yip's success. "The times are constantly changing, so I need to build a team that is willing to move out of their comfort zone, dare to innovate and make changes. Hong Yip has an in-house echelon training programme to prepare future leaders for the company." Hong Yip established the People Development Academy in 2007, offering its staff a wide range of professional training courses to enhance their professionalism and customer service skills. A confident and innovative team is the cornerstone of Hong Yip's success 富自信和具創意的團隊，是康業成功的基石 17