Home > Press Releases > 2010 > ERB Manpower Developer Award Scheme The 1st Presentation Ceremony cum Forum

The Employees Retraining Board (ERB) Manpower Developer Award Scheme - the 1st Presentation Ceremony cum Forum was held today (23rd April 2010). A total of 80 organizations have been honoured as the Manpower Developer 1st (MD 1st), in recognition of their commitment and outstanding performance in manpower training and development. The Scheme aims to promote a corporate culture based on manpower training and development among organizations, heighten the awareness of the employers and employees of the importance of on-the-job training and continuous upgrading, and as a result, enhancing the overall competitiveness of Hong Kong.

The Presentation Ceremony was officiated by Chief Executive of the HKSAR, the Hon. Donald TSANG, GBM; Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr. Matthew Cheung, GBS, JP; Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr. Paul Tang, JP, accompanied by the Chairman of the ERB, Dr. NG Tat-lun, BBS, JP; Vice Chairman of the ERB, Mrs. Agnes MAK TANG Pik-yee, JP; and Executive Director of the ERB, Ms Rebecca Pun, JP.

The Chairman of the ERB, Dr. NG Tat-lun, pointed out that after repositioning in mid-2008, ERB endeavors to promote the “Manpower Development Scheme” to foster sustainable development of trainees and help them attain recognized and where appropriate, professional qualifications to enhance their employability and career development. It is now time to promote a corporate culture based on manpower training and development through the launching of the Manpower Developer Award Scheme which acknowledges organizations’ outstanding accomplishments in manpower development. ERB hopes that, through the Award Scheme, it can integrate the power of “Manpower Developers” to promote its mission of manpower development as a core value in Hong Kong society, to encourage organizations to put strong emphasis on employees’ training and development.

Participating organizations can review and evaluate the effectiveness of their strategies and practices in manpower training and development in accordance with a set of objective and stringent assessment criteria established by the independent Technical Consultant. Assessment criteria cover Leading a Learning Culture, Resources Planning, Training and Development System, Performance Management as well as Corporate Social Responsibility in Manpower Development.

80 organizations (10 of them are small and medium enterprises [SME]) having successfully fulfilled the stringent criteria established by the technical consultant, were accredited as Manpower Developers (“MDs”). To acknowledge their taking lead in participating in the Award Scheme, they were honoured as Manpower Developer 1st (“MD 1st”).

These Manpower Developers 1st come from 25 industries, including Retail (11 nos.), Security and Property Management (6 nos.), Real Estate (6 nos.), Information & Communication Technology (5 nos.), Hotel & Catering (5 nos.) and Finance (5 nos.). For the 80 MDs, a total of more than 2.8 million training hours were offered last year, with more than 450,000 employees participated.

Dr Ng Tat-lun added that the MDs adopted multiple approaches on promoting a learning culture, and ensuring the alignment of staff development with business needs. For example, senior management participated as trainers or speakers in staff training programmes, took lead in shaping the corporate culture, incorporated staff development as one of the performance goals of the supervisors, joined steering committees related to staff development, or involved in reviewing the staff development plan.

In view of resources planning, the awarded organizations made a significant growth in the training budget against wages, for which 51% and 60% increases were recorded respectively for the awarded enterprises and SMEs in the reporting year in comparison to the previous year.

The assessment results revealed that the enterprises exhibited systematic approaches in segmenting the employee groups, committing reasonable budget and allocating the programme resources accordingly to meet the anticipating needs of the employee groups. On the other hand, the resources planning in the awarded SMEs were relatively dynamic to meet the ad-hoc needs in staff engagement and business development.

In the development and implementation of training & development system, the majority of the awarded organizations focused not only on integrating the T&D function with core business needs, but to cater for the development of the staff as well, like the provision of training subsidies for employees to enhance their competitiveness, launching of management training programmes and executive trainees programmes, provision of personal attributes training to enhance the skills in communication and customer service, and occupational safety training for enhancement of job safety.

In performance management arena, the management of the awarded organizations normally paid great emphasis on reviewing the effectiveness of the staff development programme through feedback and discussion with the employees, and made refinements accordingly in the planning for subsequent year. The performance appraisal mechanism was systematic and well linked with the system of training and development. In general, organizations provided career advancement for staff with outstanding performance and with potential through job promotions and with relevant training, to help enhance employees’ sense of belonging and job motivation.

More than 80% of the awarded organizations demonstrated strong commitment in Corporate Social Responsibility in Manpower Development in providing working opportunities, work trial schemes or internships for the under-privileged, graduates of the ERB and students, through respective programmes of the ERB, Labour Department, Social Welfare Department, tertiary institutes and training bodies. They are also keen on fostering a balanced development of their employees, like supporting them to take up voluntary work on charity and community projects.

The ERB Manpower Developer Award Scheme is the first and only award scheme to assess the level of maturity of manpower training and development strategies and practices of organizations in Hong Kong. The Scheme aims to promote a corporate culture based on manpower training and development among organizations, recognize and support employers who are committed to manpower training and development.

To ensure the impartiality and credibility of the Scheme, 11 experts in academic and continuing education sectors and prominent figures in professional associations are also invited to become Honorary Advisors of the Scheme to examine the accreditation mechanism. The Scheme has also solicited the support from trade associations and professional bodies in promoting the Scheme and disseminating the latest information of the ERB through their membership networks.

Organizations that fulfill the assessment criteria will be acknowledged as Manpower Developer (MD) within a two-year validity period, subject to renewal. The term of use for “MD 1st” may be permanent for those being accredited subject to their subsequent successful renewal every two years.

Please refer to the Appendix for the list of the awarded organizations. Information can also be obtained through the ERB website www.erb.org.

• Baleno Kingdom Limited
• Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd
• Bossini Enterprises Limited
• Café de Coral Holdings Ltd.
• Canon Hongkong Co. Ltd
• Celestial Asia Securities Holdings Limited
• Centaline Property Agency Limited
• Circle K Convenience Stores (HK) Ltd
• CITIC Ka Wah Bank
• CLP Power Hong Kong Limited
• Convoy Financial Services Ltd
• Dah Chong Hong Holdings Limited
• DFS Hong Kong Limited
• DHL Express (HK) Limited
• DSC Holdings Ltd.
• FANCL
• Fortis Insurance Company (Asia) Limited
• Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong) Limited
• Gammon Construction Limited
• Goodwell Property Management Ltd.
• Hang Yick Properties Management Limited
  (A Member of Henderson Land Group)
• Hewlett-Packard HK SAR Limited
• Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
• Hong Kong Ferry (Holdings) Co. Ltd.
• Hong Kong Housing Society
• Hongkong Land Limited
• Hong Kong School of Motoring
• Hong Kong Wing On Travel Service Limited
• Hong Thai Travel Services Ltd.
• Hong Yip Service Company Limited
• Hopewell Holdings Limited
• Imperial Bird's Nest International Co., Ltd.
• Jebsen & Co Ltd
• Jones Lang LaSalle Management Services Limited
• Jubilee International Tour Centre Ltd.
• Karrie International Holdings Limited
• KCS Hong Kong Limited
• Kerry Logistics
• Kerry Properties Limited
• Langham Hotels International
• Leo Paper Group (Hong Kong) Ltd.
• McDonald's Restaurants (Hong Kong) Ltd.
• Midland Holdings Limited
• New World Development Company Limited
• New York Life Insurance Worldwide Ltd.
• NWS Engineering Group Ltd
• NWS Holdings Limited
• Ocean Park Corporation
• Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd
• Peace Avenue Veterinary Clinic
• Perfect Combo Limited
• Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Limited
• Pizza Hut Hong Kong Management Limited
• Quality HealthCare Medical Services Limited
• Saint Honore Cake Shop Ltd
• sanofi-aventis Hong Kong Limited
• Shui On Construction and Materials Limited
• Shun Hing Electronic Holdings Limited
• Sino Group
• Sony Corporation of Hong Kong Limited
• Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd
• Super Star Group
• Tao Heung Group Limited
• The Dairy Farm Company Limited
• The "Star" Ferry Company, Limited
• Urban Group
• VF Asia Ltd.
• Waihong Environmental Services Limited
• Well Born Real Estate Management Ltd.
  (A Member of Henderson Land Group)
• Zurich Insurance Group (Hong Kong)

• BannerSHOP Co. Ltd
• Charlotte Travel Limited
• E.C. Fix Technology Limited
• Hewitt Associates LLC
• Intimex Business Solutions Co., Ltd.
• Luk Chan Chinese International Education Corporation Limited
• Richform Holdings Limited
• The Chamber of Hong Kong Computer Industry
• Truth & Faith International Ltd.
• Wong Po Kee Ltd