biz.hk Dec 2013 Supplement by The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

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Riding the ups and downs of the volatile airline business, Delta Air Lines is flying high registering impressive growth in Asia for the past three year. It will set a new milestone next summer when it introduces a non-stop service between Hong Kong and Seattle

By Megaen Kelly

12 Рђб 2013

Vinay Dube

here are two terms common to the entertainment industry that can apply to the Delta of today: one is reimagine, which means to “form a new concept of or to renew.” The other is reboot, which in Hollywood terms means to “revive or give fresh impetus to.” These concepts may sound strange to apply to a company that is getting ready to celebrate its 85th anniversary next year, but according to Vinay Dube, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, “We are not the Delta of five, six, seven, or even three years ago.” While he was addressing these remarks specifically to the BusinessElite cabin of Delta’s fleet, Dube succinctly sums up the airline’s changing attitude to its services and business operations. From humble beginnings as an aerial crop dusting operation in the 1920s, Delta has grown – through mergers and increased workforce and carriers – to become one of the world’s largest airlines. But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. There have been difficulties throughout their eight decades but getting the company through it all has been its biggest asset – its people.

Hand in hand Delta employs close to 80,000 people and it is the only one of the five largest airlines in the US whose staff are mostly non-union. It has a pilots’ union but according to Dube, “When we merged with Northwest [Airlines in 2008] all of the unions for our major frontline workgroups voted and one after the other, they were unsuccessful in their bid to unionize the combined Delta/Northwest. And that really more than anything gives you a sense of ‘the proof is in the pudding’ when your employees say, ‘I’m fine having a direct relationship [with management], I don’t need a union to represent me.’” Delta’s management goes the extra mile in trying to make their employees feel vested in the company. “Every person in Delta’s management team has to ‘own’ a city, and if it is a big city, they’ve got to own a piece of that big city which covers a certain amount of our employees.

“Take me for example … I take responsibility for Singapore. We’ve got 500 employees in Singapore and I visit Singapore once a quarter and I talk about who we are, our business, how we’re doing financially, to make sure that they (the employees) feel like they’re part of Delta, that they feel that they’ve got access to someone who can answer their questions, tell them about the greater context of the company, our philosophy and where we’re headed.” In other words, it is a two-way street between management and staff. And for long-time industry veteran Dube, it is something he relishes. “I haven’t been a Delta employee for 50 years, but here I am talking passionately about it because it just picks you up, the 80,000 employees and the thousands that we’ve had for generations, the corporate culture just gets you.”

An unexpected career Studying mathematics in university, upon graduation Dube just wanted a job. In 1990 his first job was with American Airlines, “who were hiring math majors to help run the airline more efficiently.” He was with the airline for over six years, starting out as an Operations Research analyst before moving to their technology solutions subsidiary, Sabre, in 1996. Once Sabre was acquired by a private equity company in 2007, Dube decided to get back to his roots, so to speak, and rejoin an airline company. He was hired by Delta as Head of Alliances in late 2007. However, just six months after he started with the airline and hot on the heels of the announcement of the Northwest merger, Delta’s CIO resigned. Dube says, “I was asked to step into the CIO [role] for six to seven months because they knew my technology background. Then I came back to Alliances.” He moved to his present position in 2010 and has been an integral part of Delta’s expanding Asia-Pacific business. In fact, he has overall responsibility for the airline within the Asia-

Pacific region, with Delta seeing a growth of 60 percent over the past three years. When asked about the growth, Dube says the stories between supply and demand are not the same.

Asia growth “Asia is booming in general…with large numbers when it comes to air travel demand growth. When it comes to the supply environment I think things are quite different. “The supply environment in Asia seems to be much more tumultuous [over the US and Europe]. I’d say there are two primary supply aspects going on in Asia. One is the country-based flag carrier concept; countries that want to leverage the very close relationship between air service and economic growth. “They (the carriers) want to have non-stops between A and B because that makes it more convenient for people to fly to their respective countries, which then makes FDI much more convenient. So you’ve got the whole angle of state-owned airlines that want to boost their country’s economy and obviously air services are a very important factor in that. “The second (supply aspect) is that it is a much younger industry here. And in particular I’m referring to the low cost carriers (LCCs). So you get these state-owned airlines that want to boost services but you also have this incredibly rapid growth in low cost carriers all over the place. And so the supply environment in Asia is less predictable…and I think that’s the way it’s going to be for years to come.” And how does Delta fit in with this atmosphere in Asia? “Delta is affected by part of it but not all of it. LCCs and us don’t tend to clash because we have primarily the long-haul flights. But we do go up against the state-owned enterprises and their incredibly long aircraft orders. But it’s something that we’re happy competing with. “Countries see the association between the growth of their economy and air services to their economy. In fact cities see that. Cities will come to airlines

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and say, will you please open this, we will give you X thousand dollars per flight per month if you open a non-stop service from here to there because they know they’ll drive the economy of the city. It’s not just in Asia; it’s all over the world.” And speaking of non-stop flights, next year Delta will be introducing a non-stop flight from Hong Kong to the US when it starts its HK-Seattle route. On this eagerly anticipated service Dube says, “I think it’s going to make the local market much more convenient for anyone that wants to fly from here to Seattle. Here we’re also talking about the entire route, and a route offers you not just the local market but also the convenient connections that are enabled over the route. “Seattle opens up literally the entire US without overly circuitous routings. Seattle makes for an incredibly convenient

geographical stop for almost any place in the US. And what we have in Seattle is an extensive network with our flights out of Seattle but also with our partner Alaska Airlines. It really opens up all of the US in a very convenient manner for our travellers here in Hong Kong.”

Flying in comfort Making the long flight more comfortable is Delta’s ‘rebooted’ BusinessElite

cabin. Dube explains, “For one thing, we have full flat-bed seats with no-step over aisle access, where you can actually sleep on them without sliding off. We’ve teamed up with Westin [Hotel] to create specifically for us our pillows and comforters and so we’re putting the Westin Heavenly Bedding on board. We’ve also got one of the best entertainment systems there is in the skies. “We want to give our business travellers exactly what they’re looking for. It’s meals when they want it, the type of meal that they want. Plus our operational reliability and on-time statistics are tops within the network carriers in the US.” With an employee base of committed people and management who are looking to be inclusive rather than exclusive, combined with exquisite amenities and services that are second to none, Delta is truly flying high.

Photos: Ian Alexander

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We Trust

In Crown

International moving is stressful. At Crown World Mobility, moving boxes is no simple business. It means helping and supporting families to settle in as smoothly as possible. Paula Walker of Crown World Mobility explains to Shirley Lau how the “Crown team” makes this possible

hortly before a foreign company executive relocated to Hong Kong, he called up Paula Walker asking to have a unique request fulfilled. “He was a very keen fan of lizards and wanted to spend part of his orientation visiting sources of lizards in Hong Kong. Luckily we do have lizards in Hong Kong,” says Walker, manager of Crown World Mobility, in Hong Kong. Crown World Mobility is no expert in animal – or reptile for that matter. It just happens to be an international mobility specialist company that offers a vast array of regular and irregular services, which can include organizing for a client to see some reptiles. Upon receiving the request, Walker and her colleagues were quick to launch a research. A small team was dispatched to look for shops selling lizards. “When he arrived in Hong Kong, he was extremely pleased because we actually took him on a tour around different shops, which was very educational for us!” Walker says.

Paula Walker

All the way This level of commitment to clients and the flexibility with which services are provided are, according to Walker, among the building blocks of success for Crown World Mobility, a division of the Crown Worldwide Group established in 1965. One of the leading suppliers in the global relocation services, Crown has offices in over 250 locations in nearly 60 countries around the world. Its Hong Kong office is manned by about 75 employees, including some 30 frontline members who help clients with every step of moving overseas, from packing and transporting to providing intercultural training and finding school places for clients’ children in the territory. The company has earned the International Standards Organization (ISO) certification in the majority of its worldwide locations, including Hong Kong, and it has created a system built on ISO processes.

Photos: Silver Image

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With a vast client portfolio that includes renowned multinational corporations and top executives, Crown runs on a business model whereby quality takes precedence above everything else, says Walker. “For many businesses nowadays, servicing is a bit like selling a loaf of bread in the supermarket. Clients go in, pay the money and go away. It’s very one way. But for us, giving services is not linear. The way we provide services is a work in progress. All the way through, we adapt on the basis of clients’ feedback,” she says. “Our brand model is not based on the stack-them-high-and-sell-themcheap method. We are not the cheapest but our clients come to us because we have a quality baseline that is never compromised and because they know we will give them that extra service.”

We care By extra service, it may take the form of everything from giving emotional support to sending a bunch of flowers. This is not written as part of the deal, but the Crown team believes it can make a difference, considering that relocating to a new place can be an emotional affair. “We do an awful lot of stuff that we don’t get paid for. We’re talking about dealing with people who are very stressed and often quite emotional when it comes to things like schooling and leaving friends and family behind in the home country. So we have to be a combination of counselor, friend and service provider. It’s a real challenge but also makes everyday work very interesting,” Walker says, who has been in the sector for eight years. “I’ve seen spouses in tears because they had moved three times in 18 months. Sometimes fathers or mothers cry worrying a lack of school places for their children. We have to sort of coax them, take them out for lunch or visit them with a bottle of wine or a bunch of flowers at the weekend, just to let them know that though they may not know anybody here and we may just be their corporate vendor, we do care

and we want them to enjoy Hong Kong.” Obviously, the scope of the relocation business goes way beyond the logistics. A transfer cannot be made successful without good interpersonal skills and effective communication. To this end, Crown invests a great deal in training its staff.

“Right now, Asia is where things are happening in terms of the mobility traffic market and in terms of where everybody wants to be. Our strategy has panned out well. It is all a case of working smarter!”

“It is definitely a people business. When we hire, we look for some evidence that the candidates naturally gel with our values because we are a closely knit team,” Walker explains. “Then there is a significant amount of training on everything about our services and brand values, and one has to pass an exam.” To incentivize the staff to maintain their service quality, Crown has in place a scheme that rewards highperforming employees by promoting them to a higher title level and offering monetary prizes. Employees also have the chance to move to a different division within Crown or its overseas offices. These measures effectively contribute to a low employee turnover rate at Crown, says Walker.

“Most people who leave us do that because they have a family member relocated to overseas or they have to give up work completely to be a full-time mother. Surely there are exceptions, but jumping ship to go to our competitors is relatively rare,” she says.

Nature of the business The nature of the relocation business means companies such as Crown is somewhat of a barometer of the global economy. In 2008 when the international financial crisis hit, corporations around the world were quick to tighten their belts and Crown experienced a slowdown in business. A year later, things at Crown started to pick up and went through the roof as companies moved their staff around the world again. However, one thing that has never returned in the world of relocation is the full expat package where everything from luxury housing to international school is paid for. “These top-tier packages have very much decreased around the world – by a third I would say. The global economy kicked off this trend. Now we’ve gotten to the point where the full expat package is an exception not the rule. The very senior executives still get that but anybody who is not on the top tier knows that their chances of going to HR asking ‘I want this and I want that’ are negligible,” Walker says.

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Walker reckons that the shrinking trend of handsome packages will continue at least in the mid-term. By comparison, she believes it will take a longer time for American companies to phase out the top packages as they are “traditionally a bit more generous” than European companies when stationed overseas. The trend has inevitably made a dent in Crown’s business, but it has managed to pull through by devising a strategy of business diversification. “We have ramped up our business development and started looking at local companies rather than simply focusing on global and regional ones. We have also beefed up some of our peripheral services and increased offering on things like spousal support program and intercultural training,” Walker says.

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hen people think of Admiralty it’s usually in conjunction with Pacific Place. Whether it is the high-end shopping mall, the firstrate hotels, or the swanky office space, everything about Pacific Place spells premiere services and products. However, there is one other business located in the circle of the above-mentioned locations that fewer people know about – Pacific Place Apartments. Going strong after 20 years in the serviced apartments industry, Pacific Place Apartments (PPA) caters to top-level business executives from around the world. Their success lies in more than just the 270 well-appointed suites and easy access to transportation and Hong Kong Park; encouraged staff participation in the business helps foster a family feel even in the most businesscentric area of the city. Elaborating on the many benefits that PPA can give their tenants is Sanjoel Ho, Portfolio Manager for Pacific Place Apartments.

High End Living with an At-Home Feel

biz.hk: There are a lot of serviced apartments in HK but they don’t all have brand identity as Pacific Place Apartments brand does. What do people in general expect of the Pacific Place brand? Ho: Actually most people in HK know that PPA is run by Swire. So I think for Swire in the market it provides the feeling of luxury - luxury in terms of hardware. Upon entering the lobby, you can see right away our design which is more up-to-date, elegant and luxurious. And when you go to the rooms, you can see that everything is in good order, in good layout, spacious, with all kinds of hardware, including amenities in the kitchen. We are always upgrading to make our place luxurious. The other identity, under the brand, is high quality. For quality, we put a large focus on our staff. Our people are well-experienced, and we also offer on-job training and meet to share experience. In cases where there’s something wrong, we work

Offering top-of-the-line amenities in one of the most enviable locations anywhere on Hong Kong Island, Pacific Place Apartments leverages its most valuable asset – its people – to help it lead the industry in the serviced apartments sector

By Megaen Kelly

12 • 2013

together to tackle the problem to help ensure the quality we provide to all of our clients. Our people are also multi-lingual. Because we have people from all around the world, when we can speak their language, it gives them a feeling that they are closer to their home country. Hence, we always encourage our frontline people to learn a different language. Having the right mind-set is also a key in our staff. A high standard of professionalism means that our team is well-trained, with a good personality and a high level of experience. biz.hk: Can you tell us why a majority of clients of Pacific Place Apartments are long-term tenants? Ho: When people come to Hong Kong for a specific project, they may stay here only for a month to several months. When their company asks them to stay for a longer duration, they will generally become our guests for a much longer period because of their previous memorable experience that we help create in a friendly place. This is why they often will choose PPA when returning either for business or for leisure. It is also our location that our guests appreciate, most of them like the location. We’re quite close to all the top commercial and business areas in Hong Kong, including Central, Admiralty, and Wanchai. Some of our tenants prefer to walk rather than taking a taxi or other transportation to get to these areas. One unique aspect of our location is that our tenants could get to Central through Hong Kong Park, and they can reach Wanchai in about 20 minutes of walking distance, or head to the airport on a train in about 45 minutes. We provide 24-hour concierge service and daily housekeeping service, in addition to a high level of security here to create a comfortable stay for our guests. biz.hk: Who are your typical guests at Pacific Place Apartments? Ho: Over 80 percent of our tenants are for long-term stay, usually from one to

two years, but we have guests who have stayed here for something between 6 to 18 years. They feel it is like a 5-star hotel but more personalized. Of those 80 percent long-term tenants, they come mostly from the US, Australia or Europe. Most of them are business travellers. And, in the summertime, maybe their family will come here and they will request for a two-bed apartment. biz.hk: How do you keep your team motivated for a consistent level of high quality service? Ho: On-job training and team building are two important areas where can have an impact on motivation of our employees. We have a weekly morning meeting to get all the teams together so that we can share and talk about things. Gradually, they will build up a mind-set of thinking about our tenants and how best we can serve them. Our people are one of our most important assets and are a key to our service to our tenants. It is much easier to replace hardware than software. Our culture and people are software that cannot be replaced easily. That’s why we support our people, both in frontline roles and back office positions, to make them feel happy on the job. biz.hk: How does Pacific Place Apartments stand out from others in the city?

Ho: The main thing is the people and their mind-set. It is our heart-felt, genuine services that are most important in sustaining the business. And the reason they feel such genuinely is because they are encouraged to have such a feeling. When they are happy doing their job, they’ll do their job well. Everyone should have such a mindset. Even our tenants refer us to other potential tenants because of their good experience, and they really help us spread the word. biz.hk: How has the serviced apartment market changed in Hong Kong? Ho: I think serviced apartments as a sector was previously not that well-known. Most people chose to stay in a hotel or to lease a house or an apartment. One of the first serviced apartments available in Hong Kong was in fact PPA. As prices of property went up in Hong Kong, many people began to see serviced apartments as a very attractive option, and many people would like to have a place with housekeeping service. Some hotels were actually renovated and modified to become serviced apartments. The market for serviced apartments is growing. Many people will come to China to do business but prefer to stay in Hong Kong, especially if their headquarters is here. When they need a place to stay for a short period, like one or two months, a serviced apartment fills their needs.

Photos courtesy: Pacific Place Apartment

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A Nursery School

Better Than Home Picking the right nursery school for children is a daunting challenge in Hong Kong. The Yew Chung International School in Kowloon Tong is truly exceptional as a place for young children. Nicola Weir, Principal of YCIS’s Early Childhood Education Section, explains to Shirley Lau what makes her school special

eaving mummy and daddy for nursery school every day may cause discomfort to toddlers, but rarely for those at Yew Chung International School (YCIS). “We often have parents saying Saturdays and Sundays are a problem because their children want to go to school and they would ask: ‘Why can’t I go today?’” says Nicola Weir, Principal of YCIS’s Early Childhood Education Section. At times, even Weir herself faces the problem with her little one. “My three-year-old daughter, who also goes to YCIS, was sick two weeks ago and we kept her at home. But she wanted to go to school and she cried so much the whole floor of our apartment could hear it!” Tears of joy they might not be, but the crying is somewhat reassuring for Weir and other parents, knowing that they have rightly picked a nursery school that makes their children happy. “I understand there is lot of fear from parents about future success of their children. But when your child kisses you goodbye in the morning and happily goes off to school, it is a big relief for you and it serves to provide stability in family life,” Weir says.

Nicola Weir

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The “through-train” This level of passion in YCIS’ nursery pupils for going to school is part of the achievement of the school’s Early Childhood Education program, which focuses on children’s intellectual and sensory enrichment through joyful learning. Compared with many pre-school institutions in Hong Kong, YCIS is endowed with an exceptional abundance of resources – not least a teacherstudent ratio of 1 to 6 for its infant and toddler learning program – to identify and respond to individual children’s interests and needs. Founded in 1932 as Yew Chung Kindergarten and Primary School, YCIS has a long history of providing early childhood education. In the 1980s and 90s, the scope of its program expanded to include primary and secondary education. Today, the school offers “through-train” education whereby current students are by and large guaranteed to continue their studies in the next class. This is a coveted deal for parents in Hong Kong, where competition for places at international school is more intense than ever.

A host of accolades that YCIS has garnered over the years is also testimony to the school’s established position. In 2012, the YCIS network of schools was the first in China to be awarded the Cambridge Award for Excellence in Education. This year, the school was also awarded the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand Gold Award in the international school category for the third consecutive year.

Child as an individual

Photos: Ian Alexander

But perhaps the most attractive aspect of the pre-school program has to do with the unique learning opportunities that YCIS pupils get to enjoy in the spacious campus. “Children are the same worldwide, but I do feel that ours here receive different opportunities than other children in Hong Kong. We provide them with a very sensory experience so that they can test their own curiosity and construct that knowledge for themselves,” says Weir. “They are not confined to small places, sit down, get bored and be told it is okay to be bored. Even when we read stories to children, they often sit on teachers’ laps and can point to the book. There’s always some kind of physical connection to what is happening around them.” There is also an emphasis on observing children’s individual interests and potential so as to involve them in designing the considerably fluid curriculum. “Our philosophy is to view children as individuals. So the teachers observe carefully every individual child and then plan the program from the observation,” Weir explains. “We’ve got some four-year-olds who have been very interested in some of the fruits falling off a tree in the campus. They wanted to know more, so we helped them further that desire by taking them to the site and discussing the seasons, and they went with their own plants and seeds. “In other words, our curriculum is partly driven by the children with the questions they ask. It’s not just about feeding them with information. We want them to develop the skills to find out information for themselves. When they are in their academic years, they will have the skills to be researchers and come to their own conclusions. All these skills should start from the very end.” This approach, according to Weir, is one factor that sets YCIS pupils apart from other

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children. “Because of this focus on allowing children to explore and discover things, we find that our children are quite talkative and active. They are constantly asking questions because they have been stimulated to do that. In classrooms, there are a lot of conversations going on, in big or small groups,” she says. “Our teachers are very relational with the children, which is a fact that our program counts on.”

The whole package Apart from interacting with the young ones, teachers are also committed to maintaining close communication among themselves and with parents. “Our teaching staff often come together to talk about what they have observed of the children. We have a few monthly reading forums on professional literature whereby we share our thoughts, and we hold a collaboration planning session every week. “At the end of the day, you have to protect the relationship of the adults. If they are not looked after, they will not be happy and that will translate into the classroom,” Weir says. “With children’s parents, we often consult them since we focus on observing individual children. When we do that, we don’t assess on a tick-chart or compare children with their friends. We focus on individual children and find out their development in different areas from their parents. The idea is to work together with the parents to make sure their children have the best opportunity to succeed.” By success, it is not restricted to the conventional sense of school grades or academic awards. A three-year-old pupil, for example, has recently shown to Weir the extent to which YCIS can help young children accomplish in their young life. Weir says: “This girl from Sweden started school in November without being able to speak any English or Cantonese. It was so scary for her at the beginning. Our teacher even downloaded a mobile app so that the girl could put in words and the teacher got the translation. “But the other day, I saw her talking confidently to other children in English. It all changed in just a few months. I’m constantly amazed by our children. Every one of them is special and they are deserving of unconditional love no matter what challenges they bring.”

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A Chef for All Seasons

Being a good chef means a lot more than just culinary skills. Chef Hervé Fucho of Four Seasons Hong Kong shares with Megaen Kelly about his globe-trotting experience, his team and leadership as well as success

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ith the festive season in full swing, people are looking for special events and meals to celebrate with their family, friends, and business associates. Kicking off the holiday season in style was the Four Seasons Hong Kong. They held their tree lighting ceremony on November 28, and their 400-plus guests got to enjoy not only the colorful event but taste delicious holiday fare at the carving stations situated around the activity, overseen by Executive Chef Hervé Fucho. The Four Seasons – one of the world’s most recognized hotel chains – served juicy turkey during the entire month of November. And, while American housewives may follow traditional family recipes to get the big bird cooked just right, few would be as technical and precise as Chef Fucho when it comes to cooking turkeys at the swanky hotel. Slow-cooked for eight hours, the turkey comes out of the oven crispy on the outside – more like Peking Duck than turkey – but succulent and moist on the inside. The Chef’s secret? A simple rub of vegetable oil, ground white pepper and sea salt. His approach to this Herculean task is more mathematical than artistic, showing his method of cooking in all areas, not just festive foods. Taking the meticulous route helps maintain consistency, which is one of the key ingredients in Chef Fucho’s successful career.

Taking to the road Growing up in France, cooking wasn’t always on the young man’s mind, despite having relatives in the business. But he enjoyed baking and when he was 13 his father asked him why not go to hotel cooking school. He entered cooking school in France at age 15 and discovered something that he could do well and perhaps make into a career. He left France at age 17 and has never looked back. Chef Fucho has never worked in France apart from his training periods. He enjoys travelling and has in fact travelled extensively for both work and leisure. His first overseas post was at a French restaurant in England. From there, he went to Ireland where a particular event had an impact on him and his cooking philosophy/style. “In 1992, I was part of a three-day event for 6,000 people. I was extremely young and green, and I got extremely scared when I saw the size of that thing. “The head chef, with over 200 cooks at the event, had huge earphones and was like an

astronaut in managing all the things. We sent the main course out in something like 25 minutes. Those guys were so organized, and it made a huge impression which, I think, had a lot to do with what I became.” Organization is another key component in Chef Fucho’s kitchen. To be able to serve consistent quality food in a short period of time to a large group of people requires a good understanding of organizing. As he moved up the ranks from Chef de Partie to Sous Chef, and then finally to Executive Chef, he honed all of his skills, both cooking and organizational. This helped prepare him for his role of the past 15 years, working for the Four Seasons in various countries around the world as Executive Chef.

World traveller Chef Fucho joined the Beverly Hills Four Seasons in early 1999. He has remained loyal to the group because “being with Four Seasons for 15 years means that something must be right with Four Seasons. The treatment they give to people is definitely what I’m looking for. For the employees, including myself and other line staff, everybody is treated as equals. It is a culture I like a lot. “It also gave me the chance to be able to travel within a safe, known environment. When you start working in another country, everything is new but you still have that…a company that you work for. So it makes things a little bit easier.” Chef Fucho worked for Four Seasons in Los Angeles, then in Venezuela and Mexico before finally landing in Hong Kong in 2008. His extensive travel obviously affects his picking of his favorite cuisine. “Do I have a favorite cuisine? Yes and no. Every time when I travel for work, the cooking style of the country where I reside becomes my favorite.” “And the reason is very simple. You get to know the local food because you work in kitchens and because they are very proud of bringing their chef to the local shack where you get to know what they really are. It is an extreme privilege that people really want to bring me to places because they want to show me what they are all about.” And yes, Cantonese food is his current favorite cuisine, thanks to Four Seasons’ Lung King Heen restaurant head chef, Chan Yan Tak. Chef Fucho enthuses about his colleague, “Chef Chan Yan Tak is my all-time favorite chef and leader, and he is the only Chinese 3-Michelin star chef in the world...Humility is his biggest thing. He’s the most simple guy. Every time someone says, ‘Chef, your food is amazing,’ he’ll always say,

Photos: Ian Alexander

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‘no, no, no, I had nothing to do with your food.’ He’s extremely humble. “When we do employee service reviews he is also highly rated, like 98 percent or something. So he must be doing something extremely right in terms of leadership, cooking style, and everything else – it’s the whole package. He is very nice to talk to, he cooks amazingly, and his team follows him to death. So when you talk about leadership, he is my idol.” Leadership and team relations are very important to Chef Fucho. “I make people participate. Delegating is part of the leadership that I like. But more than the delegating is the participation. “For example, technically the restaurant chefs are under my position but they are professional. And who am I to tell the Chinese chef what Chinese food is all about? So, participation is not only important but it is also decisive, and I must respect that. If we broke that trust between us, it would be a nightmare. “When you can’t have trust in a team member, it just doesn’t function well. To me, it’s important that the whole team is on the same page. Transparency, communication, and delegation of duty must be clear. There also must be mutual respect. “It is no book about leadership, this is about the team. It only works like that. I think we have 160 cooks, so if we breach the communication between them and myself, it’s not working. And it’s not philosophy and it’s not spiritual, it affects what we do professionally. So this is what we try to put in place in the kitchen. And funnily, it’s working amazingly.”

The definition of success To be with one company for a long time in a position of great responsibility means that Chef Fucho is doing something right. But how does he feel about his success as an Executive Chef? “You know, defining success is what some people bring home. It’s not what I bring home. Instead, when I hear that lots of people being extremely happy about what they ate or when I go to the morning briefing and hear that we’ve got an event booked because of the quality food, then I say, ‘this is a success.’ “Success is also about being respected by the staff in a professional way. This is one of the reasons, especially this year, for the success of this kitchen. It’s not only about the ratings and stuff like that.” Consistency is an important element in Chef Fucho’s kitchen. “For consistency, it’s about the way you lead, definitely, but it’s also about expectation. It’s about being consistent in the way you cook. If you’re not consistent, people won’t come back.” That’s not going to be a problem in the foreseeable future at the Four Seasons Hong Kong with Executive Chef Hervé Fucho at the helm and coming up with delicious treats, just in time for the holidays.

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FirstClass.pdf

CMY

13/12/13

4:47 pm