CityU invites prominent community leaders to share tips on happiness at work

The Department of Management at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) held its annual two-day Residential Workshop entitled “Happiness at Work” on 10 and 11 February at the Regal Kowloon Hotel. Prominent professionals from various sectors were invited to share their work and life experiences with final-year students of the Department. The Honourable Frederick Ma Si-hang, JP, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Hong Kong SAR Government, was invited to give the keynote speech.

The Residential Workshop has been an annual event since 2002. It demonstrates CityU’s efforts to provide professional education, bridging textbook knowledge and the real working environment.

In his opening address, Head of the Management Department Professor (Chair) Leung Kwok said, “Our major goal is to nurture our students to become professionals and future business leaders of Hong Kong. We emphasize both theory and practice, and this workshop is an important event for our students to learn from successful business leaders of Hong Kong. Through this workshop, we hope that our students will be both successful and happy in their future career.”

In his keynote speech, Mr Ma shared the clues to happiness at work with students. They are: get a job that you enjoy, have a positive mind set, and sharpen your interpersonal skills for better cooperation.

Mr Ma said, “We will face frustrations here and there at work. We shouldn’t give up. Instead, we should always uphold the spirit of PHD, that is, be Poor at heart, then you know that you are inadequate; be Hungry at life, then you will seek wisdom; and have Determination to overcome the hurdles of life.” He reminded students to assert themselves with the motto “I Will Get The Job Done”, and be willing to go an extra mile.

In the two-day Workshop, prominent professionals from different sectors also shared their stories with CityU students.

Mr John Lai Hon-weng, an instructor in the Department of Management and the organizer of the Workshop, has received a great deal of positive feedback from previous Workshop participants. “We think staying happy at work plays a key role in sound career development, so we chose “Happiness at work” as our theme this year in order to prepare our students to be happy and efficient professionals.”

The Residential Workshop is a key activity on the Career Development Programme which was initiated by the Department of Management to help final-year students make the transition from school to work. Through a series of intensive programmes, it provides final-year students in Human Resources Management and International Business (Japanese Studies) with an opportunity to gain the knowledge needed to develop key competencies to become professionals in the future.