Embracing Change No longer all at sea By Ross Lai Breathing new life into a long-established transport operation requires diversification and greater emphasis on service For Hong Kong residents and visitors alike, the turn of the millennium brought a brand new look and new colours to ferry travel. In January 2000, First Ferry took over 10 local ferry routes and set about changing them with a new colourful corporate image and the launch of an investment programme to upgrade the fleet. Since then, First Ferry has spent HK$200 million buying eight brand new high-speed catamarans and upgrading the older vessels. Meanwhile, First Ferry (Macau) launched a service between Kowloon and the former Portuguese enclave, spending HK$400 million acquiring seven high-speed catamarans for the half-hourly service. Synergy The local and Macau routes now serve more than 46,000 passengers a day. With parent company NWS Holdings Limited also running New World First Bus and Citybus, there is synergy between these transport companies in terms of both patronage, information flow and publicity. "The challenge for me over the past four and a half years has basically been to improve existing services and to develop new markets. This involved adding boats to our fleet, and adding value to our staff. And this had to be achieved while maintaining the company's financial viability," says John Hui, director and general manager of the ferry company. As a new company taking over an essential transport service, change was inevitable "Inheriting the staff, fleet and facilities of our predecessor, who had dominated local passenger sea transport in Hong Kong for decades, we were determined to give the public a new experience, not only visually, but also in terms of customer service," he adds. For Mr Hui himself, despite having served in the Hong Kong Police for 32 years, most recently as deputy commander of the Marine division, running a ferry service was a brand new challenge, which he has met with enthusiasm. "As we were a new company taking over an essential transport service, change was inevitable. In the past, passengers in general expected nothing more than a basic transport service that was safe and efficient. Now, on top of this, they expect good customer service - attention to their individual needs and a warm and caring attitude," he notes. To gauge customer feedback and expectations, a number of independent surveys have been carried out on a regular basis. While scores on many counts have shown a rising trend, sometimes they do drop, albeit slightly. "Given the fact that customer expectations are constantly on the rise, we are nevertheless very concerned about a slight drop in their assessment on our staff service in the latest survey, as compared with a couple of years ago," Mr Hui admits. "We will work even harder to catch up on this. "The senior management inspect the boats and piers regularly to observe how our staff deliver service, and we make suggestions to staff if we see room for improvement," Mr Hui notes. "To supplement our visits, we appoint mystery passengers to ride on our boats and use our related services. They look at various aspects of service, including overall hygiene, staff attitude, quality of broadcasts and boat stability, to see if the frontline staff perform equally well in our physical absence." To ensure good understanding between management and staff, consultative committees meet every quarter. There are three such committees, covering office staff, local service staff, and Macau service staff. On human resources issues, there is also a hotline for staff to make enquiries. Providing good service is one thing, while maintaining financial viability for the company is quite another. With the ambitious upgrading of the fleet and other costly initiatives, ferry fares have remained unchanged since 2000. Hence the company is constantly on the lookout for new sources of revenue. The most notable initiative to provide additional revenue while contributing to Hong Kong's prosperity was the launch of travel services in October 2003, through the establishment of First Travel, which owns the Hong Kong Dragon Cruise ship, bought at a cost of $35 million. Looking further ahead, Mr Hui is planning to provide special interest tours, especially of an educational and environmental nature. New possibilities In the long run, there is yet another issue which Mr Hui has to address - succession as the older generation of ferry staff retires. "When we took over the operations from our predecessor, we already knew that many of their staff had worked in the company for many years, and would be retiring in the not-too-distant future. So we lost no time in introducing a cadet scheme for young recruits, offering them long-term training and development and a promising career. We are proud to say that these cadets are fast maturing and taking up increasing responsibilities and setting new benchmarks for competence and service excellence," Mr Hui remarks. Then and now Before Little emphasis on corporate identity and image Ageing fleet, staff near retirement age Provision of basic transport services only Single market; single purpose After New, striking logo and colour scheme Large investment in upgrading fleet, launch of cadet scheme Development of Macau route and harbour cruise, on top of traditional market. Plan to develop educational and environmental tours Synergy with land-based transport; emphasis on customer satisfaction with regular surveys Taken from Career Times 6 August 2004 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]