The British Council in Hong Kong offers myFoundation English course for adults who want to develop their English skills from basic levels upwards. I have developed three profiles of customers from the Royal Hotel, a 5-star hotel in Hong Kong who are interested in the course. They are: Man Keung, a cook who wants to make advancement in his career; Eddy Wong, the executive chef who supports his colleagues in further studies, allowing him to recommend potential and qualified colleagues for promotion and Cherry Leung, Human Resources Director who is keen on developing a sustainable talent management policy in the company such as planning budgets in order to support staff who want to pursue further studies. Through analyzing customers’ profiles based on their demographic, psychographic, behavioral and environment, The British Council in Hong Kong will be able to formulate IMC plans to reach targeted customers.
Demographics of customers from the Royal Hotels
- Man Keung Chan is a cook working in a Chinese restaurant of the Royal Hotel, a 5-star hotel in Hong Kong. He is 35 years old and has about 7 years of experience in Cantonese cuisine. He is named as an emerging chef in Cantonese cuisine.
- Eddy Wong is the Executive Chef of a Chinese restaurant of the Royal Hotel. He leads a team of 10 people including Man Keung. He is 45 years old and he has been working in the position for 8 years. He is an acclaimed chef with 20 years of experience in Cantonese cuisine.
- Cherry Leung is the Human Resources Director of the Royal Hotel. She is 36 years old and she has about 13 years of experience in human resources management.
Customers’ thinking processes
- Man Keung decided to become a cook apprentice after he finished junior school. He obtained a certificate in Guangdong cuisine before he worked in the hotel. His English level is basic, which he finds it difficult to compose sentences in English and pronounce English words. He does not have opportunities to practice English at work. He is interested in learning English from the basics in order to get promoted to the post of the Sous Chef. He is a relaxed person who always makes decisions following advices from his senior and peers.
- Eddy is a high school graduate and he obtained a Diploma in Chinese Culinary Art. He always told his teams that being an outstanding chef not only has excellent cooking skills, but also communications skills in order to interact with customers. He always talks to VIP customers and senior management who are native English speakers. He is a quick decision maker and he is cost conscious. He encourages his teammates to improve the quality of cuisines within budget. He wants colleagues to follow guidelines of food production to ensure food hygiene and safety working environment.
- Cherry evaluates the effectiveness of talent development strategies in the hotel. She will discuss with department heads to understand colleagues’ needs in performing duties so that the company can support colleagues to pursue further studies. She will also talk to the senior management and persuade them to provide adequate support for further studies including subsides. She analyzes the ROI of training programs in relations to colleague’s performance in daily operations.
Behaviors of customers
- Man Keung reads news and research cooking related articles and columns online. He is interested in learning new cuisines and cooking techniques from popular chefs such as Jamie Oliver online. Due to his limited knowledge of English, he can barely understand the videos. He also visits restaurants and hotels in Hong Kong to learn about their menu and dishes.
- Eddy subscribes a couple of online magazines of culinary and hotel management. He will research for menu and ingredients through talking to other chefs about vendors, discuss with Food & Beverage Director and Marketing Director for trends and development of the market as well as promotion of new menu. He has strong management skills, being able to assign duties of his teammates based on strengths and weaknesses. He also travels to different countries to learn new trends and development of food and hotel industry. He also talks to local food suppliers and visit restaurants and hotels.
- Cherry reads daily news and Human Resources magazines both online and print. She also gets information from social media. She has been with the company for over 10 years and she is very familiar with company’s values and culture. She is meticulous and possesses strong negotiation skills. She will discuss with all department heads of the hotel and senior management in order to enhance the hotel’s talent management. She will also talk to other Human Resources professionals in the industry to learn the industry trends and development.
The working environment of Royal Hotel
- Man Keung uses Cantonese for daily conversation with colleagues. He does not have confidence in writing and speaking English. He will turn away when he meets foreigners in the hotel area. He does not have buying power at work. He will help source and recommend food products for Sous Chef and Executive Chef and obtain quotations from vendors. He will purchase training materials or courses at his own expense. He may request for education subsidies from the company only upon approval from Executive Chef, Food & Beverage Director and Human Resources Director.
- Eddy is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and proficient in English. He is confident in conversational English and he is able to read materials in English. He can approve any purchases up to $8,000 before acquiring approval from Food & Beverage Director. He will evaluate the proposal of menu from cooks and chef together with the quotations and adopt menu which are high-quality and low production costs. He will talk to the vendors for production costs.
- Cherry is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and she has native-speaker proficiency of English. She can approve any purchases up to $15,000 before acquiring approval from CFO. She will evaluate the effectiveness of training programs or courses which are enrolled by staff in benefitting the company based on performance KPI and ROI analysis.
References:
The Balance, What is Talent Management? https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-talent-management-really-1919221
Hong Kong Hotels Association, Hotel Career Guide http://hkha.org/files/download/396
Convince & Convert, How to Create Customer Profiles to Reach Your Target Audience http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-strategy/how-to-create-customer-profiles-to-reach-your-target-audience/
The Muse, 3 Steps to Defining Your Company’s Audience https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-steps-to-defining-your-companys-audience
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