Shangri-La Opens Hotel Training Centre In China

Demonstrating its ongoing commitment to employee training and guest satisfaction, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has opened the Shenzhen Training Centre in Shenzhen, southern China. The new training centre will groom Shangri-La’s talented mainland Chinese staff for key positions at its growing number of hotels in China and will help maintain the company’s high standards of excellence.

The training centre, which is located across the border from Hong Kong SAR, has begun offering classes to sous chefs on food and beverage operations and supervisors and assistant managers on front office management, housekeeping and laundry. These employees are selected for their dedication and high potential for career advancement. The classes are taught at the Shangri-La Hotel, Shenzhen by senior staff from the group’s hotels and corporate office.

“We are pleased to open our own training centre in China, which is one of the fastest growing economies and set to become a world player within the hospitality industry,” comments Giovanni Angelini, Shangri-La’s chief executive officer and managing director. “We are committed to being a preferred employer and recognise the critical role that our employees play at all levels.”

Shangri-La currently operates properties in the Asia Pacific region and is recognised as one of Asia’s preferred employers. The company has been committed to growth in mainland China since it opened its first hotel there in 1984. Today Hong Kong-based Shangri-La has almost 8,000 of its nearly 20,000 rooms and 16 of its 38 properties in mainland China, as well as a number of hotels under development there.

Notes

Food and Beverage Culinary Training

Chefs nominated by their general managers to attend the school take intensive culinary training and study advanced food safety management system for 15 days. Expert chefs from Hong Kong’s Island Shangri-La and Kowloon Shangri-La teach the core curriculums, which include western cold and hot kitchen techniques and recipes, and a pastry and bakery course. The classes not only cover techniques but also endeavour to instil the discipline, vision and passion necessary to create exceptional cuisine. Between 10 to 15 students are enrolled in each class, and three sessions are offered a year. Courses on other types of cuisine are also available. 

All participants who complete their courses at the training centre receive certificates. Additionally, the top three chefs in each of the three cooking classes are awarded Shangri-La’s “Golden Chopsticks” and these chefs are eligible for advanced, tailor-made courses. 

Rooms Division Training

Employees from Shangri-La’s rooms division, selected by general managers for their future potential, take in-depth study on laundry, housekeeping and front office management. Shangri-La has enlisted the support of JohnsonDiversey, a laundry and housekeeping chemical supply company, as well as selected linen and laundry equipment suppliers to instruct several classes. Other instructors are drawn from the company’s housekeeping, engineering, finance, reservations and marketing departments.

Each of the rooms division classes is attended by a maximum of 25 students. Once the 11- to 15-day courses are completed, students are assigned a six-month project to complete while working on-site at a Shangri-La hotel.