Assistant Commissioner (Training) Mr David Thomas says the Force is working hard to further enhance its quality of service to the community

Organised by the Training Wing's Training Development Bureau and coordinated by the Hong Kong University Poon Kam Kai Institute of Management, the six-day learning programme was aimed at providing participants with the opportunity to broaden their horizons; to gain access to good practices in service quality; to improve their self-confidence and inter-personal skills, and to develop a useful network.

The JPOs have attended a series of seminars and discussions coordinated by the institute. They have also visited a number of well-known organisations, and discussed service enhancement with the staff. Organisations that have participated in the learning programme included The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited, Hongkong Post, Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited, Hsin Chong Real Estate Management Limited (renamed as Synergis Management Services Limited in October) and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation.

Assistant Commissioner (Training), Mr David Thomas, in his address to participants and guests at the opening ceremony for the programme, said the learning programme had two phases. The present one was the second phase designed for junior police officers while the first phase was held in October 2002 for junior inspectors.

"This programme is one of the recent training and development initiatives by the Hong Kong Police in partnership with the private sector. The Force is working hard to further enhance the quality of service it provides to the community. In a series of recent initiatives, the Training Wing is providing more learning opportunities for our frontline officers. This is in line with our strategy that staff are our greatest asset," Mr Thomas added.

The programme has been well received and considered effective in mind-opening and work improvement. Woman Police Constable May Lau Suk-mei, one of the participants, has commented: "Through a series of visits, discussion and sharing sessions, I understand more about how people would become satisfied when they receive a quality service. As the Force's service improves and modernises continuously, we need to develop ourselves accordingly. I feel this learning programme has given me a lot of insights into the concept of service."

Another participant, Police Constable Marco Tong Chi-kit shared the feelings of Miss Lau and highlighted the importance of "staying close to society, changing and improving continuously".

During debriefing of the whole programme, Sergeant Addison Chow Chi-kit said: "It is more effective to learn management concepts through discussion and experience sharing from managers of other organisations than classroom lectures. Most commercial organisations have their policies in customer service, staff motivation, complaint and media handling, with the aim of developing their competitiveness. But in police work, some of these policies may not be relevant as the work nature is so different. Anyhow, this learning programme is a valuable experience to me!"

The Training Development Bureau is now evaluating the whole programme and will propose how service quality can be enhanced through co-operation with other organisations in training and development.

Participants agree that the learning programme can improve their self-confidence and inter-personal skills