Internship in Maxim's Group

What I do Human Resources is all about managing employees. While Human Resources Department (HR) are in charge of nurturing employees into company assets, compensation and benefits, health and safety as well as talent acquisition. Learning and Organisational Development Department (L&OD) is in charge of training, talent development strategies, culture and communications. Being an intern in the L&OD, I was in charge of 3 main projects- Maxim's Excellence Award, Operations Management Trainee Program and e-learning platform. 1) Maxim's Excellence Award

Maxim's Excellence Award is an annual award that aims to reinforce Maxim's 6 core values. Awards range from Best New Dish, Best Management Store and Individual Star Awards. My job is to prepare the timeline for preparation, promotion, selection and award ceremony. I also reviewed the selection criteria, quoted and compared the cost of purchasing souvenirs.

2) OMT Trainee Program

The Operations Management Trainee Program aims to nurture highly educated individuals into District Managers by equipping them with Food & Beverage experience and business knowledge. My duties are to design a layout for the new web page that summarizes the program content. When communicating with the web designer, I learnt to summarize information and present them in a systematic way. Another part of the project includes preparing a booklet for the Trainees. I designed the booklet cover, drafted a timetable for their orientation week and arranged pages in a reader-friendly way. 3) E-learning system

The last project was a bit daunting however. Maxim's e-learning platform, designed for employees to learn, provides supplementary course that has not been covered by Maxim's Academy. The platform aims to equip employees with professional knowledge in Food & Beverage Industry and related areas in a convenient way. My duties are to assist my colleagues in finding content as reference for the Maxim's e-learning platform. Topics from Food and Beverage Industry to business insights will be included in the platform. The task was not easy as there are millions of websites providing articles and videos. Finding healthy facts was the most interesting part because I had no idea about how to maintain a healthy body, but now I do. E-learning in other sectors like education is very common, but it is still new in the Food & Beverage industry. This new method of learning has so much potential and worthwhile for companies to invest resources in it. Colleagues

Maxim's emphasizes on people-oriented. Every action we take is for the greater good of another person. This is why colleagues in Maxim's are extremely kind. Being the youngest person in the team, my colleagues take care of me a lot. They are very willing to help whenever I encountered any obstacles. The team has a culture of making jokes, which fits my character a lot. They also like asking opinions from one another. Oftentimes, I got involved in the discussions, broadening my horizons in the Food and Beverage Industry. Work-life balance

Hong Kong Maxim's Group focuses quite a lot in employee's work-life balance. This is why there is a gym in the building and I sometimes exercise there before going to work. During my internship period, I participated in some activities held by the Maxim's Club, including Laser Gun Battle with colleagues. The Club also offered cinema discounts where I got the chance to watch Transformers The Last Knight with my colleagues. In June, I got the pleasure to celebrate 2 of my colleagues' birthday in Cheesecake Factory, one of Maxim's restaurants. Sometimes during work, I even had puddings and cakes to eat. This internship not only offers me an opportunity to learn, but also an opportunity to eat, eat and eat! Maxim's really care a lot about both employee's work and life. Working here for 3 months is like being taken care of in both of the two aspects. I am looking forward to working in companies like Maxim's in the future. Advice

Be proactive

I had no idea how to select a good dish, nor do I have experience in building an e-platform. I learnt to ask questions when I felt confused. Don't be afraid because colleagues are willing to help. They shared past experiences and explained clearly about the tasks. Sometimes, they might refer me to another colleague that has prior experience in that area, which is a great opportunity to learn from them. Do not underestimate the task

Sometimes, it is hard to understand until you try it. For example, when Maxim introduced new medical benefits, I recorded a voice memo to be inserted in the promotional video, I found it hard to use a tone that I rarely use. Writing the script was not easy either. I had a few amendments before writing a version that is short and attractive without any cliché. When delivering the recording to colleagues who specializes in editing videos, I learnt some techniques as well. Although it was a mini task, I had a lot to take away.

Here's a 1 minute video that summaries my internship in Maxim's Group.

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