Page 40 - HKMA TA2020 Souvenir Programme

Excellence Award

“Airport Authority Cultural Change Programme”
Airport Authority Hong Kong

Background
Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA), which employs over 2,800 employees, is responsible for the operation and development of Hong Kong International
Airport (HKIA). Since its opening in 1998, HKIA has grown to become one of the busiest airports in the world.
In 2014/15, the new CEO was on board and new Division Heads were recruited. With the change in leadership team and HKIA’s expansion in the coming
years, the whole organisation needs to share the same vision and values to work as a committed team to deliver excellent results. To achieve this, AA
embarked on a journey of cultural change.
Design and Implementation
To ensure success along the change journey, a comprehensive cultural change roadmap was formulated and implemented:
• Putting the Team Together - The top management collectively refined AA’s vision and mission and consolidated AA’s core values into “5Cs”: Caring,

Commitment, Creativity, Collaboration and Continuous Improvement.
• Building an Enabling Infrastructure - AA’s Leadership Competency Model was revamped to focus on clear behavioural indicators against the “5Cs”.

A Culture Promotion Committee was formed to design programmes and create a work environment that encourage the practice of the core values.
• Measuring Current Values - Pulse survey and focus groups were conducted to gauge the extent to which employees perceived the “5Cs” were being

practised within the organisation.
• Deciding Where to Focus - The pulse survey results determined the strategic focus on the change programme: foster Collaboration, embrace

Creativity, and strengthen Caring for people.
• Executing with Excellence

- Foster Collaboration - New channels were deployed to cascade corporate messages, listen to employees’ voice, and promote cross-departmental
collaboration and communication.

- Embrace Creativity - The Work Improvement Team (WIT) Programme trains and empowers frontline staff to practise AA’s “5Cs” to generate
creative and practical solutions to tackle workplace problems.

- Strengthening Caring for Staff - The AA Wellness Weeks in 2018 offered a wide range of health and wellness activities covering physical, mental,
social and financial health. A two-week “Steps Challenge” in 2019 encouraged staff to walk-for-health.

• Sustaining Momentum - To reinforce and sustain the “5Cs” culture, Staff Recognition Program was revamped to regularly award role model
behaviours.

Outcomes
• Foster Collaboration - The team building programme in 2017-2018 had an overall high satisfaction rate of 5.13 on a 6-point scale. Results from a

pulse survey in 2018 indicated the area receiving the highest average score is “Fellow colleagues’ willingness to share information and support each
other”.
• Embrace Creativity - The WIT Programme has become an annual practice. From 2016 to 2019, 166 WITs comprising 618 WIT members were formed,
of which more than 95% of the projects had been completed with creative ideas implemented.
• Strengthening Caring for Staff - The Wellness Weeks had a high attendance of 1,700 and an overall satisfaction rate of 4.7 on a 5-point scale. Over
1,000 employees joined the Steps Challenge, with 80.6 million steps taken in two weeks.
• Recognition from Industry - AA’s cultural change programme has clinched various regional and local awards, including the Gold Award in Change
Management in the Airports Council International Asia-Pacific HR Excellence Recognition Program 2019.
Comments from Adjudicators
The Airport Authority Cultural Change Programme was a thoroughly designed and executed campaign with participation from the whole organization
including all levels of employees. The implementation was well directed and systematic from start to finish with consideration to sustaining the
momentum over the long cultural change journey.
Overall, impressive work in progress results were achieved, and outcomes were clearly measured via pulse survey and focus group. The efforts and
achievements were further amplified and appreciated through internal communications. It was enlightening to see top management’s strong
involvement in the process. The Work Improvement Team and “Steps Challenge” were particularly praised and credited for their creativity and
commitment.

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