Second Phase of “Service from the Heart” Training Commences Enhancing Staff's Communication Skills

To enhance the service quality of frontline staff, KMB organised a large scale training programme called “Service from the Heart” last year. The first phase of the programme, featuring 52 seminars and involving the participation of over 10,000 staff, has been completed. The second phase began early this year with over 300 workshops being organised for frontline staff to equip them with the skills required to handle different situations. Participants will roleplay the type of situations that commonly arise in the workplace and practise the skills needed to handle them so that they can work happily while passengers enjoy pleasant bus journeys.

Ms. Susanna Wong, Deputy Head of KMB’s Human Resources Department, said, “This training programme aims at enhancing the level of customer service of frontline staff and establishing a sincere service attitude. In the seminars held in the first phase, we explained to frontline staff about the expectations and demands of passengers in terms of quality service nowadays. In the second phase, we are organising small-class workshops and providing participants with some realistic scenarios, such as people carrying baby strollers on board, paying bus fares by octopus cards and trying to get off the bus via the front doors. By means of role-playing games and group discussions, participants will learn the proper communication techniques and positive handling skills needed to create a pleasant bus journey for passengers.”

During the three-hour workshop, frontline staff will learn to be more considerate, caring and empathetic in managing passengers’ and their own emotions, with the emphasis on understanding situations from the passenger’s point of view, improving their phrasing and tone when handling different situations and providing assistance to passengers as necessary. When dealing with passengers, frontline staff should provide clear and logical explanations and make use of communication techniques to help passengers understand the situation.

Mr. Leung Ying Kit, a KMB bus captain who attended a workshop, said, “The cases used in the workshop for illustration are the kind of examples we encounter in our daily work and are very relevant and useful.” A KMB terminus supervisor, Mr. Yim Tsz Keung, said, “The part on communication techniques helped me understand that the same request expressed with a different tone and different words can have a very different effect on passengers. It’s clear that our passengers will find it easier to accept what we ask them if we can make use of the communication techniques.” A KMB inspector, Mr. Ma Kin Chung, said, “The training helped me understand the importance of managing emotions. Whatever the circumstances, I will be able to handle the situation well only by controlling my emotions. The workshop has proved very useful in both my daily work and daily life.”

“Service from the Heart” workshops are being held between January and April, and participants including all KMB inspectors, terminus supervisors, bus captains, service coordinators and customer service representatives, will attend. KMB is also training selected members of staff as in-house trainers who will be responsible for conducting the training sessions for new bus captains in the future.

Ms. Susanna Wong, Deputy Head of KMB's Human Resources Department, and
three of the frontline staff who have completed the "Service from the Heart" training programme.