The Versatile Manager:
The current manager is Ms Ung Lee-Ling. She has quoted that to work in the Global Lounge; it is an added advantage if one is a bilingual. English is the most important language of all due to the fact that the Lounge provides the space for internationalisation interaction. Ms Ung is the CEO of the Global Lounge. However, her job scope is big, she also multi-tasks the jobs of a CFO (chief financial officer), COO (chief organising officer) and CIO (chief information officer). Her duty covers from preparing events (usually cultural events) from the planning stages of ideas to budgeting and sourcing. The planning stages are mostly done by her and the implementation parts are helped by the student ambassadors.
Besides organising and launching cultural events, she also attends to special visiting guests from big companies and international education institutions. Being both extrovert and introvert in running the Lounge is important for Ms Ung because it is considered as a small organisation with fewer than 50 people to manage.
The day-to-day maintenance of the Global Lounge is also handled by Ms Ung, so she also plays the role of the CIO. For example, if there is a breakdown in the gym, television or the security system; Ms Ung would call in the technician to fix the problem.
Ms Ung quoted at times there were many tasks which were not easy to be solved, for example, designing posters. Jobs like these will be passed down to some student ambassadors who are skilful designers. Cost is minimised because it does not need to hire professionals.
Student Ambassadors (SAs):
Recruitment and Training
The IT staff in the Global Lounge would compromise also the student ambassadors. The SAs need to be knowledgeable in handling computer systems since the security system, AV facilities and gym are high-tech. When the manager recruits the SAs, most of them are already well-versed with IT knowledge. The recruits who are the University’s students themselves already possess knowledge on IT and therefore training is not necessary. For more technical matters, IT staff from the Registry and the Computer Centre would be asked to offer help.
Two Shifts
There are 3 SAs working throughout the weekday in the Global Lounge and 2 SAs during the weekend. Each shift's duration will be around 4 and a half to 5 hours. The operation hours during weekdays are from 8:30 am to 10:00 pm; and from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm durin
g weekends. Since it closes earlier at 6:00 pm at weekends, only 2 shifts are needed.Duties
The job of a SA is pretty similar to a hotel receptionist. The SA is responsible for handling enquiries, assisting and socialising with visitors of the Global Lounge. Usually the SA would sit at the counter but he/she is free to roam around anywhere within the Lounge.
People who are new to the University will usually ask the SA about directions, how to get around, what services are available, upcoming events and also operation hours of the Global Lounge.
SAs are also responsible to make sure visitors inside the Lounge are the University’s staff, students or invited guests. SAs have the right to ask those who are not affiliated to the University to leave. Making sure that the gym facilities are used in proper accordance to the University’s IHP (Institute of Human Performance) is also their job. They have to make routine checks to the gym and make sure that users have an IHP card like the one below.
<--IHP card for qualified users
Gym patrons who do not have an IHP will need to apply one from Flora Ho Sports Centre.
When the manager is not around, the SA is in charge of attending to the needs of special visitors, and reports issues arising in the Global Lounge to the manager. For example, if there is a breakdown in equipment or the facilities.
To summarise, a student ambassador is in charge of managing the welfare of the Global Lounge on a day-to-day basis.
Hourly pay
The hourly pay of the SAs is HK$39. Although there are 17 of them, their pay occupies only a small amount of the monthly expenditure of the Lounge. Since they are not permanent or full-time staff, there would be not much development and maintenance offered by the Lounge for them.
Other Staffing
Cleaning Helpers:
Cleaning helpers of the Global Lounge are supplied by the University. They are responsible for vacuuming the floor and clearing the rubbish at 10 in the morning and 10 at night before it closes. However, the staff of Pacific Coffee are always helping with the clearing of rubbish bins and leftovers which their customers have consumed.
Security Officers:
There are 2 security officers standby every day in the Lounge. They do not show their presence in its area but will help attend to security needs when called. Occasionally at times they will manually lock (extra locks) the Lounge when there are important equipments being kept in it.
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