Meet Emil Leung | 2022 General Manager Finalist

With over 30 years of experience in the hospitality sector, Emil Leung’s passion for hotels was first inspired by his older brother. From his first posting in Hong Kong to overseas roles across Asia, take a look at how Emil’s journey has transpired throughout the course of his career and how his passion to positively influence the lives of others makes all the difference in motivating his friends, colleagues, and peers.

Please share a short introduction about you and your career.

My interest in hotels sparked when I was a young boy, and my elder brother worked in the Concierge department at the Excelsior Hotel in Hong Kong. He always told me about how beautiful the industry was, and expressed pure excitement about working there every day.

Now, with over 30 years experience in the hospitality industry, I have witnessed tremendous change and evolution since my initial start as a trainee.

When I began applying for jobs, I first set my sights on the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, as my brother had mentioned how he believed it to be one of the best hotels in the world. Soon after, I was offered the opportunity to work as a Reservation Clerk there. It was an exciting, yet challenging, time because back in the 80s the hotel’s system was entirely manual!

For my first overseas role, I left Hong Kong to join the Grand Hyatt, Taipei, which is where I also met my now-wife, Amanda. I spent a relatively short period of three years with Hyatt, working in both Taipei and Macau.

Following this was a 21-year career with Shangri-La – it’s so surreal to think how long I was with them! It was truly a fantastic experience all-round, as I worked from Junior Manager all the way up to Area General Manager. I worked in 10 cities across multiple countries, from urban hotels to resorts, and was General Manager for two new hotel openings. A particular highlight was working at the China World Hotel Beijing as Area General Manager because I was looking after three operating hotels alongside performing pre-opening operations with Hotel Jen.

Most recently, I was working as the former Regional Vice President of Operations at the Langham, Xintiandi, Shanghai.

What best practices have you implemented to manage the stop-and-go pandemic situation in China?

I believe that the best or most effective implementations we have made throughout this pandemic situation – especially during Shanghai’s lockdown period – is promoting positivity, either personally or professionally. During this period of time, while I was working for the Langham Hospitality Group, we initiated a variety of activities to continuously encourage our colleagues and guests. We also took the opportunity to revisit all hotel policies and SOPs to ensure they were relevant and up-to-date.

The objective of this was to keep us all busy and motivated. During the lockdown in Shanghai, we had over 70 guests still staying with us at the hotel. The entire team was delighted to learn afterward of the phenomenal feedback these guests provided, having witnessed our teamwork first-hand during such a period of unrest.

Throughout the lockdown, every single colleague exceeded their call of duty, demonstrating great, positive teamwork. Teamwork was a major focus for us during the pandemic (and still is), and we worked on adapting our work to fit the situation, as well as encouraging out-of-the-box thinking to get the optimum output. As a team, we worked to demonstrate our tenacity and flexibility to the owners, guests, and major stakeholders. The promotion of well-being among our guests and staff was also key. Ultimately, I think the pandemic showed us how important this is, and I am now determined to ingrain this into every facet of our business.

What is it you are most proud of in your career to date?

I am very proud of the people I am associated with – this includes my mentors, colleagues, and team members. Without these important relationships in my life, I would not be the man I am today.

I am also thrilled to have supported at least 10 General Managers with their promotions over the years. As a former Hotel Manager for six years, I really appreciated the knowledge I gained from my own mentors and believe it is very important for a General Manager to help others with their development and to motivate Hotel Managers with their transition to the General Manager position.

During the early stages of being a General Manager, I explained to expat Hotel Managers the importance of recognising cultural differences. By having the right attitude towards people, understanding localized marketing strategies, setting a good example, and always helping others selflessly, you will ultimately win the respect of your team.

I would also involve them in the decision-making process so that they could not only see my point of view but also voice their ideas in order to balance any decision made.

I am a strong believer in promoting the right candidate from within, even if it requires a lot of effort to negotiate and escalate my beliefs to senior management at the corporate level. Everyone deserves the chance to prove their abilities.

Furthermore, I am proud of my ability to focus and get things done, as it has helped me achieve so much throughout my career. While the journey hasn’t always been smooth, I am delighted with the progress and development I have been able to make over the last thirty years.

Throughout my career so far, I have won a number of awards for which I am incredibly grateful and proud, including:

• 2014 China’s Best General Manager by the 11th Golden Pillow Award of China Hotels.

• 2015 Best Hotelier Award by Life Style, China.

• 2014 and 2020 Best General Managers – China by Lodging Commerce of China Hotels.

What’s more, myself and the teams I worked with saw a number of major achievements that we are proud to have played a part in together:

• Customer Delight Team of the Year 2012 by Shangri-La amongst 80+ hotels globally.

• Best Business Hotel in Shenzhen by Business Traveller for five consecutive years while I was the Area General Manager.

• In 2021, The Cordis Shanghai Hongqiao won the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best.

• Langham, Shanghai, Xintiandi named part of the Top 1% of Exceptional Hotels in the World and No. 1 Luxury Hotel in China by TripAdvisor 2022.

Another achievement for which I am extremely proud and thankful for is my former promotion to Regional Vice President of Operations at Langham, Xintiandi, China.

I truly believe all of these results are a reflection of the supportive and loyal people I have had behind me throughout my career. Most importantly, this includes my wife who I would like to thank for her continuous support, and for being so accommodating of my work so that I can ensure a work-life balance.

Can you share what you believe is key in leading a successful hotel today? 

The fundamental cornerstone of the hotel industry remains its people – both staff and guests. During these challenging times, organisations have to be able to elevate and leverage its people, as they are the most important factors to ensuring success. By focusing on the fundamentals of management strategy – leadership, culture, talent, re-skilling and Human Resources – companies can and will emerge stronger, more agile, more innovative, and better able to respond to an ever-changing environment.

We can often spend too much time focusing on resolving issues within an organisation, but nurturing those around us and having a committed, effective and motivated team is the most crucial element of all. As such, while all managerial positions are important to a hotel, I believe having a great Director of Human Resources is essential.

One simple philosophy that I love to share is: By ensuring the happiness of our team, we ensure the happiness of our guests.

Another important factor is the need to create a culture of transparency and open communication within a hotel. If staff are afraid of being honest or are worried about upsetting other people when sharing their thoughts, we miss out on a lot of fantastic opportunities and ideas for improvement.

We need to consistently promote a positive team attitude because this benefits both our hotel and our guests, but more importantly, it ensures the health and well-being of our staff. Maintaining a strong relationship with our colleagues, guests, and stakeholders is my highest priority.

What do you think the next few years hold for the hospitality sector and its continued recovery?

I believe post-pandemic recovery is still very uncertain, however, life will gradually return to normal. We need to adopt a different approach when it comes to encouraging new business. There is no doubt that the hospitality sector has been severely affected by the pandemic, but I am sure that the passion and need for travel will return as we re-emerge from the current lockdown environment, especially after the past three years in China.

I expect travel within China’s domestic market to resume in the fourth quarter of this year, travel restrictions in neighbouring countries to be lifted during the first quarter of next year, followed by the rest of the world by the second or third quarter of 2023. Following this, we will need to really study and understand what new spending behaviour within the industry will be like for new customers.

Another challenge we will need to overcome is the labour shortage in the industry due to many leaving in the current environment. Therefore, we need to be sure that we have a comprehensive employee retention strategy in place. By creating a company culture that cares for its employees, we ensure that our colleagues know they are respected and valued; this will help to ensure we retain a talented team and attract quality talent.

Our existing team members are the hotel’s ultimate marketeers, as they have the ability to divulge how good (or bad) a company can be. We all understand that high salaries and employee benefits are important for recruiting staff, but those may not always be the deciding factor – particularly for the younger generation. These days, we are seeing more and more emphasis on the importance of ensuring an exciting and engaging workplace.

For many, a higher wage does not matter if they are unhappy with their job or the environment in which they are working. As a result, employee facilities are one of the most crucial areas of focus at the Langham Hotels and Resorts. A good employee dormitory, recreational facilities, and even an employee cafeteria can make all the difference. We have shifted our focus to improving and promoting a rewarding work environment and sharing positive stories to inspire prospective hoteliers. It is of utmost importance that we continue emphasising these benefits and points of difference in order to attract the best talent.

Aside from being a hotelier, what is your passion?

I love photography as it helps me capture moments in time that would otherwise be fleeting.

What is the motto that you live by?

“The deadline is always yesterday.”