A cleaning kind of day turned out to be an insighful discovery!

       It is crazy how times flies. Today marks my one month here with Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort & Spa, and trust me, I don't even know how or where the time went. Being an award winning resort, it is no doubt Shangri-La has a strong corporate reputation. I am sure it is familiar to us how corporate public relation is co-related to the reputation of the organization.

       What came across interesting to me happen unexpectedly on the day I was cleaning the office of my supervisor, Mrs Claudina. They always say, good things happen to you when you least expecting them. As for me, that was the case. Cleaning might not sound interesting in general but let me show you what I have. It'll be worth your time reading this.

     In the midst of cleaning, I came across old materials like press releases, files and files of crisis management manual and even came across old materials used as promotional purposes. Amongst all that, what caught my attention was this big CID (Corporate identity) file compiled with everything from how the signage of the company letter head should looks like all the way to how the laundry bag in each room should looks like all in one file. That being said, there is guide line down to the very last detail of the resort. Image how much thought and effort must have been put into sustaining their corporate identity!



...Because I am...

 

     Come to think about it, I might never have thought it might be as important, but what I got from this was how much a standardize signage can represent. In order to build a good reputation, the first impression of the company plays an important role. I remember attending class having lessons about corporate image through their signage and how much I can how relate to that now.
    
     Another interesting thing I found was actually in the crisis communication file. I remember how a good PR team is to be able to foresee possible crisis the company should one day face and plan on the best way to deal with it. Yes! It is all in that file, compiled with all the contacts needed such as important contact of different kind of media.

     It is important in a crisis that we are able to identify the problem and be transparent about it. Apologize  and mean it when you need to and I guess that's what I have been observing throughout my time here as an intern. What's most important is a PR team needs to always be ready for anything that comes their way. One crisis that caught you off guard is enough to bring the whole organization down. We all know it might take a short while to gain the trust of someone, but how hard it is to gain it back if you ever lose it. It is almost impossible. Yes, that's the same theory that runs with the stakeholders of the company. The company CANNOT afford to lose it. We all know a crisis happens, be it big or small you can foresee and try to avoid all of it.  I guess that is what Shangri-La is doing, trying their best, just to sustain. Like every big organization. I guess that's all for now. Talk soon!

Cheers,

Alexandrina Yong

 



New week, new challenges!

After the routine aerobic workout on Monday, I volunteered to help my supervisor and a couple of librarians to move the stacks of newspapers from the first to the ground floor. It was definitely an extra session of working out!
I, then helped them to sort out the donated books by the public to the library.
The library has an ongoing program where the public are welcome to donate their unwanted books to the library; given that it is still in good conditions.
However, some members of the public are rather ignorant on that fact where they just drop any used books into the donation box. Most of the books donated are not suitable for shelving in the library as some are irrelevant, too worn out and outdated.
There were two stacks of English novels donated to the library but the library can't accept it due to the condition of the books. These books are still readable but they refuse to take it in as they do not want the library members to complain on the selections of books offered.
So instead, I offered to take the books home and they happily accepted my offer. It was definitely a win-win situation as I am a book-lover!
Later that day, I was to design an event poster on February's event in conjunction with Minggu Warisan Bumi Kenyalang. The poster that I have to create was of a talk on Pua Kumbu and its revolution.

     To the Iban of Sarawak, the pua kumbu is not just a blanket. It is a sacred ceremonial and ritual     textile. The word pua in Iban means 'blanket', kumbu means 'to wrap'. Together, the two words mean a 'grand blanket'. However. the pua kumbu is very seldom used as a sleeping blanket. It is reserved for the times when men and women seek an encounter with the spiritual (Fascinating Malaysia 2015).

I had a good time researching on the information needed for the poster after consulting the staff in-charge of the event. Not only did I deepen my knowledge on the local Iban culture, it also made ma aware of the significant research works by the speaker.

Besides that, I'd joined the first staff meeting they had with the CEO. She flew in from Kuching that morning for the general staff meeting with library's staffs to the the updates as well as summary report of 2014's progress.
During the meeting, I were to introduce myself to her in front of all the present staffs and she wished me well for my internship period hoping that both I and Pustaka will be able to learn from each other during this period of time.
It was a little scary having to talk in front of everyone but they were supportive of me by calming down my nerves during the meeting.
Aside from that, one of the job scopes of being in the Corporate Communications department is the monitoring and reviewing of customers' feedback; be it compliments  or complains received. Compliments are taken into account as well to motivate and appreciate the works or services of the staffs to the users.
These feedback are important for the organization as it can help to improve on the services and the conditions of the facilities for the comfort of the members as well as users.
I believe it is crucial to motivate the staffs as it will not only boost up their job performance but also making them feel that their presence in the organization is important.
It made me realized that in a working environment, one need constant motivation during work to achieve better work performance.
These complains and compliments; be it verbally (which the staff will record it down in a verbal customer feedback form), through voicepoint or written sources, it must be carefully evaluated and attended to according to the level of of compliment or complain.
Each complains are to be investigated by the unit leaders and they have to report on their actions in overcoming the same occurrences of complains taking place in the future.
It will then be relayed to the complainers in regards to their feedback. This is to ensure that it is fulfilling the objective of serving the local community.
For the week, I have learn a lot on how it is important to maintain the image of the organization, just as what we have learn in class!

Till next time...

Cheers!
Alyssa Chin