Richard Cheng – Facilities Supervisor, Jebsen Group
In a blink of an eye, I have journeyed with Jebsen for 46 years. I joined the Group in 1970 as a messenger. This was before we had email so I remember spending most of my day collecting messages from the various offices and sending them out via the telegram office. I later transferred to the cargo service department where I was responsible for checking cargo and clearing customs. In 1992, I was promoted to my current role of Facilities Supervisor, looking after all our Hong Kong offices.
From my career journey, you can see that Jebsen offers many opportunities for its people to experience new roles and responsibilities. It offers a caring environment where its people can grow as individuals and bond as a team. It has become a second home to me and my colleagues are like my family members, so leaving has never crossed my mind. Even though I passed the retired age, I made a choice rejoin Jebsen, and strived for the best with colleagues.
In my time with Jebsen, I have also witnessed the Group grows and evolves. Back then, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was almost unheard of but when the Group would like to contribute to the society, it quickly embraced the concept. Today, Jebsen’s CSR efforts are focused on Environmental Conservation, Staff Well-being and Philanthropy. Among all the projects, I am most impressed by Project Morning Star. In addition to financially supporting its partner organisation Orbis in bringing better eye-care to rural China, the Group also provides opportunities for colleagues to join field trips so that they can make a meaningful difference.
Jebsen has taught me the importance of always keeping an open mind. I believe my willingness to try new things has allowed me to gain a lot of knowledge. For example, we once discovered water droplets forming on the ceiling of the company’s server room. I was asked to help. I had no idea what could have caused this either, but through my investigations, I realised that it was due to the lack of ventilation. Our server room was located on the top floor of the building. With the sun blazing and the air-conditioning system switched off on weekends, the server room was heated up causing cool air to rise and condensation to form on the ceiling. I came up with a simple solution: removing wallpaper from the four corners of the ceiling. By allowing the hot air to escape, room temperature was regulated and the issue was solved.
Today, I enjoy using my experience to help my colleagues. Some of them call me “Mr Fix-it-All” but that is an overstatement. I am just an experienced guard who wants to help the team.