CEO for One Month
CEO for One Month
Wat Tsz Kwan Eric's Story
Awardee of 24th Recognition Ceremony
Faculty of Business and Economics (HKU Business School)
BBA(IBGM)
“It was very exciting – I learnt a lot about how large corporations operate and about what true leadership is like, especially during a crisis such as in COVID-19,” said Eric. During the experience, he was exposed to all areas of business, sat at executive meetings, and investigated firm-level issues through local and global projects. As Eric shared, one of the projects he worked on was to assess the market entry of The Adecco Hong Kong into a new industry. “As much as the experience was very much about shadowing Janet Pottinger, the Managing Director of Adecco for Hong Kong and Macau, I was also given the opportunity to be more entrepreneurial, thinking about how Adecco would access the new industry, the viability and risks, and how it will mean for our business moving forward in 2021 after COVID-19,” Eric said.
There was keen competition in the program. “Every year, The Adecco Group selects one young person to shadow the local CEO or Managing Director in the countries they operate. “There were around 2,000 applicants in Hong Kong, and globally, there were 34 of us out of 200,000 applicants,” Eric recalled.
“I want the private sector to play a bigger role in creating social impact and addressing social needs.”
When asked what made him stand out from other applicants, Eric said the company stressed just to “be yourself.” Eric mentioned he emphasized he wanted to explore aspirations through the program - “What drives me to enter the business sector is that I want the private sector to play a bigger role in creating social impact and addressing social needs. I’d also like to become the best leader I can be, building good values and a good character. It is a significant focus for me during university life. Hopefully, what I’ve learnt from this experience will translate to my future career.”
Written by:
Vincent Tang
Year 1, Faculty of Law
March 2021