GEG Launches Parenting Skills Training for Rotating Shift Team Members

December 17, 2018 – Galaxy Entertainment Group (“GEG”) is committed to promoting a healthy work-life balance, as well as family harmony, for its team members. In February next year, GEG is launching the “GEG Parenting Education Program: Happy Parenting – Round-the-Clock Parenting” with the aim of helping team members who work rotating shifts to build strong parent-child relationships. The program is the first of its kind in the industry, as well as in Macau. Team members who participate in the program will take the classes during their working hours so as not to cut into their family time.

Commissioned by the GEG Foundation, the program was developed by Heep Hong Society in Hong Kong, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and co-organized with the Young Men’s Christian Association of Macau. Its design is focused on the psychology and development of children aged two to seven, as well as the special challenges of parenting while working rotating shifts. The eight-week program will cover topics such as developing parent-child relationship, encouraging desirable behavior, enhancing children’s abilities, and preventing and managing problem behaviors. Through interactive lectures, group discussions, role play and home assignments, the program will aim to help reduce problem behaviors in children, and to improve participants’ confidence in their parenting while alleviating parental stress. Enrollment in the program has been strong. Participants will receive the lessons in batches between February and December 2019. In order to ensure the program fits the participants’ needs, a pilot class was recently held, and feedback from participants were most positive; participating team members indicated that the program had helped them deepen their relationships with their children.

Ms. Yellow Fong from the Table Games Department of Galaxy Macau™ said, “I was pleased that the program took place during working hours so that participation in the training wouldn’t take away from my time with my kids. Due to rotating working shifts, I do not have as much time to be with my children as I would like. But the skills taught in the program were very practical and useful; I can apply them in my daily communications with my children. The program showed us how to teach our children based on their abilities and characters while being mindful of how our emotions and behaviors impact our children.” Her colleague Mr. Vincent Cheang said, “Partly due to my rotating work schedule, I did not have as close a relationship with my children as they have with their mother. The program emphasized that the amount of time we spend with our children and the skills we use when communicating with them are very important to our relationships with them. As such, I have adjusted my daily routine and have applied the skills taught in the program when I communicate with my children, which has greatly improved our relationship.”

In addition to offering an array of training programs to foster team members’ professional development, GEG also organizes various activities to support team members’ family relationships. These include the recent visit of members of the Staff Social Club together with their families, totaling nearly 300 people, led by Mr. Francis Lui, Vice Chairman of GEG, to the People’s Liberation Army Macau Garrison; the Galaxy Macau Family Tour 2018 which aimed to deepen families’ understanding of team members’ work environment; and the Happy Kids – Positive Parenting roadshow, which offered team members guidance on effective communication with their children. Additionally, GEG continues to optimize and launch various family-friendly policies, including the implementations of 70-day maternity leave and five-day paternity leave, which surpass the entitlements provided for by law. In the future, GEG will continue to take a proactive and diverse approach to promoting a culture of work-life balance at its properties.