Do you understand much about Hong Kong business culture? Here are a number of tips of work culture in this global city.
Hong Kong is a worldwide business city. Although it's an Asian city, the work culture in Hong Kong is closer to the western world of business. Here are a few things for you to understand more about the local business culture like standard behaviour, dress code and manners. Let’s start from greetings. You might believe that every Asian will bow to each other when greeting. It's partly true for a few Asian cities. In Hong Kong, you can only greet your business partners with a solid handshake. This is possibly the maximum of bodily contact for most of business meeting there as they don’t really see hugging a typical business greeting gesture. Also, here is one other tip for greeting. Whenever you greet in the city, always greet the most senior person first. This is the most common courtesy in Asian workplaces specifically in Hong Kong. So, bear in mind if you would see some well-known business people like David Li of BEA, be sure you greet him first.
Company usually includes group meetings and negotiations. If you would like to arrange a business meeting in Hong Kong, it is always a good idea to make appointments beforehand. Usually it's going to take place in your office or your company contact’s workplace. If both parties have a strong relationship, they would choose eating a conference in a causal way, such as eating a lunch meeting in a restaurant or a coffee shop. In Hong Kong, apart from all the international holidays, they likewise have some exciting local public holidays such as Lunar New Year and Dragon Boat Festival. Try to stay clear of scheduling meetings around these holidays because these are the time for individuals gathering with their family, like Christmas in western tradition. Remember this advice when you are arranging a meeting with some firm leaders like Mary Huen of Standard Chartered Bank.
Are you not a local in Hong Kong? If you want to come and start a business in Hong Kong, you may want to know more business etiquette in the city. Beginning from dress code, businesspeople dress fairly formal there, likely in black suits, ties and shirts. Wearing black and muted colors are usually safe and the best option for your clothing. Unless you're an artist, only prevent wearing suits with fancy designs which might show an unprofessional impression to other people. Speaking about colour, there are some scenarios when you are suggested to wear vivid tones like red, which is viewed a fortunate colour. You might would like to wear a red tie at the time of traditional festivals such as Lunar New Year. Next time, if you are going to meet some CEOs like Peter Wong of HSBC, you can wear some accessories in red to give your meeting good luck.