Ms. Florence Hui, SBS, JP Under Secretary for Home Affairs Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government

Among the list of principal of cials of the HKSAR, all are male except Mrs. Carrie Lam, the Chief Secretary for Administration. Among eleven under secretaries, only three are female and one of them is Florence Hui who serves as Under Secretary for Home Affairs. "We have to admit that it is challenging to invite capable females to fill these roles," says Florence Hui. "Taking up the post of a politically appointed offcial means that we have to step into the spotlight of public scrutiny and to a greater or lesser extent sacri ce our private lives. However, many women place a higher value on the need to balance their work and their families."

Florence Hui was appointed Under Secretary for Home Affairs in 2008. Her key responsibilities cover bureau policy areas that include: culture and sports, district administration, youth development and social enterprises. Before joining the Government, Hui was the head of business planning and development for North Asia at Standard Chartered PLC and prior to that she served as management consultant with McKinsey & Company. During her banking career, she also held the title of secretary for the Hong Kong Association of Banks, a convenor of the China Committee and a member of the Financial Services Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, and a part-time member of the Government’s Central Policy Unit.

Avoid interruptions of family time
With such an impressive personal pro le, Hui is undoubtedly seen as a successful career woman in both the public and private sectors, yet at the same time she is also a mother for two young daughters. "Family is always my most important priority," she emphasises. "I very much treasure the notion of maintaining a meaningful work-life balance."

Today’s technology advancements like the proliferation of smart phones have drastically changed our lives. These electronic devices are very convenient and make us more efficient in our jobs, but they also blur the border between work and leisure. "We have to learn to use these mobile devices with great discipline." She says that, for instance, we should try turning off all mobile devices when having family gatherings. "It’s very common today to see everyone focused on their phones instead of interacting with family members sitting right next to them during dinner time."

Moreover, for many people, checking their smart phones has become the first thing they do when they wake up and the last thing to do before going to bed. "Alternatively, why not give family members a hug before bed or greet them  rst thing when you wake up in the morning?" she says.

As subordinates in an organisation, we wouldn’t dare trying to stop our bosses from sending us phone messages after office hours. Hui acknowledges that this has become the norm, but she always reminds herself about her priority of keeping a sensible worklife balance. "My smart phone is always on but I  lter out and ignore many less important messages and casual chats while I’m at home with my family."

Obstacles to females’ career development
In Hong Kong, female career development in both the public and private sectors has made great strides compared to previous decades. As a high pro le female management professional, Hui says that the increase in female representation at the senior management level has been substantial. "While I was at Standard Chartered Bank, which is an multi-national corporation, we formed a Diversity and Inclusion committee aimed at promoting staff development opportunities with respect to different backgrounds, including ethnicity, gender and other factors at various levels, including senior management."

She points out that gender, ethnic background and even educational qualifications are not even considered in the recruitment process at Standard Chartered Bank. "We selected potential candidates based on their work attitudes and personalities," she says. "I had the experience of employing people who graduated with degrees in history or even music."

The public sector has also been paying close attention to female representation at various levels. "Starting in 2004, the Government has set a target of 25% female representation on all advisory board committees," says Hui. "It’s an overall average percentage target whereby some of the committees like the Women’s Commission comprise a majority of female non-official members while other IT-focus committees tend to have more male members."

"The latest target starting from this year has been increased to 35%, a relatively high figure compared to other countries and regions," she adds. "It reflects our recognition of how important greater female engagement in social affairs really is."

Besides focusing on career development, many women also have to take care of their families. "Many female executives choose to leave organisations or companies midway in their career path mostly for the sake of their families," says Hui. "This poses challenges for companies even though they seek to invite more females to serve in senior management positions."

It may be difficult for women to return to the employment market and keep pace with the latest trends after taking a career break. "Given this scenario, we should actively do things to encourage or assist women to create their own businesses or work at home to provide greater flexibility." Hui adds that according to her observations many females prefer to take different paths like working in non-governmental organisations or pursue other nontraditional career paths when they return to the workplace.

Hui has also known many female exe cut i v es who gave up career advancement opportunities and stay at their current positions. "We understand that as senior managers we need to spend more time at work, and bear heavier responsibilities and pressures after being promoted to more senior positions. Faced with that outlook some females are reluctant to give it a try." She has noticed that some women set their own career path ceilings. "They may feel less comfortable being on management boards dominated by male executives."

Having a more diversified management team, in terms of gender, allows an organisation to make optimal use of females’ unique personalities and work styles. "Women tend to be more willing to understand how other people feel, especially in critical occasions like a corporate restructuring and during staff cutbacks. Women’s higher sense of empathy together with better communication skills and greater willingness to listening to others’ point of view may also help females take up more prominent roles during corporate restructuring scenarios."

Acknowledge familyfriendly employment initiatives
To help women more effectively balanc e the i r work and fami ly responsibilities, Hui emphasises that both the Government as well as commercial organisations need to put forth effort to promote more family friendly initiatives. For this reason, the Family-Friendly Employers Award Scheme, organised by the Family Council with support from the Home Affairs Bureau, was held to recognise employers that adopt diversi ed family-friendly practices.

"These award-winning employers' valuable experiences will help enhance public awareness and inspire more employers to adopt similar practices, resulting in the development of positive family values all across society," says Hui.

Family-friendly employment policies and practices have recently become increasingly popular and are intended to help employees balance their work and family lives. As a result, they provide bene ts for both employers and employees, and in turn, foster improved morale, enhanced working relationships and reduced staff turnover.

In addition to paternity leave and a five-day work week, family-friendly practices include: flexible work locations, child care and breastfeeding facilities at the workplace, scholarships for employees' children, and special holidays so employees can attend parents' days at schools. Hui adds that some companies even grant their parent employees to take longer holidays or shorter work days during the summer to spend more time with their children. "Many employers, not even large corporations, can allow their employees to manage their work time in order to take care of family commitments, including  exibility in terms of working hours, work venues, job arrangements, rostering, as well as things like job sharing, etc."