Shortly before proceeding on pre-retirement leave, former Deputy Commissioner (Management) Fung Siu-yuen told OffBeat that the different posts within the Force carried different job natures and different challenges. Assistant Clerical Officer Yeung Hung-por from the Personnel Registry of New Territories North (NTN) Region Headquarters can't agree more with Mr Fung, and says Mr Fung's observation also applies to civilian jobs.

Mr Yeung was being interviewed by the Psychological Services Group (PSG) and the Staff Relations Group (SRG) for the first part of a series on the civilian staff working in the Force. During the interview, he elaborated on the challenges the civilian workers in the Force are facing.

Starting this issue, PSG and SRG run the series to pay recognition of the contributions the some 4,800 civilians have made to supporting police officers in policing Hong Kong.

After spending three years in the Census and Statistics Department, Mr Yeung was posted to the Force in 1982. Since then he likes his job more and more and has never considered asking for transfer. With a view to familiarising himself with police work in order to get his job done, he later joined the Auxiliary Police Force and was promoted to Station Sergeant.

"Being a part-time policeman is a big help to my job as a civilian officer. Whilst working on the beat with the disciplined officers, I appreciated better the difficulties of their jobs as well as their job challenges," he noted.

Challenges for civilian staff

Mr Yeung pointed out that for the civilian staff in the Force, the work pace is very fast, the workload is becoming increasingly heavy and supervisors are more demanding in terms of staff performances. Furthermore, civilian officers have to comply with the Force Procedures Manual and different standing orders, in addition to the CSR. And the unique police culture is something they have to adapt to. In return for these challenges, the Force offers civilian staff opportunities to pick up new skills and learn new things, as well as good fringe benefits, including a variety of recreational facilities.

"The Force is a big department where civilian staff can learn a lot whilst playing different roles in supporting disciplined officers working indoors or on the frontline. The civilian officers are just like an important part of a big machine, which can only function effectively if everybody works closely.

"The Force policy on career posting means that civilian staff will have a new boss once two or three years. Adapting to a new boss so often is also a challenge for civilian staff," Mr Yeung added.

Mr Yeung made no bones that some civilian officers felt a bit apprehensive upon being transferred to a department subject to discipline. He said he always tried his best to help newcomers overcome their apprehension and adapt to a new working environment and discipline by explaining the uniqueness of police work and police culture, job natures and responsibilities; assuring them of his full support for their adaptation, and helping them regularly review the progress of adaptation.

Civilian job calls for total commitment

Mr Yeung himself is committed not only to his job, but also to the promotion of management-staff relationship and healthy lifestyle activities within the Force.

In office, he sits on the NTN Police Civilian Staff Consultative Committee and the Welfare Committee of the NTN Headquarters. Outside office, he is even more active in promoting recreational activities among Force members - being a founding member and ex-secretary of the Police Dragon Boat Club, executive committee member of the Police Adventure Club and a staunch supporter of the Police Indoor Rowing Competition. The diploma course on sports he took in Guangzhou has helped him make a significant contribution to promoting recreational activities among Force members.

Recognising that the activities organised by the Force's sports and arts clubs help enhance a sense of belonging to the Force, Mr Yeung always encourages his civilian colleagues to actively participate in those activities. And he is delighted that nowadays more and more civilian officers are heeding his advice.

In 2005, Mr Yeung, together with Identification Bureau Station Sergeant Mak Chi-keung and Personnel Wing Supervisor of Typing Services Wong Yuen Shuit-ying, was among 74 civil servants presented with the Secretary for the Civil Service's Award for meritorious services. He sees his being nominated for the award as recognition by the Force management of the contributions made by civilian officers as a whole.

Comments by PSG

Firstly, "staying positive" sounds abstract and hard to achieve. Yet Mr Yeung managed to do so. Take the challenges of work for example; he was open to changes in posting and viewed each different job nature in the Force as an opportunity for him to learn new knowledge and skills instead of a hurdle. He also interpreted the great demands from supervisors and fast work pace as a good training to refine his work skills and efficiency. Such perspectives and appraisals of work challenges allow him to stay positive and proactive when taking up new tasks and thus find work interesting instead of threatening.

Mr Yeung has also adopted strategies to improve job satisfaction. Studies showed that setting new challenges for oneself and beating boredom are two crucial components enhancing job satisfaction. Mr Yeung, as an Auxiliary Police Force member and founding member of different recreational clubs and volunteer services within the Force, has obviously set new goals and challenges for himself and enriched his perspectives and experiences that might not be obtained from routine clerical duties. The way he assists newcomers also reflects the mentorship that restores the satisfaction one wants from work. Most importantly, Mr Yeung has never underestimated the importance of civilians. He firmly recognises and values the importance of his role of support in the Force, resulting in a positive self-image.

Mr Yeung gives high priority to his family life despite his busy schedule. With clear priority, good time management and planning, he can spend time with his family on a regular basis.

For Mr Yeung, civilian job also calls for total commitment