“I chose this job because it taught me to be patient and careful as well as to control my emotions,” Hung explained.
The last words Hung said to his girlfriend were “Today I am a receptionist, but tomorrow I’ll be a hotel director.”
Hung worked very hard and showed a lot of responsibility in everything he did. After a shift, a receptionist usually will leave undone work for the person in charge of the next shift. Hung was different. He took notes on all the happenings during his shift that might become problems in the next shift and discussed them with the person taking over. In many cases, he stayed to help the staff of the next shift until the problem was solved. “Apart from trying my best to ensure that everything was in place, I always looked for the smallest occurrences that might cause incidents in hotel services,” Hung said.
Hung’s diligence caught the eyes of the hotel manager. After 14 months, he got a promotion to work in the room reservation section. Ten months later, he was transferred to the business section. For a receptionist, that promotion was very fast. But for Hung, the biggest success he had at that time was overcoming the inferior complex of a person with a BA working only as a receptionist.
 Francis Hung is the first Vietnamese speaker and cooperate trainer endorsed as an “Extraordinary Ability” person by the US Government. Photo: Thong Hai / VNP |
After five years, Hung became the Vietnam sales manager of Marriott International, a group with 2,300 hotels in 80 countries. During in the first year of holding this post, Hung was recognized as the sales manager of the year as his hotel’s revenues were 50% higher than expected.
Since then, Hung was promoted nine times in three world leading groups. He was the sales director of Marriot (US) and Princess D’annam Resort & Spa (France), and sales and marketing director of Ascott International. Hung is now the founder and general director of Fresh View Training & Consulting.
While working for Ascott International, Hung got an unprecedented salary hike which is still told now in the group.
At that time, Ascott International’s northern regional director quit his job. Hung, as the southern regional director, told Indochina director Henry Lim that he could concurrently hold that post, provided that he got an 85% salary hike and a two-month vacation with his family in the US.
Henry Lim accepted Hung’s demand even though he knew that he would face tough pressure from other managerial staff. It was true. When the news about Hung’s unusual salary increase spread, other directors demanded the same thing or they would quit their posts.
But Lim had a strong basis for his decision, which was Hung’s outstanding performance. Lim said he only chose the best person to reward and anyone who liked to quit could submit their application with immediate approval.
This story proved that one can get a deserved reward only when they are devoted wholeheartedly to their job./.
| An Alien of Extraordinary Ability, or EB-1A, is an alien who has distinguished himself or herself professionally in their field of work or study. A person who receives a major, internationally recognized award like an Olympic Medal, Nobel Prize, or Oscar is qualified for this endorsement. |
