Meet Michael

I joined Fairmont Yangcheng Lake Suzhou in 2009 as a Banquet trainee. During my first seven years in Food & Beverage, I had the opportunity to grow through several operational roles, including Bartender, Restaurant manager, and later Food & Beverage Training manager.

In 2015, I joined the People & Culture team to begin my journey in Learning & Development. Looking back, I can say that my entire Learning & Development career has been closely connected to the Accor Academy.

What has motivated me from the very beginning is my passion for learning. Every new opportunity allows me to grow, and that continuous learning makes me feel more engaged, valued, and inspired to help others develop as well.

Having been closely involved in rolling out the Heartist® Onboarding program, I’ve seen how powerful training can be – especially when it comes to culture. For me, culture is one of the hardest things to measure because you don't always see the results immediately. That's exactly what makes the Heartist® Onboarding program so meaningful.

The program helps every new Heartist® move naturally from blending in, to fitting in, and ultimately feeling confident enough to be themselves at work.

The impact often appears in small moments. After a training session, I might notice a new Heartist® greeting me with a genuine smile or making confident eye contact. Those moments tell me the experience has made a real impact and that they've taken something meaningful away from it.

In 2024, I contributed to the Accor Greater China Sustainability project, supporting hotels across the region in their journey toward Green Hotel certification.

One of the biggest challenges was communication. I needed to coordinate training and ensure consistent support across hotels throughout Greater China while keeping everyone aligned around the same goals.

At the same time, I was learning myself. Before joining the project, I had no knowledge of the Green Hotel Certification, so I had to learn everything from the ground up before I could confidently support others.

Balancing this regional project with my day-to-day responsibilities at the hotel was another challenge, but it also became one of the most rewarding learning experiences of my career.

By the end of 2024, more than 220 hotels had successfully achieved certification through the collective efforts of teams across Greater China. Looking back, everything I had learned through the Accor Academy over the years helped me contribute to that success.

Receiving the L&D Manager of the Year award in 2021 and L&D Heartist® of the Year in 2023 was a great honor. I believe there are three reasons.

First, I have consistently supported the Accor Academy by delivering key learning programs such as Fairmont Brand Immersion, Fairmont Service Culture, and the Heartist® Onboarding Certification.

Second, mentoring has always been an important part of my journey. Since 2019, I have had the privilege of supporting many new Learning & Development Managers as a peer, helping them integrate smoothly into the Accor Academy community.

Finally, I strongly believe in sharing knowledge. I always share my personal experience and perspective with fellow L&D managers because I believe we all grow stronger when we learn from one another.