to recruit enough people to meet expanding needs in teaching and research activities, and address gaps as current staff retire. The ‘140 for 140’ campaign, announced before the COVID-19 pandemic, aims to recruit 140 new professoriate staff by 2027. Although placed on hold during pandemic restrictions, it is now operating at full speed. From August 2022 to May 2024, offers have been made to a number of overseas experts and other candidates, among which 45 academic staff have been hired. ‘Hiring more people is not a problem, but hiring good, capable staff is the challenge. We are only looking for talent, otherwise how can we remain an outstanding institute? We will not compromise on this,’ Professor Poon emphasised. Top and emerging talent around the world are being approached via various channels. Discussions are also underway with the Hospital Authority (HA) to collaborate in the recruitment of clinical staff to meet the demand in hospitals as well as the medical schools in Hong Kong. Alongside that outreach, efforts have been stepped up to nurture and retain talent. The Faculty has communicated clearer pathways of promotion for existing junior colleagues and provided them with mentorship and leadership training. ‘We want to provide better support for our junior faculty members, so they can become our future leaders,’ he said. Well-being programmes are also being developed for staff of all levels and across all units, including individual level, department level and faculty level. ‘We strive to provide a better environment for our colleagues so they can be both physically and mentally healthy. This is not only for academic staff. We want to take care of the needs of other faculty members, administrators, technical staff and so forth, too. We want to have a culture of well-being within the HKUMed family.’ Professor Poon and his team are also working closely with the other sub-deaneries to address their staffing needs. ‘We really want to have collaborations between different domains so that we can have more effective communication and create new opportunities for our staff,’ he remarked. ‘We want to have a strong and loyal team at HKUMed, so we can work together to scale new heights in the years ahead.’ Professor Leo Poon Lit-man 9 HKUMed News Summer 2024
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