The Group regards its loyal and experienced staff to be its most important asset. Significant investment and efforts are made into staff training, career development, staff well-being and staff communications, taking account of local culture and traditions as far as possible. As a result, the Group enjoys strong loyalty from its staff with many very long-serving members and indeed, successive generations, of employees.

• The Group's staff orientation video, titled Portraits of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, won a Gold Award and came second in the Public Relations category at the 39th Annual WorldFest - Houston Film Festival in April 2006.
• Wherever a Peninsula hotel operates, local traditions are honoured through a range of employee activities. For example, in Thailand there were staff celebrations at The Peninsula Bangkok during Songkran and Loy Krathong Festivals, and activities were organised to pay respect to the Thai monarch on the 60th anniversary of His Majesty's accession to the throne. At The Peninsula Manila, the hotel established a unique concept, the Pen Coop – which acts as an investment house for current and retired hotel employees, and training ground for casual employees.
• The spirit of camaraderie was celebrated across the Group. At The Peninsula Chicago, more than 150 employees from the hotel's opening team celebrated their fifth year of employment with the hotel in 2006. In Asia, The Peninsula Manila's Pen-Fam Fair and the annual Pen Sports were organised for employees and their families. The Peninsula Bangkok initiated a “Make it Better” programme which provided staff with an excellent channel of communication to make suggestions for improvements.
• At Quail Lodge, a new contract was agreed with the union which would see an increase in productivity from housekeeping staff. At the same time, steps were taken to enhance staff welfare including the construction of a new staff dining room.
• Training remained a highly important component of the Peninsula fabric. This was especially important to hotels facing intense competition, which would rely on training to stay ahead of competitors. One such example was The Peninsula Beijing which has in recent years offered a significantly enhanced programme of training opportunities at its Centre for Learning and Development. Similarly, The Peninsula Chicago created several unique staff development programmes, including HEAR (for handling guest complaints) and TIPS (for alcohol service and intoxication prevention).
• An important recruitment and training regime was undertaken by The Peninsula Hong Kong for new spa staff which continued into the first half of the year. By the time the Spa opened in May 2006, the hotel had successfully hired 45 staff, who underwent intensive pre-opening training conducted by ESPA to ensure that the highest professional standards were met. A Spa Awareness pre-opening campaign was conducted for all hotel employees in April. The activities included briefing sessions, an open day and a spa quiz.
• The Peninsula Hong Kong and The Peninsula Bangkok provided ongoing intensive training for the 20 Peninsula Tokyo Ambassadors, who embarked on their ten-month training in September 2006. They will be bringing their experience back to Tokyo in time for the opening of The Peninsula Tokyo in the autumn of 2007.
• Recruitment for The Peninsula Tokyo's  management team has been concluded and the full team will be on board by April 2007. Arrangements have been made for the newly-appointed key executives to undergo in-depth orientation and cross-exposure programmes at the Head Office and The Peninsula Hong Kong. The efforts will continue in the first half of 2007.
• Almost all the Peninsula hotels provided cross exposure training to staff from sister hotels and properties. Overall demand and training days recorded a historical high in 2006, and has proved to be a very effective training tool for the operations to exchange useful tips on best practices and service standards. Internships to students from local and sometimes international hospitality schools were provided by The Peninsula Hong Kong, and by The Peninsula Chicago to The Hong Kong Polytechnic, (US) Kendall College and the Illinois Institute of Art.

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