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Girls on guard provide a warmer welcome
By Xu Wenwen |
May 31, 2011, Tuesday
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STARING at a car nosing its way to the gate of the community, Wen Na again reminds herself of the greeting procedure. When the car passes her, she overlaps her hands on her belly, bows 30 degrees, shows the driver a standard eight-teeth smile and says "Hello."
Wen, dressed in a blue skirt suit and beret, is a new security guard at the Hope Town Community in Hangzhou, and she acts like a restaurant hostess to "make residents feel welcomed home," says Wen.
Female security is a pilot project by Greentown Property Management Service Group launched last month. Wen is one of the 100 female security guards recruited, and her peers are scattered across seven Greentown Real Estate Group communities around Hangzhou.
"It is very possible that the company will employ more female guards if the pilot project goes well," says Wu Zhihua, vice president of Greentown Property Service Group.
So, what's the difference between female and male security guards?
The job training given to the women can answer the query - their first lesson was a makeup class.
"Every female security guard needs to wear light makeup at work," says Wen. "And the company gave each female guard sunscreen cream."
The team is trained three times a week, and one session lasts for more than two hours.
Another part of the training is bodybuilding. Unlike male guards who have to stand like soldiers, women must brace themselves on a step, overlap their hands on their belly and wear a smile at all times.
"Sometimes we stand still on the step for half an hour, while gripping a chopstick between our upper and lower teeth to practice smiling," Wen says.
One highlight of the training is communication skills. "Conflicts between property management and owners always happen," Wu says, "therefore we provide female guards, who have more affinity than men do, and are capable of handling some tough problems."
In the past month, female guards have solved some tricky issues their male counterparts could not.
For instance, two weeks ago, a painter who was decorating an apartment in the Hope Town Community liked to work topless, resulting in complaints from some residents. Some male guards' attempts to persuade him to cover up did not work.
So female guard Liu Fei had a go. She gave the painter a grin, and asked gently, "Could you please put your clothes on?" She then showed a shy smile and said, "I am slightly embarrassed."
The man immediately covered himself up.
"The weather's getting hot and people are easily getting annoyed. However, a smile and gentle words always work - that's what we learn from the communication skill class," says Liu.
These female guards have been welcomed by residents, who often give them food. One man even bought them a fridge to avoid sunstroke. "Comparatively, the men receive much less gifts than the women do," says Sun Dong, the chief of Hope Town's security guard team.
Besides exerting gentle power, female security guards receive training the same as the men do, which includes basic training in following commands as well as fitness training such as running.
"It's demanding to stand under the sun for hours, which could be too much for delicate women," says Liu. "But we are mostly from the countryside and can stand that."
Since those ladies have to be adorable and, to some extent, strong enough, the recruitment demanded outgoing, optimistic ladies around the age of 25 whose height was no less than 165 centimeters.
The female security guards are paid the same as their male colleagues. But unlike the men, the women are not required to work at night.
Wen, dressed in a blue skirt suit and beret, is a new security guard at the Hope Town Community in Hangzhou, and she acts like a restaurant hostess to "make residents feel welcomed home," says Wen.
Female security is a pilot project by Greentown Property Management Service Group launched last month. Wen is one of the 100 female security guards recruited, and her peers are scattered across seven Greentown Real Estate Group communities around Hangzhou.
"It is very possible that the company will employ more female guards if the pilot project goes well," says Wu Zhihua, vice president of Greentown Property Service Group.
So, what's the difference between female and male security guards?
The job training given to the women can answer the query - their first lesson was a makeup class.
"Every female security guard needs to wear light makeup at work," says Wen. "And the company gave each female guard sunscreen cream."
The team is trained three times a week, and one session lasts for more than two hours.
Another part of the training is bodybuilding. Unlike male guards who have to stand like soldiers, women must brace themselves on a step, overlap their hands on their belly and wear a smile at all times.
"Sometimes we stand still on the step for half an hour, while gripping a chopstick between our upper and lower teeth to practice smiling," Wen says.
One highlight of the training is communication skills. "Conflicts between property management and owners always happen," Wu says, "therefore we provide female guards, who have more affinity than men do, and are capable of handling some tough problems."
In the past month, female guards have solved some tricky issues their male counterparts could not.
For instance, two weeks ago, a painter who was decorating an apartment in the Hope Town Community liked to work topless, resulting in complaints from some residents. Some male guards' attempts to persuade him to cover up did not work.
So female guard Liu Fei had a go. She gave the painter a grin, and asked gently, "Could you please put your clothes on?" She then showed a shy smile and said, "I am slightly embarrassed."
The man immediately covered himself up.
"The weather's getting hot and people are easily getting annoyed. However, a smile and gentle words always work - that's what we learn from the communication skill class," says Liu.
These female guards have been welcomed by residents, who often give them food. One man even bought them a fridge to avoid sunstroke. "Comparatively, the men receive much less gifts than the women do," says Sun Dong, the chief of Hope Town's security guard team.
Besides exerting gentle power, female security guards receive training the same as the men do, which includes basic training in following commands as well as fitness training such as running.
"It's demanding to stand under the sun for hours, which could be too much for delicate women," says Liu. "But we are mostly from the countryside and can stand that."
Since those ladies have to be adorable and, to some extent, strong enough, the recruitment demanded outgoing, optimistic ladies around the age of 25 whose height was no less than 165 centimeters.
The female security guards are paid the same as their male colleagues. But unlike the men, the women are not required to work at night.
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