Crystal Garden Properties and its brand company Y.X’s all-round talent strategy helps graduates start a new chapter in real estate and hospitality services

In recent years, Hong Kong’s real estate market has gradually shifted from “incremental development” to “stock operation”, and the integration and sustainable development of the Greater Bay Area have become the mainstream of the industry, and the demand for student accommodation has continued to grow. According to a report released by Colliers titled “Building Hong Kong into an International Education Hub”, the demand for student accommodation in Hong Kong is expected to reach about 17.2 thousand places in the 2027/28 academic year, bringing a large amount of space for service innovation related to young people and the community to the industry. In 2018, Crystal Estate opened up student dormitories in Hong Kong, focusing on the development of student accommodation management, aiming to bring the best accommodation and living space experience to university students. They rebranded in 2020 and established a new brand “Y.X”, which currently has 4 student residences (Y83, YHill, Y18 and Y36) providing 1,000 dormitories for university students. Its high-end student apartment brand Y.X takes hotel-level service + warm community building as its core differentiation, and has become a popular platform for many graduates to devote themselves to the field of real estate and hospitality services.

Overall recruitment strategy: flexible adaptability, accurate matching, long-term layout

Their recruitment strategy emphasizes “people-oriented, self-centered” and deeply integrates it into the entire recruitment and service process. Timothy crossed over from star-rated hotels to property management, and he firmly believes that “service is inseparable from people”. He deeply integrated the hotel’s “24-hour response mechanism” and detailed service processes into student apartments, such as launching a welcome package and a one-hour maintenance promise, while innovating and creating special services such as community activities and academic support, so that Y.X’s services have both standardized quality and warm experience. In addition, Y.X implements a “talent sharing mechanism” to break down the barriers between hotel and apartment businesses, and promote cross-business rotation learning for employees, such as hotel waiters becoming apartment housekeepers, which not only broadens employees’ career horizons, but also realizes the cultivation of “one specialty and multiple abilities”. This unique cross-border recruitment and operation strategy not only continues to improve the brand’s service quality, but also becomes a core highlight to attract graduates with a passion for service to join.

Retention and Stability Measures: Build a happy workplace of growth, respect, and belonging

They adhere to the concept of “talent is the core asset” and understand the characteristics of the industry that “it is more difficult to retain people than to hire people”, so they have launched three core retention measures of “giving growth, respect, and belonging”.

• “Give growth”: Y.X creates a cross-business rotation plan and provides free systematic training covering hotel management and youth community operations; Adhere to the promotion mechanism of “ability first, internal training”, and open more than 30% of grassroots management positions every year, which are selected through internal competition.
• “Give respect”: Establish a “front-line employee suggestion mechanism” to invite employees to deeply participate in corporate decision-making and service optimization, such as upgrading the shared space of Y.X student apartments, and adopting the opinions of the housekeeping team, so that employees can truly feel that their ideas are valued and their personal value is seen.
• “Give a sense of belonging”: Create a flat communication culture, implement multiple measures such as regular symposiums, birthday benefits, and cultural and sports public welfare, attach importance to employees’ work-life balance, create a relaxed and warm youthful team atmosphere, and continue to deepen employees’ corporate identity and brand belonging.

“Team stability is the cornerstone of business success, and we invest in the growth of each employee,” Timothy emphasized. These measures not only effectively improve team stability and work efficiency but also successfully create a happy workplace environment for them.

Strategies to attract graduates: Deep cultivation on campus and practical combat

For graduates, they are deeply involved in campus talent training, actively promote career planning for young people to find jobs and carry out brand exchange activities, with the core goal of “brand sowing + talent storage”, and simultaneously open operation and management reserve positions. Timothy said, “After joining the company, graduates will be assigned one-on-one senior mentors, who will not only receive systematic training, but also integrate their dual practical experience in hotels and apartments to help them quickly complete the career transformation. The company has a clear competency-based pathway for promotion and provides each graduate with a personalised career plan so that they can clearly see their future career path.”

In terms of talent selection, Y.X’s standards closely align with brand service needs, focusing on “service empathy”, “enthusiasm for cross-border learning” and “ability to resist stress and solve problems” rather than pursuing perfect resumes. Timothy emphasized: “We are looking for young partners who are willing to think more about Y.X’s service recipients and care for them.” Y.X sincerely welcomes graduates with these characteristics to join and become a member of a team with “warmth, willingness to learn, and commitment”, and walk with Y.X.

The achievement behind the “CTgoodjobs Best HR Awards 2025”: Pragmatic culture has been highly recognized by the industry

Crystal Garden Real Estate and Y.X won the “Best Recruitment and Marketing Award (Outstanding Award)” at the “CTgoodjobs Best HR Awards 2025”, which is behind their pragmatic corporate culture of “no empty talk, only solving problems”, and the practical embodiment of their full-link talent management system. The recruitment side matches high-quality potential talents with accurate talent positioning, effectively improving employee retention and reducing talent training costs. The employee wellness plan covers comprehensive physical and mental needs, enhancing team cohesion through diverse interactive experiences. These solid initiatives have been highly recognized by the jury, fully confirming their professional achievements in the field of talent management. Their cross-border integration service genes not only promote the continuous upgrading of brand services, but also create more diverse growth opportunities for employees, ultimately realizing a virtuous circle of “brands attract talents and talents achieve brands”.

Embrace industry changes and equip yourself with digital and ESG skills to provide a platform for you to see growth

In the face of rapid changes in society and industry, Hong Kong’s real estate industry is undergoing a deep transformation from “incremental development” to “stock operation”. In this regard, Timothy suggested that graduates be equipped with three core competencies: “digital operation capabilities”, “cross-border integration capabilities” and “ESG awareness” in advance to enhance the core competitiveness of the changing real estate industry and realize the dual embodiment of personal and social values.

At the same time, he sent a message to the graduates: “Choose a platform that allows you to ‘see growth’, do it boldly, and learn hard.” They sincerely invite service-oriented graduates to join us and explore new possibilities in the real estate services and hospitality industries through various channels such as campus career fairs and talent reserve programmes, and create a career future for young people.

Crystal Garden Properties and Y.X won the following awards in the “CTgoodjobs Best HR Awards 2025”:

🏆 Best Recruitment Marketing Award Outstanding Award