Sandals Resorts employees in Saint Lucia can now choose to send their children to an Early Childhood Learning and Development Centre established by the company.
The Centre was unveiled in Sans Souci yesterday and will cater solely to children of Sandals employees.
“I’m having difficulty holding back tears of joy. Some of you here today would remember that this – what I thought at the time was a crazy idea came about because of my interaction with our valued team members,” Managing Director Winston Anderson said.
“Our team members come to work every day with huge smiles taking care of our guests but the most important thing for them is their family. Our Exec Chair cemented in his thinking that as a company the only way we can become the employer of choice is by creating loving families, creating fulfilling lives for the people that work with us and so this crazy dream I put it to our Exec Chair, CEO, senior directors and of course my team here in Saint Lucia and the region. I really had to take the time out this morning to thank our Exec Chair who immediately bought into the idea and saw the need,” he added.
The Early Childhood Centre comes as a sigh of relief for parents, Anderson indicated. The facility is an attractive and modern one with several amenities for children and staff. It features a number of play areas, toys, TV, sick bay and also has a number of security cameras.
“We invest a tremendous amount of money, time and effort in ensuring that we create the best level of training for our team members; training them well that people will want them, but for us what is even more important is treating them so well that they will not want to go anywhere else and not just the ones that work with us and their family as well,” Anderson stated.
He also acknowledged that “we live in a world where parents face many challenges” hence Sandals assisting its employees.
Sunil Ramdeen, Regional Public Relations Manager for Sandals Resorts International said that “over the past two or three years we’ve been working very hard with our GMs and executive teams and they are helping that dream be realized; working with the executive teams on resort to ensure that we have everything in place to accommodate our team members including a lot of physical upgrades.”
“Mr. Anderson and the regional team have embarked on a lot of initiatives to support that. Last year we were very proud when we launched our Sandals Employee Benefit Programme. We got together with all our partners and stakeholders and said to them we want to partner and provide relief for our team members. We were able to give our team members what we call the Sandals VIP Card which allowed them to go to these partners and access discounts. That was just one part of the dream that Mr. Anderson had. This is a second part of it and we’re very proud to be here for the realization of this Centre,” Ramdeen said, adding that “it’s just the beginning and we hope to grow.”
The Centre will accommodate sixty students.
Said Sandals: “This is a landmark and historic event not only for the island but for Sandals Resorts International.”