A THIRD cohort of young Saint Lucians have just graduated with a Sandals certificate, from the exclusive Sandals executed Hospitality Training Programme (HTP) which is run every ten weeks, on a quarterly basis, annually. This programme is geared to young people from all walks of life, with aspirations of becoming anything from general managers and supervisors, to wait staff and some who just aspire to get a full time job.
Completing the programme means that these young people now have more skills including on-the-job training and experience, that will put them next in line for any job that they are qualified for, across all sectors of the industry, whether in or out of Sandals Resorts.
A priority for the Sandals Human Resource Team is to track all of these students who have completed this level of training and short-list them for available positions within the company. Already upon graduation, those who have shown the greatest aptitude for learning have been rewarded with employment.
Leran Regis just completed his training at Sandals Halcyon Beach Resort and is one such graduate who has been hired as a Store Keeper at Cost Control. In presenting his testimonial during the graduation ceremony, even as he impressed the crowd with his dry wit and comic relief, he had this to say. “We made the impossible possible. This has been an incredible journey and we have made it.”
Kasia Lionel who completed her training at Sandals Regency La Toc Golf Resort and Spa also shared some pearls of wisdom with the graduating class. “Education and training is life itself.”
Guest Speaker for the event Khadijah Preville, Diamond Team Member 2017 – Sandals Halcyon Beach Resort, announced that before she joined the industry, she wanted to be a civil engineer. Today she is a proud Front Office agent because she put in the work. She said “her efforts did not go by unnoticed and today’s struggle is tomorrow’s strength.”
Finally, in his address to the graduands, Mr. Winston Anderson, Managing Director Sandals Resorts Saint Lucia, said that “a graduation is a time of pride.” In acknowledging that the young people before him were all “energetic, strong and confident and full of enthusiasm, pride and passion,” he used the euphemism that “A Journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step.” Mr. Anderson inspired them to “be the best that you can be, using the work experience to get to the next level, whatever that would be.” He stressed on the “importance of having the right attitude”, and the calm he felt knowing that “the industry is in good hands.”
The final cohort for the HTP 2018 starts this September.