Caribbean Times 5th Issue - Friday 30th September 2016

12 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g
Friday 30th September 2016
Antiguan among new batch of Sandals’
Management Trainee graduates
After a two-year journey which saw
her working the ranks in every department
in various resorts all across the region,
Antiguan Orena Nurse is among
25 participants in Sandals Resorts International’s
(SRI) Management Trainee
Programme who have officially shed
the trainee title and will now move into
management roles, following a graduation
ceremony held last weekend.
The new managers were selected
from a pool of 1,500 applicants two
years ago and include a number of Jamaicans
as well as nationals from Antigua,
Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada,
St. Lucia, and the Turks and Caicos
Islands and both previous employees
of the Sandals/ATL Group and new recruits.
The Management Trainee Programme
(MTP) identifies and grooms
outstanding young recruits to become
managers in the company through
a two-year programme of hands-on
learning and training at resorts across
the region. All participants experience
rotations through various positions and
departments across the group before
selecting an area of specialisation. The
MTP is the centerpiece of SRI’s Management
Succession Planning Strategy
and is one component of the company’s
ongoing efforts to invest in capacity-building
throughout its operations.
Nurse, a former team member at
Sandals Grande Antigua, is also a graduate
of the Antigua Girls High School,
Antigua State College and University
of the West Indies – Mona. She now
moves into the exciting role of Front
Office Manager at Sandals Negril
Beach Resort and Spa in Jamaica.
She recalled that the training programme
was intensive but one through
which she learned much about the Sandals
brand and what it takes to be a
manager.
“The journey has been an exciting
and fulfilling one. I had challenges, but
challenges make you stronger; they
teach you lessons,” Nurse said.
“As Mr Mark Pike (SRI programmes
manager) always tells us, take comfort
in uncertainty. There were a lot of times
when I was unsure of what was going
on, what steps to take, but through it all
Orena Nurse, left
I overcame it and I truly believe I am a
better person because of it.”
Speaking at the graduation ceremony
held at Sandals Ochi Beach Resort,
Wayne Cummings, director of business
processes and administration, himself
a product of the MTP, reaffirmed the
company’s commitment to investing in
young leaders.
“This Group is on the move”, he
said, “this Group is growing and for us
to grow and evolve we need to invest
in people. We need to invest in the new
leaders of the Group.”
As the graduates move into their
new roles within the company, Cummings
urged them to always remember
their journey and treat their colleagues
with respect. He said, “Remember the
things you went through, remember
your subordinates. They are your colleagues
and they are even more important
than you. Have a very healthy
respect for them as you seek to lead
them.”
He also reminded the new managers
of the limitless potential within each of
them as well as within the company.
“You are competent, you are able and
you are at the right place, at the right
time and with the right company. The
journey has just begun. We are a company
on the move”, he emphasised.