The Tribune

Bahamian Delino Moss took the top spot of valedictorian at Sandals’ Management Trainee Programme (MTP) graduation this week.

Mr Moss praised the resort chain for “seeing our hunger and determination to be better than we were, and giving us an opportunity to prove it”.

Two years ago, 20 persons seeking management positions within the group signed up for the Sandals MTP. On Monday night, having completed the rigorous programme which took them across the region, and through almost every hotel department and thousands of hours of training, they celebrated their success at its official graduation ceremony.

Adam Stewart, Sandals chief executive, urged the graduates to remember that life is an attitude.

He said: “You can choose to be positive, to be successful and to look at the glass half-full. We are trying to be a part of that attitude and to help you become the best that you can be.”

Mr Stewart added that Sandals remained firm in its commitment to human resource development, adding: “We made a decision that we could cut many things, but we couldn’t cut training and development one iota.”

The intensive two-year training and development programme gives promising young leaders from across the Caribbean an opportunity to train within Sandals, with the ultimate goal being to prepare them to make active and positive contributions to regional tourism.

Wayne Cummings , director of business processes and administration, said: “The Management Trainee Programme has been the centerpiece of Sandals’ management succession planning strategy, with the ‘best of the best’ from within the resorts along with new hires, continuing to display exceptional growth. This talent will take not just Sandals but the tourism industry, on the whole, to the next level.”

The graduates were honoured and presented with scrolls and certificates in a ceremony and dinner held at Sandals Whitehouse European Village & Spa.

The 20 graduates are now set to take up management and assistant management posts in various departments at Sandals and Beaches resorts across the Caribbean.

As the graduates settle into their management roles in the company, a new batch of 26 aspirants has been recruited for the 2014 programme. The 26 trainees, 14 of whom are new to the Sandals Group, were selected from over 1,500 applicants and after 700 interviews.

The group includes persons from Antigua, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The new recruits will begin orientation as early June.