The Tribune

FIVE years after its launch, the Sandals Corporate University (SCU) is continuing to develop its hard-working employees, offering opportunities to team members across the Caribbean to further their education through high school equivalency, professional certification and degree programmes as well as on the job training.

One recent shining example is Donathan ‘Donny’ Johnson, Assistant Food and Beverage Manager at Sandals Royal Bahamian.

The SCU was launched in March, 2012, with the endorsement of seven Caribbean Heads of Government, and to date over US$11m has been spent on human resource development programmes with nearly US$1m being allocated directly to scholarships.

Donny, as his personal and work family call him, took full advantage of the opportunity to engage the educational arm of Sandals Resorts International and better himself. “I have been working with Sandals for more than 16 years. I started as a pool deck attendant and while being excited and eager I was also a bit nervous. This was because up to this point I had only held part time positions in hospitality and had never worked in departments where I had contact with guests,” he said.

“I was, however, hungry for knowledge and very quickly learned tasks that were considered tasks for senior staff. Shortly thereafter I was moved to the beach as a beach attendant. After that move I began training to drive the boats, teaching sailing/windsurfing lessons and also learnt to repair beach equipment. Soon thereafter, I set my sights on becoming a boat captain and later on becoming a diver. The journey to become a diver proved to be challenging as I would always get seasick but I was determined that I would not give up and, one by one, I received all the required certifications moving from Open Water Diver to Advanced Diver and Rescue Diver along with a host of other specialty courses.

“I continued with more courses, jumping into every programme offered by the SCU in order to further my development - from the Train the Trainer Course to a variety of technical courses for the Watersports Department. This elevated me to senior instructor, which was not a promotion but again came with more responsibilities and furthered my development.

“After about 12 years in Watersports, I was offered the post of Environmental Health and Safety Manager and in January, 2016, I became the Assistant Food and Beverage Manager. I really enjoy this department and I’m happy that I’m not able to make an impact on young team members who are in the position I once was.”

Mr Johnson now holds a degree in International Tourism Business Management and is one of the pillars of the Food and Beverage Department at Sandals.

All team members, from line staff to executive management, are eligible and encouraged to seek out programmes of interest at the SCU. Gary Williams, General Manager, commented, “We have some very dedicated, hardworking team members, both new and long-serving like Donny. It makes us happy as a team to be able to watch the growth and development of our team members and Donny is a shining example of what a great education and determination can create.”