Company: Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila
Country: Philippines
Project Name: Learning as a Way of Life
Category: Education
Website:
Objectives:
The project aimed to do the following:
i.augment employee knowledge of current issues and society’s pressing problems
ii.heighten employee awareness of emerging trends that might help improve their performance
Details of the project:
These days, society at large is in turmoil primarily because of the economic downturn across the globe. Many countries are trying to cope by implementing government reforms or strengthening ties with other nations. However, when unexpected crises arise – for instance, the AH1N1 scare – what do organizations do to keep their businesses afloat or, better still, thriving? Thus was the question that we wished to address in coming up with lecture sessions about AIDS and AH1N1.
It was Sofitel’s belief that education was the first step in rising up to the challenges confronting society. It wanted its employees to know what to do when a crisis struck and, whenever possible, possible, prevent it before it even starts. Seminars / lectures on AHINI and AIDS prevention attended by Sofitel employees had yielded positive outcomes and feedback from both customers and other parties. These lectures were given by the city health office of Pasay City and the Department of Health (DOH), respectively.
Yet another challenge that Sofitel faced daily was how to maintain, if not improve, the quality of its service. It was determined to provide its guests not only the best hotel service, but to give them the Sofitel experience. For this reason, it aimed to upgrade the quality of its employees, especially the front-liners, constantly. To this end, they underwent weekly skills and personality development seminars until they were fully prepared to face any situation in the workplace. These seminars were spearheaded by the Human Resources (HR) Department of Sofitel under the leadership of the hotel’s General Manager.
After the lectures, AH1N1 flu prevention measures were implemented. To secure the hotel and make it AH1N1 free, everyone that entered the hotel underwent thermal scanning. Liquid hand sanitizers were made available in the entrances, halls and bathrooms and posters were put up to inform everyone about the flu. A “pandemic room” was also provided for individuals who tested positive or registered high temperature readings in the thermal scan. Guests who tested positive after observation in the pandemic room were brought to the hospital by a standby ambulance. This measure was essential to the hotel’s operations as its customers mostly came from abroad.
All employees attended the AIDS Seminar in July 2009.
The weekly skills and personality development seminars taught the staff how to handle different situations when faced with customers, co-workers and superiors alike confidently. The hotel guests, on the other hand, appreciated Sofitel’s efforts to make it as AH1N1-free as possible and cooperated with the measures instituted. The campaign was so successful that guests and other hotels asked about how Sofitel acquired the equipment it had.
Employees were grateful for the AIDS seminars because of the preventive measures that they learned through it. They realized that education on the matter was of utmost importance given the rising number of AIDS patients in the country. They felt empowered to take proper action, which was exactly the reaction that the hotel wanted to evoke from them.