6,200 team members have graduated from Sands China’s development programmes

Sands China Ltd. has prioritized a series of development programmes, not just for its team members but also for its retail partners and local small, medium and micro enterprises whom it views as its strategic partners.
Earlier this month, the Sands China Academy held its Diversified Local Talent Graduation Ceremony at Sands Cotai Central, to celebrate the achievements of its local team members and business partners nurtured through Sands China’s various human resource development programmes.
At the ceremony, Sands China Ltd. President Dr Wilfred Wong and officiating guests presented certificates to representatives of graduating team members, retailers and SME suppliers.
The event also included a sharing session featuring video, a quiz show and a theatrical performance, highlighting the successes of Sands China’s varied talent development initiatives. Some of those initiatives were the first of their kind in Macau and are now being offered to others who are not direct employees of Sands China, such as employees of Sands China’s partners.
A total of 6,200 participants graduated in 2018-2019, with over 700 representatives attending the ceremony.
The integrated resort operator has been holding a series of seminars for free in a bid to continually strengthen skills and to increase the knowledge of its employees and partners.
“Learning is a lifelong process,” said Dr Wong. “As a leading integrated resort operator in Macau, Sands China is more than pleased to provide a diversity of initiatives for local talent, not only by providing short-term courses, but by offering a continuous, fruitful learning experience,” the president added.
With more than 8.3 million training hours offered to team members to date, including more than 1.7 million training hours delivered in 2018 alone, the Sands China Academy will continue to help team members grow along with the company.
The company will continue to adhere to the government’s call to produce local talent.
“We will continue to align ourselves with the Macau SAR’s local talent-building strategy to cultivate diverse tourism and leisure talent for the industry, for Macau, and for the Greater Bay Area,” said Dr Wong.
Three key areas of the company’s focus are horizontal and vertical management talent development, professionalism training, and development of industry professionals outside of Sands China.

Horizontal and Vertical Management Talent Development
Sands China offers an abundance of horizontal and vertical career mobility options to its team members through a variety of trailblazing talent development initiatives, of which more than 20 talent development programmes are specifically designed to cultivate senior management team members. The first large-scale horizontal development programme in Macau, the My Way programme, was launched in 2016, with more than 2,200 team members having joined the programme to date.
Diversified management development programmes have helped over 1,600 team members to advance their careers since 2016, by completing more than 30 programmes.

Professionalism Training
Launched in 2016, the company’s professionalism training programme is the first programme in the SAR to be co-organised with the Labour Affairs Bureau and the Macao Federation of Trade Unions, and has since trained over 5,100 team members from 19 departments. Various initiatives since 2016, such as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Visit and seminars conducted by renowned chefs, have helped enhance team members’ knowledge of the latest developments in mainland China.

Development of Industry Professionals Outside Sands China
The Sands Retail Academy is the first training programme of its kind in Macau for retail professionals and has provided over 37,000 training hours for more than 9,000 participants to date. The first of its kind in Macau for local SME suppliers, the Sands Procurement Academy has graduated five cohorts to date, comprising more than 140 representatives from local SMEs.

New Initiatives
Sands China continually explores additional avenues for nurturing local talent, and is introducing five new programmes, including the National Studies Programme at the National Academy of Governance, the Sands China Integrated Resort Business Analyst Development Programme,
The All-Round Food and Beverage Management Programme, the Casino Talent Development Programme, and Professionalism Training for Non-Gaming Team Members.
Sands China considers these and other human resource initiatives as an essential part of the company’s commitment and determination to nurture local talent.
Sands China created the Sands China Academy as a platform to give team members training for their career development, and to help foster professional talent in the wider Macau community. One of the major training venues of the Academy is the Adelson Advanced Education Centre at The Venetian Macao, which works to equip team members and local residents with skills to help achieve their career goals. The academy works in concert with the Macau SAR government’s efforts to raise Macau’s profile as a world centre of tourism and leisure.
(To be continued tomorrow)