Sands China honours team members’ commitment to service excellence

Sands China Ltd honoured around 6,200 team members who are celebrating 10 years of service by hosting more than 60 departmental celebrations that began in March and continue through April.

With Sands China established in Macau for over 13 years now, a total of more than 8,500 Sands China team members have been with the company for 10 years or more. This latest group of 6,200 individuals have reached their 10-year milestones in 2016, 2017 or 2018. More than 75 per cent of them are local residents.

Dr Wilfred Wong, president of Sands China Ltd, praised their commitment to outstanding service, both toward fellow team members and to guests and visitors, reaping benefits for the company and supporting Macau’s continued development as a world centre of tourism and leisure.

“Sands China is incredibly grateful for the continued loyalty, dedication and hard work of our team members celebrating this important milestone – their 10-year anniversaries with the company,” said Dr Wong.

“We now have 8,500 team members who have been working for the company for a decade or more; that represents nearly one-third of our workforce. We consider this to be a very significant achievement and it is a great source of pride for the company,” he remarked.

Sands China has always viewed its team members as the company’s greatest asset, recognising their daily commitment to service excellence as a crucial component in delivering outstanding experiences to guests and visitors.

“As we pause to express our gratitude to our long-serving team members, we remain ever-mindful of our responsibility as the largest private employer in Macau – to take care of our team members and their families,” Dr Wong highlighted.

The company continues to invest in their career development, and in the broadening of their professional horizons, resulting in thousands of local residents advancing in the company.

One such valued staff member is Ronald Leong, executive director of transportation, who has been with Sands China for 11 years.

Leong, who participated in the first intake of the Management Trainees Advanced Management Program in 2008, was given a series of horizontal development opportunities resulting in five promotions. He currently leads a transportation team of over 500 team members. Leong pointed out that transportation service is one of the key components in the overall integrated resort experience for all tourists, as transportation is the first touch point upon their arrival in Macau.

The executive director emphasized Sands China’s commitment to bringing out the best in their team members, providing them with a series of training programs to assist in their career growth. For him, work experience in different departments has been beneficial to his personal development.

“I am happy to work for Sands China because of the culture: we have the support we need, and opportunities for career growth,” he shared.

Leong thanked Sands China for prioritizing the training of local talent, and for allowing them to explore the company’s different departments.

“The company not only provides training, but also follow-up action. The human resources department conducts mentor and mentee sessions and gives us a platform to share our ideas and concerns regarding our work progress,” he said.

Agnes Cheang, a convention and exhibition services associate director, has been in the company for over 10 years and echoed the same sentiments.

Promoted four times since she joined The Venetian Macao in November 2007, Cheang lauded the commitment of Sands China in providing team members a series of opportunities to continually expand their career growth.

“Sands China always makes sure that we are up to date and that we keep our professional standards. They really support us in our career growth,” she said.

According to Cheang, Sands China is continually working on developing talented local staff, giving them access to opportunities to broaden their horizons.

“This benefits us, local people, and it gives us chances to further advance in our careers,” she added. Cheang is proud to be a Sands China team member as she has been given various opportunities to handle international large-scale meetings and events, which have not only expanded her understanding of the industry, but have also made her feel she is growing together with Macau’s MICE industry. 

Another team member that was honoured was Grace Tam, a chief steward, who is currently leading a team of approximately 220 staff.

Tam first joined the company in 2007 and has been leading the team as a chief steward, responsible for kitchenware and tableware preparation and cleaning. For large scale events, she and her team prepare thousands of pieces of tableware, and coordinate with various departments, including food and beverage and facilities management. This requires experience, communication skills, and accurate calculation.

“The company pays a lot of attention to training and really puts its resources into the team members,” shared Tam.

“The company gives me opportunities to explore my abilities. At Sands China, I feel a sense of being successful and belonging as the company continues to prosper,” she added. As the company has been growing over the years, Tam said she feels excited about the new challenges and is thankful for the support and opportunities given by Sands China.

Tam was a winner of the Best Leadership Award in Sands China’s Because We Care Team Member Awards, which serves as significant encouragement for her and her fellow colleagues to excel in their workplace.

She was also the winner of the Outstanding Elder Employee Award by the local government, following a nomination submitted by Sands China.

In 2017, Sands China provided over 1.66 million paid training hours for its team members, equivalent to an average of 64 learning hours for each team member.

Since 2015, over 2,000 team members have participated in the company’s horizontal career development programmes. To date, Sands China has made nearly 18,000 promotions, involving over 10,000 local team members; more than 3,300 local team members have been promoted twice or more.

Sands China’s management team currently employs over 2,500 local residents, over two-thirds of whom have been working with the company for more than 10 years – a testament to the success of Sands China’s investment into its team members.

In acknowledgement of the company’s faithful team members, each employee received “The Perfect 10” commemorative service pins and award trophies, and food and beverage vouchers to the value of MOP500 (a total of more than MOP3 million in vouchers overall) for them to enjoy Sands China’s restaurants with their families as a token of gratitude for their continuous support. In addition, the company will give away more than 5,000 complimentary tickets of La Parisienne show in April and May to interested 10-year-service team members.

This article was sponsored by
Sands China Ltd.