It’s been just over a month since I started my internship at this magnificent hotel and with little to no knowledge about how the hotel operation for this resort works, I blindly landed into the arms of the team of Learning and Development. I was welcomed by my soon-to-be-work-family and that’s when my journey started.
Just having started my training, at the moment I am responsible for numerous job functions within L&D and a lot of other projects, one of them being The revamp of the new Colleague Orientation Process. I am interning in the department of Learning and Development which is a very important function of Human Resources. We are responsible for orientations, training for customer service programs, and leadership development. We also facilitate employee training, nurture performance management, and interview candidate selections, just to name a few. I see all of this as an added advantage of interning exclusively under the L&D functions because in the midst of our day to day jobs, we often forget about self-development. Owing to this, I am able to attend some of the most varied and exclusive trainings Kerzner International as a company has to offer.
Having said that, if there is one thing that I have learnt out of the little time I have spent in this organization, it would be the magic of teamwork. I always knew teamwork was an essential component for a leading manager from the textbook. However, I never realized the happiness and beauty of teamwork until I started my internship in this department. It is truly a privilege to be working in Atlantis, the Palm. Working every single day in one of the best hotels in the world makes you often forget or ignore the importance and the value of this gigantic masterpiece. It’s when you interact with people you meet outside of work and tell them that you work in Atlantis that you realize that you are truly blessed to be a part of this amazing company that focuses on providing amazing experiences and building everlasting memories for not only external, but also internal guests.
As a part of my day to day work functions, I get to meet and dine with some of the Senior most leaders of Kerzner International like Mark Patten, SVP F&B, Executive Chef of the 2009, Scott Diesly, VP Aquaventure Water Park Operations, Gerard Moss, SVP Human Resources and many more. They counsel me and share invaluable advice for my future. As a part of my internship duty, I am entitled to choose a mentor from the organization. But what I have noticed is, we often stereotype a mentor to be someone from the top of the ladder and in this hotel there is a mentor in each and every corner. I personally believe that every single person in my department is a guiding mentor to me and I hope this process continues for the rest of my time here.
