Stay on the forefront of your job in the changing world of work

Every company, especially in this changing world of work, knowingly or

unknowingly, directly or indirectly, deliberate or otherwise must have a corporate
strategy. What is a corporate strategy? you may ask. It is the overall scope and
direction of a company and the way in which its various departments work together
to achieve its goals and objectives. With that being said you must understand how
important you are to your company because by virtue of choosing you as their
employee they have accepted you as part of their corporate strategy. This should
give you a greater feeling of importance because the reality is that you are as
important to the company as the CEO. But you must bear in mind as well that you
are not the companys CEO. You are a CEO but we will get to that a few minutes.
Unless you understand how important you are to the company certain things will

go unnoticed by you. Did you know that every employee in this organisation is
equal? Oh, you dont believe me. You are all equal because you work for the same
company. You are all equal because you are all working to achieve the same sets of
objectives and goals. You are all equal because in order for the companys
corporate strategy bear fruit you must work together. Thats equity. That simple
means each person has something to do. I am sure thats not the equity you were
looking for but the reality is thats equity. Being here in a dynamic environment
with the shared responsibility of fulfilling the guests satisfaction by being the
only all-inclusive resort that includes it all should make you feel extraordinary.
Thats something to be happy about. Thats something great. When guests write in
the reviews of the great experiences they had at Sandals everyone feels great,
everyone feels good about their contributions, everyone wears a smile, everyone
celebrates. Why? Because everyone knows and understands how important their
input was to make that guest feel satisfied. However when the reviews are not so
what we would have liked them to be, everyone forgets the corporate strategy,
everyone forgets that they had to contribute to the overall satisfaction of the guest,
so house-keeping said I made sure I spread the bed properly and I cleaned the room
and had it ready on time, the bell man said I received the guest courteously and
took his things to his room and I never ever collected a tip, the waiter said I served
just what he ordered and I presented it with skill and as a professional and it

continues and continues. Everyone is trying to take the blame away from him/her
and to put it on someone else. But as a team we do not operate like that. Instead
there should be a resolve that we are going to make all other guests write better
reviews because WE dont want this to be said about OUR company. We make up
this corporate strategy and so everything affects US. Thats teamwork. Thats
everyone fitting in to achieve the ultimate. And thats what a company need to
survive, the WE, the OUR, the US.

In todays business environment it seems as if only managers and supervisors have

the business interest at hand. And thats the harsh reality. Line staffs no longer see
themselves as the companys armour bearer as they often believe that they have to
do all the work and managers get to sit at their desks and do absolutely nothing.
Well I too had that feeling and it annoyed me. Until one day I had to look through a
different eye because I myself had some managerial duties to do. As I journey
throughout my career since the year Two Thousand I have been learning allot of
lessons from my job experiences that I want to share with you. And I will share
them under the caption Having the right attitude for the Job in the 21st Century.
I never had it easy growing up. I lived with a family of twelve. My parents were
simple cane farmers. It might have seemed to many that we had much only because

our parents valued education and put us first. I was determined from high school to
ensure that I worked hard to get a job that would have allowed for me to take care
of my family. I was not the eldest member of the household, u to age even I was
the youngest. But I was old enough in my thoughts that I needed to ensure that the
environment around me was changed and changed for the better. At the end of my
educational journey at high school, I was successful in my CXCs but that was it
for me. I had no money to go any further. That was simply it. The teachers at
Godfrey Stewart, then it was savannah la mar Comprehensive High School, knew
of my potential and my possibilities and they gave me the opportunity to go to
sixth form. Before the breakthrough to sixth form, I applied to a hotel for a job as a
housekeeper but after being called for an interview the Human Resources Manager
encouraged me to seek a job in the bank because of my CXCs. I was disappointed
because I felt like I would not have had the opportunity to make the dream of
allowing my family to be happy and comfortable. I then went to sixth form. I
couldnt depend entirely on the funds from the teachers at Godfrey Stewart to
complete my studies and so I got a weekend job at KFC in Savanna la mar. So
while attending school I was working and I did well. I went to work at Petersfield
High School as a clerical assistant. That was a blessing. When I went to the
interview there was a task that I could not perform. But I was determined to do it
nonetheless. I was asked to type something on the electronic typewriter, although I

knew how to use a typewriter I didnt know how to use the electronic ones. I typed
the entire letter just as how it was required but there was nothing coming out on the
paper but that didnt worry me as I thought there was just one button that was there
that could just print it. Unfortunately, there was none. I just did not turn on the
typewriter before I started typing. With humiliation I explained my plight to the
interviewer. God was on my side because I got the job but I also got a higher
position than I applied for. Tragedy laced my life as my father took ill and I was
now the only one working so I had to be taking care of everything. Then I realised
that my dream of changing the circumstances of my family was really mine to do. I
started studying part time just the time he took ill and I determined that I was not
going to stop. So I got another full time job at a hotel as a night auditor. So thats
two full time jobs, a part time school and the full time ailing father. I was never late
or absent from any of my jobs and I graduated from university with a second class
honors degree and I buried my father half way into all of that. I had my little sister
going to high school and so that pushed me to having to get a job. I got employed
at Belmont Academy and I have being giving my best to my job. I have served as
Acting Vice Principal and currently serve as Head of Mathematics and Computing,
Strategic Development Officer and Sixth Form Coordinator. I was able to send my
little sister to university. Today I hold a Masters Degree and my little sister has a
Bachelors Degree and is making more money than I do.

My life story might be inspiring to you. But there are some important lessons to
learn from my experiences. These have been my survival tool in my career. And I
want to share them with you so that as of today you can be the best member of
your companys corporate strategy. The partnership forged with you and your
company is critical to your survival and success and whether you believe it or not
someone out there is lining up to take your position without even holding you in
the slightest of regard. So as we look together at this partnership we need to
posture ourselves so that we can be effective, efficient and that our job is
rewarding by both fulfilling our needs and that of the organization.
Our first posture is that we need to understand what our organization stands for.
What is the mission of the organization? What does it value? What are the
objectives? If we know these things and we really want our job then we would not
really need supervisors. Supervisors are only there to ensure that the mission,
values and objectives of the organization are met. And you are the team that he has
to work with to ensure this. So dont treat your job as merely a 9 to 5 see yourself
as the business within the business. You dont want your business to fail therefore
the companys business as a result of that will not fail. A business can only fail if
the micro businesses within its scope, which is you, fails. Sandals is not really the
building, because the name can change any day. Sandals really is the people who
are part of its corporate strategy. Sandals is YOU.

Your next posture is that you must respect your job. No task is too menial for
anyone to do. As a matter of fact someone has to do it and if you have been
employed to do it then the requirement is that you must do it. And I will say must
do it again because thats what you are paid to do. Dont be interested in someone
elses job until you are put there to do it. Dont criticize someone elses job unless
you are offering recommendations to do it better. Dont leave your tasks
incomplete and still expect to get full pay. Dont turn up for work late every day
and produce all the excuses and then expect to be permanent. The way you attend
work suggests how important the job is to you. Your attendance and punctuality
says much about how you value being part of the corporate strategy. You must look
the job. Your company provides you with a uniform wear it with pride not with
style. Dont make your job fashionable to suit you but make yourself the standard
bearer of your job. Fix yourself properly and represent your organization. You
dont need to look like you are on the street when you step in for your corporate
strategy, there has to be a distinguishing feature and you must live up to that. If you
are going to be late for work dont call the minute before you realise that you are
going to be late or just turn up late. Thats not respect for your job neither is it
respect for your fellow workers. Remember that just like you the person you are
relieving is a human being, can get sick, can get tired, has a family, has needs and
has things to do outside the normal job so respect that.

Your next posture is that you must at all times be professional. Some people will
say that only managers are professionals but thats not so professionalism really
means doing your task effectively and efficiently without leaving any fault. When a
guest walks into a room he or she must see your hand of professionalism, when a
guest calls the hotel he or she must hear your voice of professionalism, when I
guest comes to the restaurant he or she must receive your service of
professionalism. When each of you offer your professionalism, your courtesy and
your kindness to your guests then the guest would have received the companys
professionalism and you the line staff, the middle managers and all the managers
will feel proud.
Your next posture has to be that of respect; and oh how this is a sore point in every
organization. Once you understand how important you are to the organization you
will respect yourself and what it is that you must do to ensure that the company is
rated at its best. Understand the difference among managers, supervisors and line
staff. If you are in one position take charge of that one and dont try to be the next.
Often times we can do a job better than another person but each person needs time
to grow. Respect is important because someone might be promoted over you and
because of the fact that you believe it should be you, you decide not to work with
the person; that is not good corporate practice, remember it is together that we can
achieve more. So instead of casting the blame about how he or she cant ensure

that you do what it is that you have to, be a model of your job, be the best at it and
I am sure you will be respected for it. There are many opportunities within your
company. Promotions, awards, transfers you name it. But without you positioning
yourself as an important partner, you might simply be wondering, probably forever,
Why not me?
Your final posture is that you are to enjoy doing your job. If you enjoy doing your
job then you will know what the company stands for and you will demonstrate at
all times your professionalism. You will be at work every day even on your days
off, you will be respectful to the time you should get there and dont even consider
the time you should leave. You will respect yourself and what you have to do and
translate that into respecting others and what it is that they have to do. You will
realize that compensation is just a package of your enjoyment because you are
doing what it is that you love and you just love doing what you do.
There is no doubt in my mind that today the company seeks to award you for hard
work and dedication. You have been chosen to receive an award or even to
separated from among those who have not yet seen themselves as part of the
corporate strategy. Congratulations for simply being the Sandals pioneer.
Congratulations for simply being what the company considers their best.
Congratulations for having weathered the storm and for fighting with resilience for
you believed in yourself and decided to hold on. The fight cannot be over because

you are still employed as Sandals corporate strategist and hear me now, you are no
longer seen as a corporate strategy but a corporate strategist. Each of you inside
here have a responsibility to reshape the look of the company by helping the others
to fully understand how it is that you got here so that they too can join the number
as we all will work together to make Sandals not just an all-inclusive resort that
includes all for guests but it will also be an all-inclusive resort that includes all for
workers. And having listened to me you are going to go purposing in yourself that
you will posture yourself in this partnership to stay of the forefront of your job in
the changing work world. A big thank you for having me, God bless.