(Montego Bay, St. James, May 2023): Home ownership and land acquisition is a dream and ultimate personal goal for many Jamaicans. The process involved in achieving this however, is often quite daunting. It is for this reason that the Learning and Development and Human Resources teams at Sandals Montego Bay sought to make the process simpler by hosting a dedicated Housing Day for their over 800 team
members.
The Housing Day, held inside the resort’s plush conference center, provided a platform for representatives from the National Housing Trust (NHT), National Land Agency (NLA) and Housing
Authority of Jamaica (HAJ) as well as a number of financial institutions such as Scotiabank, Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) and the Victoria Mutual (VM) Group.
“At Sandals Resorts we take a holistic approach to the wellbeing of our team members,” said Learning and Development Manager, Shanique Cunningham. “It’s not just about their career development and how they operate at work, it’s also about their personal dreams and aspirations.”
Karen Smith-Gardener, marketing officer at NHT, couldn’t agree with her more. “Home ownership for some persons is a financial gain, they’re thinking about asset building. But for other persons it’s an
emotional gain, it provides security, comfort and stability and this will positively impact other areas of their lives. When your staff members are comfortable, happy and in a better emotional state, this positively
impacts their productivity at work too, and everyone wins.”
“We want to ensure that our team members are armed with the knowledge and contacts they need to step out and chase their biggest dreams,” said Cunningham. “We want to make this information easily accessible to them.”
The team’s efforts were certainly not wasted. Throughout the day, members from various departments
flocked to the conference center to gather first-hand information on things most important to them, like:
- The step by step process involved in accessing loans to buy, build or improve on their property.
- The qualifications required in order to access NHT loans and the different products and enablers
available. - Information on current and upcoming developments in and around St. James.
- Various financial instruments available to better help them realize their dreams.
Among those impacted by the initiative was bartender, Shanna-Kay Hepburn, who despite being on her day off, found her way to Sandals Montego Bay because of the Housing Day activity. “I came in on my
day off and skipped my hairdressing appointment because I desperately want a house, it would mean the world to me to own my own home,” she said, positively glowing. “Today I got so much information that I
didn’t even know before and the process was very easy, it was definitely worth the trip here,” she said.
For Loyalty and Travel Agent, Shavoy Williams the initiative provided a much needed convenience, “for many of us [team members], when we leave work most of these institutions are already closed, so this
initiative gives us the opportunity to ask questions about everything from assessing loans to opening bank accounts.”
Human Resources Manager, Anecia Pryce noted that events like these further galvanize the commitment of Sandals Resorts International to team member and their families. She hinted that more events of this
nature are also in the pipeline.