We sat down with Lenny Andrews, our Community Investment and Development Coordinator who has worked at SKYCITY for 8 years, previously working in our SKYCITY Connect Team as an Employee Support Advisor. We wanted to hear about his journey at SKYCITY and what he thought of our Maori Development Programme Tahuna Te Ahi!
Briefly describe your current role
I am the administrator for the community trust and I assist in developing SKYCITY’s Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy in supporting the youth of New Zealand. My job entails a lot of networking as well as thinking of ways to broaden the public perceptions of SKYCITY as more than a gaming organisation and ensuring our work in the community is well recognised.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I enjoy that I have the opportunity to give back to the community and make it known what SKYCITY has to offer its employees, clients and customers. It’s really hard to find roles like mine in a corporate organisation so I feel really lucky to be in the position that I am.
What sorts of challenges do you encounter?
The main challenge that I face is the perception of SKYCITY in the gaming and casino industry. People are often quite surprised when they hear about our CSR and how much we invest into helping our employees. We do a lot of work around what we aim for SKYCITY to be in the future and it can be quite challenging to change the perceptions of the public to understand how much work we do within the community.
What did you do before you joined SKYCITY?
I worked at the Department of Labour on the Employee Relations policies and before that worked with NZ Courier and DHL in their operations teams.
What do you enjoy about working at SKYCITY?
Definitely the people! At SKYCITY there is so much diversity that you would never find anywhere else. Everyone you meet is so different which is really refreshing. There is so much opportunity in what you can do here. The economies of scale are so large that almost nothing is impossible.
What would you say to anyone considering joining your team or applying for a job like yours?
I would encourage everyone to come work at SKYCITY, there is so much opportunity here and to work your way up. There are people here who started as a front of house (busser/waiter) and are now working as a team leader in finance. Opportunities are endless here at SKYCITY.
Which of SKYCITY’s employee benefit(s) do you enjoy most?
Going up the Sky Tower for free is my favourite employee benefit. I quite often will go up to the observation deck and have my lunch there.
Is there anything about SKYCITY that makes it different to other work places?
As I mentioned before, the diversity of people and culture is what makes SKYCITY stand out from everyone else as an organisation along with their powerful development programmes, Tahuna Te Ahi being the biggest example.
Why did you enjoy being a part of Tahuna Te Ahi?
I enjoyed being a part of Tahuna Te Ahi because I built so many relationships with people that I really value. It was such a cool experience to know that SKYCITY really values my culture and embraces that. It was very challenging but it felt authentic and real which made it all the more rewarding.
Why do you think Tahuna Te Ahi is an important initiative for SKYCITY?
As a casino our major competitors are in Australia and South East Asia so our culture is our largest point of difference. An initiative like this is very commercially valuable which allows employees to get in touch with their own culture with the support of their organisation.
What did you get out of Tahuna Te Ahi?
In a way it gave me a push to understand what I want to be doing. It made me realise I wanted to be in a role where I was able to give back to the community, I ended up deciding to change roles into my current one and I am so happy. Its allowed me to utilise my skills in a better way.
What advice would you give to someone considering being a part of Tahuna Te Ahi?
I would say to go for it. Make sure you are prepared to be pushed both mentally and emotionally, it’s hard, but it is so rewarding. In a course like this you need to be able to be honest with yourself and your peers and if you are willing to be completely honest, you will get so much out of it.
What do you do outside of work?
Like most people I love my sleep. But I do also love Tech. I am currently building a PC from scratch in my garage. I also have a commercial Virtual Reality (VR) unit in my house where I play games on it, kill aliens etc. It’s all good fun.
Interested in a #WinningCareer at SKYCITY? Visit out careers website to find out more: www.skycitycareers.com #WinningCareers #HospoCareers #SKYCITY
