We sat down with Linda Asher, Executive Housekeeper of SKYCITY and SKYCITY Grand Hotels. Check out her full interview below to see why she enjoys working for New Zealand's largest entertainment company.
What does your current role entail?
I look after a team of 104 employees that service our 640+ guest rooms along with the hotels public areas (e.g. pools, gym etc). We are also in charge of controlling all linen supplies. Basically anything that goes into the guest rooms or public areas of the hotel, will come through me to approve and look after.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I enjoy having the constant satisfaction of knowing we are giving our guests the best possible products and services. I also really enjoy the people I work with, Our Hotel General Manager is so supportive and encouraging which makes my job and my teams jobs so much easier.
What sorts of challenges do you encounter in your role?
SKYCITY Hotels are very busy with a large amount of checkouts and arrivals daily, our biggest challenge is to get the rooms ready in a timely manner and make sure they are looking pristine so we can get our guests in as quick as possible. Having a large team to manage is also a challenge for me, communicating with everyone and ensuring everything runs smoothly, however, i love it.
What did you do before you joined SKYCITY?
I have worked in hotels for over 30 years now. Most of my working life was in Sydney, Australia where I worked for another fantastic company that set me up in the hotel industry and made me fall in love with hospitality. Since then I have never looked back and have been at SKYCITY for 8 years.
What do you enjoy about working at SKYCITY?
I very much appreciate the SKYCITY culture. I feel very proud of our involvement in charities, our commitment in hiring young people and giving them the opportunity to learn and grow. I am also very proud of our rainbow tick certification, because it reflects who we are as a company everyone respects each other regardless of their background.
What advice would you give to anyone considering joining your team?
Housekeeping is a very physical job. Your are making hundreds of beds a day, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming every room and it all needs to be done in a timely manner so you do need to be relatively fit and onto it.
Which of the SKYCITY employee benefits do you enjoy the most?
Definitely the parking! What other company is so generous and where else in Auckland are you able to park so cheap for the day. I love that SKYCITY understands that parking is expensive and gives us cheaper parking.
What makes SKYCITY different to other work places?
Like I mentioned before, the company culture definitely makes us different. We are a very community minded organisation which you don't generally find in such a large corporate. I also think the diversity that we have as an organisation and the training programmes that we run - Tahuna Te Ahi for example, one of my team is currently doing this and she is absolutely loving it! Another is the Emerging Leaders Programme, they are both top notch programmes and allow for such great development of our employees.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I like to relax after working hard. My sons live in Sydney so I do a fair bit of travelling there. I am also a keen gardener, I enjoy meeting up with my friends for coffee or a nice Sunday brunch somewhere
