This month we celebrated the success of our Quest for the Best winners! The annual Quest for the Best awards dinner was held at the SkyCity Theatre stage this year where staff and guests were served delicious New Zealand kai and desserts curated with a sustainability focus by our Apprentice Chefs and Pastry team and featured amazing performances and games hosted by our MCs.
The Quest for the Best winners are carefully selected by the Quest for the Best committee made up of members from across the business including front and back of house functions. Congratulations to all our winners – ka mau te wehi!!
Employee of the Year - Duane Stephens
Duane has been with SkyCity for eleven years having begun as a casual entertainment technician back in 2009. Duane progressed through the ranks joining the permanent team as a part timer then becoming a full time Senior Technician before carving out a new role for himself as Technical Coordinator where he was able to demonstrate his organisational and leadership skills along with his excellent grasp of all technical aspects of our environment.
This year, Duane has continued to show his agility by taking a lead role in delivery of the IPTV project which has been an immense and complex piece of work. He has a passion for entertainment and enjoys delivering memorable experiences for both our staff and our customers - every event is important to him!
Leadership Award - Bridget Rainsford
Bridget Rainsford (affectionately known as Bid) has just celebrated her 10 year anniversary at SkyCity and leads the Recruitment team here in Auckland – a team who are charged with finding us the best talent in the market and sharing our stories to build our already strong employment brand.
Starting with us as a Consultant in Hotels and Support Services before moving into corporate recruitment, Bridget won an individual Quest for the Best Award in 2014 when she was nominated by a range of her customers for her excellent work. This year she was nominated by her team for the leadership award.
Quality, Integrity and High Work Ethic are regularly phrases that come to mind when people talk of Bridget – she makes her mark, she makes a real difference and she makes magic!
Team of the Year - HVAC Team
Photo from L to R: Neil Parker, Stuart Bryant, Peter Stapleton, Peter Levert, Callum Mallett
Earlier this year there was a ruptured pipe in Albert Street following some ground works undertaken by the CRL project.
The HVAC team worked through the night and into the following morning running temporary water supplies, arranging water tanker deliveries, switching off non-essential water feeds, communicating with CRL and Watercare, and the affected SkyCity teams. The outcome being that all hotel guests were able to stay in their rooms and enjoy showers and flushing toilets. All restaurants continued to operate with minimal disruption. An amazing result for SkyCity, and a proud moment for the team to celebrate!
Chairman's Health and Safety Award - Health & Safety Team
Photo from L to R: Mila Masiasomua, Vi Chompoopho, Karen Ah Tong, Pete Hayes, Taylor Hough, Anyela Montano
This year’s award goes to a team who have demonstrated excellence in maintaining an exceptional level of health and safety performance throughout an incredibly challenging year.
We’ve had significant events that impacted and changed our business including; a fire at the NZICC that forced us to close our precinct for the first time in 25 years; and a pandemic – COVID-19.
Throughout both events the team displayed exceptional professionalism, under immense pressure, in extremely unprecedented times guiding the business through closure, cleaning and reopening of our entire precinct following the fire – enabling SkyCity Auckland to reopen faster than any other major complex in the CBD and providing first-class health and safety advice to the business on COVID-19 from the outset to ensure we could operate under the mandated Government restrictions – world-leading and setting the standard for Casinos around the world. This enabled our precincts to reopen and operate safely ensuring we could trade while keeping our staff and customers safe.
The team never wavered in the face of multiple crises, they have gone above and beyond throughout the year. They have played a critical role and undertaken their duties with the highest professionalism and diligence.
Sustainability Award - Project Nikau
Photo from L to R: Mary McLeod, Lua Mika, Candace Foliaki
Project Nikau have been recognised for their commitment, passion and innovative approach to youth employment. The project has been collaborative and featured a huge amount of teamwork across the business in particular with Mary McLeod and Linda Asher. The outcomes of the programme are due to the quality and calibre of the young people, practical support provided throughout employment and mentoring that is both positive and empowering.
Project Nikau has resulted in the employment of 47 young people across its numerous intakes and currently there are 16 Project Nikau cadets employed at SkyCity across Food & Beverage, Cleaning Services, Housekeeping, Host Responsibility, Gaming, and Logistics.
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