and Mr. Christopher Richardson
A tripartite agreement is being worked out for a special management training programme primarily for hotel sector workers in Anguilla, and there is much excitement among the several stakeholders about the proposal.
The planning parties are the Anguilla Community College/Ministry of Education; the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) in the United Kingdom; and hotel/villa operators on the island with whom there are continuing discussions.
The Anguilla Community College (ACC), whose President is Dr. Karl Dawson, has just published a 13-page document, dated April 15, 2019, outlining the Hotel Management Training Proposal.
It states in part: “Our goal is to develop a corps of skilled managers and leaders in the hospitality sector on Anguilla, capable of leading staff to customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and profitability for the organizations in which they work. We also intend to build an ongoing network of managers committed to continuously improving their practice.”
A press conference, called by the Community College, was held on Tuesday, April 16, to discuss the project with media representatives. The speakers were Dr. Dawson, the ACC President; Mrs. Cora Richardson Hodge, Minister of Education and Home Affairs; Mrs. Glennys Crimshaw, a member of the Chartered Management Institute and a Freelance Training Consultant at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College in the British Virgin Islands; and Mr. Christopher Richardson, an Adjunct Lecturer at the Anguilla Community College who, apart from his university qualifications, has 30 years experience at the top level of the hospitality industry in Anguilla.
Dr. Dawson, who gave a detailed explanation of the programme, said that from its inception the Community College had been charged with developing capacity in human resources in Anguilla, particularly the hospitality sector. “We have done so for Associated Degrees as well as various short courses,” he went on. “We have attracted young persons, as well as some persons in the industry, but as we went along we realized that there were still a number of persons who it appeared our programmes did not exactly reach. These were persons who were ascending within the sector based on their performance at entry level and their moving up. But though having the experience, and sometimes promoted to management role, they did not necessarily have the formal management training…”
Asked about funding for the training programme, Dr. Dawson said the Community College was seeking funds for donors to help support the establishment of the programme. It was expected that the hotel properties would contribute to the training; and that the employees themselves would also share some of the costs. He said these and other details were still being worked out.
Mrs Richardson-Hodge, the Minister of Education, commented that she was excited about the programme. “It is well-known that, for quite a while, I have been expressing an interest in furthering the education of our young persons in the hotel sector and other industries,” she stated. “I am very excited about this programme and the certificate course to be offered here at the Community College. As I see it, as Minister of Labour and Education, it fills a gap.”
The Minister continued: “We currently have persons who have a number of years in the industry. They may have worked and brought themselves up to a certain level, particularly in mid-management, but while they may have the experience, they may not have the formal training. This programme… will now be able to fill that gap so that our people could become well-rounded individuals in the workforce.”
Mr. Christopher Richardson spoke about the visits he and other personnel from the Community College had made to a number of properties. He reported that there was general agreement and excitement, among the managers, about the training programme.
Mrs. Glennys Crimshaw made the point that the programme would be offered to the Anguillian hospitality workers at level 5. Following their successful training they would be issued with a CMI Level 5 Certificate in Leadership and Management.
According to the Hotel Management Training Proposal document, the programme and the qualifications have been designed for practising or aspiring managers in such roles as Operations Manager; Divisional Manager; Departmental Manager; Regional Manager; and Specialist Manager.
Further details of the programme will be given later.
