JOINT TRAINING INITIATIVE BETWEEN THE MINISTRY FOR SOCIAL POLICY AND THE WESTIN DRAGONARA RESORT

The Ministry of Social Policy and The Westin Dragonara Resort have entered into an agreement whereby employees from the Ministry shall be actively participating in various training sessions and programs that are organised by The Westin Dragonara Resort on a regular basis.

The training will be revolved around the basis of all Westin training programs, known throughout the company as "Service Westin Style Worldwide'. This program which is made up of eight different modules has been developed by Westin Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, and focuses on ‘Creating Customer Value' at all levels of Service. The training modules which take up to eight full hours to complete are the following: Learning Westin Rhythms; Creating Customer Value, Westin Encounters Westin Style, Rhythm #1 Notice, Rhythm #2 Focus, Rhythm #3 Act, Service Recovery Westin Style and finally ‘Moving to the Rhythms'. All training will be held in the luxury surroundings of the Westin.

Other training modules which Ministry of Social Policy employees will also participate in include ‘Customer Relationship Management', ‘Communication Skills', ‘Telephone Skills' and ‘Complaint Handling'.

Speaking at a joint press conference together with the General Manager of The Westin Dragonara Resort, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Social Policy Lawrence Gonzi, said that this initiative is the first of its kind ever reached between a Government entity and the Private sector and should help further develop and improve customer relationship skills within customer service outlets.

More importantly, the Minister said such training modules will most definitely benefit those being trained in the long term, as the new skills acquired will help develop each individual's personal capabilities and hence - career.

The Social Policy Minister said that the B'Kara Social Security District Office has been designated as a Service Development Centre for the Ministry for Social Policy, which means that the staff at this district office shall be the first to benefit from this training partnership so that service levels at the B'Kara District Office achieve excellent standards and provide flag-bearing examples for other customer services outlets to follow.

At the same time and to coincide with this initiative, the Department of Social Security is unveiling a new corporate image for itself to provide a fresh impetus towards service delivery improvement and customer relationship management. Another added value service provided by the Department of Social Security is its availability on the Internet.

The Minister said that through the Ministry's website (http://www.msp.magnet.mt) one could download benefit application forms including applications for Children's Allowance Benefit and Retirement Pensions. The Department is also providing an on-line Children's Allowance calculator with which a family can calculate how much allowance is due to them.

Addressing the media, Mr. Renzo Correzzola, GM of The Westin Dragonara Resort said that it is only through on going training programs that Westin manages to retain its dominance in the hospitality industry worldwide. Westin Hotels & Resort has won numerous industry awards in past years including the prestigious No. 1 position in the upper-upscale category of ‘Business Travel News?' in 1994, ‘95,'96, '97 and '99.

Mr. Correzzola said that Westin also boasts the fact that up to 1% of total annual revenue is allocated to ongoing training programs for all of its employees, and that the success of these training programs is calculated from customer satisfaction indices.

Westin Human Resources Director Josephine Abdilla said that Westin is very proud to open its training culture to the Ministry for Social Policy. "At Westin, our service is our essence as a service organisation and training is therefore a key instrumental strategy in our business." The customer, Mrs. Abdilla said, whether or not carrying an international or local address is becoming more discerning and demanding. "We as partners in the service industry require to mentally shift our attitude. In short in our customers' satisfaction or dissatisfaction we see our level of professionalism", the Director said.