Friday Nov 29, 2024
Friday Nov 29, 2024
Wednesday, 6 November 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
General Manager Rohan Karr declared this meeting to be a celebration of grand people rather than figures or forecasts. He stated that Cinnamon Grand’s associates are the driving force behind its success and he is proud to lead a team with as much diversity, talent and passion.
The highest honour for the day, the GM’s Special Award was won by D.P. Kumarasiri (Engineering /Human Resources) for his unrelenting passion and dedication to the hotel as well as its people and for constantly and consistently going beyond the call of duty. He was applauded for his hands on service to the hotel and his unabated spirit to serve, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
For him, no request is ever too small and he affords the highest level of effort, commitment and love to everything he does, serving the Cinnamon Grand and its Associates without holding back, void of departmental barriers and embodying the spirit of ‘Cinnamon Grand’ in its very essence.
Unstinting commitment
‘Associate of the Quarter’ awards were won by team players who displayed unstinting commitment to their job roles as well as constructive and productive contributions towards the hotel’s success. K.G.D.W. Premasiri (Kitchen Stewarding) won an award for his dedication to detail, motivation to learn and unfailingly positive attitude.
W.D.M.C. Perera (Flower Room) was recognised for his dedication to his job and leading without a title, taking on the responsibilities of guiding his department as a role model and person to turn to.
S.H.G.C. Senarathne’s (Gardening) award was in appreciation of his innovative initiatives in introducing new crops to the Grand’s front garden and meticulously maintaining its appearance, despite the external challenges such as weather and salinity.
R.H.M.T.N. Rathnasiri (Coffee Stop) was recognised for his efficiency and competence in managing one of the hotel’s busiest outlets with his Manager claiming that he capably performs the duties of seven associates.
C.D. de Zoysa Siriwardena (Front Office) was commended for her efficacy and timely completion of work, seeing jobs through from start to finish without passing it on and for her record of maintaining absolute guest satisfaction with groups she handles.
K.J.S.S. Gunasekara (Banquets) was endowed for getting it right the first time and for thinking ahead in everything he does and last but not least, D.P. Abeyweera (Human Resources) was awarded for his constant willingness to help those in need, especially in proactively arranging financial, loan and medical aid, providing a shoulder to lean on and a hand to help.
City Hotel winners
The winners of the Culinary Art Competition 2013 who contributed to Cinnamon Grand being bestowed the prestigious titles of ‘Best City Hotel Team’ and ‘Second Runner Up-Best Hotel Team’, were recognised at the meeting.
Notably, Cinnamon Grand’s team walked away with a total of forty three medals consisting 13 Gold, 12 Silver and 18 Bronze, with Senior Kitchen Artist N.P.W.J. Weeraman deemed the ‘Most Outstanding Artist 2013’, which was the premium honour in the culinary contest.
The ingenuity and innovation of the winners of the Delicious Waste Chefs Competition 2013 were also recognised. The competition was a pioneering initiative in minimising food waste and enhancing culinary creativity, launched for the first time in Sri Lanka by the Cinnamon Grand. The winners competed in the breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snack categories in creating scrumptious dishes with items that would usually not be considered as delicious.
Sporting achievements
The meeting was also dedicated to cheering the hotel’s sports men and women who put on a grand game over the quarters. Cinnamon Grand’s Rugby team emerged Cup Runners Up at the JK Inter-Company Rugby 7s with Nalin Kumar awarded the ‘Most Valuable Player of the Tournament’.
General Manager Karr, an ardent Rugby fan himself applauded the team’s admirable performance on the field, while congratulating Mekalanka Pramodha for being selected to the Sri Lanka National Rugby Squad.
Cinnamon Grand’s swimmers splashed their way to third place at the JK Inter-Company Swimming Meet, bringing home an impressive amount of medals including twelve Golds, 06 Silvers and 04 Bronzes.
Winners of the JK meet as well as those who won medals as part of the John Keells team for the Mercantile Swimming Meet for the President’s Challenge Trophy, were recognised.
Also, Cinnamon Grand’s Lakshan Samarasinghe who captained the JK basketball team to victory at the Mercantile Basketball Tournament and was awarded ‘Best Player of the Tournament’ was accredited, as was Antonette Thambirajah who won two Golds and Silver at the Mercantile Athletics Meet.
In-house sports meet
The Cinnamon Grand annual sports meet, a fun filled day of camaraderie and sportsmanship in the hotel’s calendar was spoken of, with the winning houses (1st Tangerine: 92 points, 2nd Celery: 83 Points and 3rd Olive: 73 points) acknowledged.
The hardest part of the sports meet, as unanimously agreed on by all was the march past, with the end result being an admirable performance put on by all houses. The driving forces behind those performances were the trainers of the squads, mainly from the security and kitchen departments, who embraced the role of ‘trainer’ passionately, strictly and seriously.
E.N.P. Zoyza, J.S. Habaragamuwa, D.T.A. Gamage, R.M.S. Rathnayake, S.S. Siriwardena, S.D.P.D.R. Yapa, K.P.H.D. de Silva, H.P. Alwis, H.M.S. Herath and H.A.K.P.S. Perera were saluted at the meeting, for their effective leadership qualities displayed during the sports meet.
Another important recognition at the meeting was the ‘Green Champions’ badge, given to members of the hotel’s Green Team who proactively championed projects which have made a tangible difference to the company, planet and the society in which we live. Winners of this esteemed sustainability badge were Rajitha Amarasinghe, Rushani Jayakody, Sisira Katukurunda, Amaranath Chandrasiri, D.P. Kumarasiri, Liana Keragala, Gamini Silva, Deepika Satyapala, Mahinda Wijeratne and Anthony Lonappan.
In addition, 28 associates were given TAD (Training and Development) badges, acknowledging them as certified trainers.
Further, Cinnamon Grand’s Manager of Information Technology, Shiran Tissera was congratulated on his ‘Great CISO Award’, establishing him as a leader in IT Security in Sri Lanka.
Welfare accomplishments
Last but not least, the hotel’s Associates were commended for collecting a remarkable amount of Rs. 700,000 in donations for the family of late Chef Lalith Bandara, who left the Cinnamon Grand family earlier this year. While he may have left, his memory lives on and the hotel will continue to assist his family in any which was possible.
