Hilton Colombo one step ahead in training and development

Thursday, 12 September 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The hotel selects the first two candidates for the South East Asia Management Trainee Program

Having won the award for ‘Sri Lanka’s Leading Hotel’ five times, Hilton Colombo stands tall above the rest when it comes to the service the team members provide to their guests. The aggressive training and development each team member receives proves to be one of the reasons Hilton Colombo is still the preferred choice for many travellers around the world.

To add to the various achievements, Hilton Colombo selected for the first time in the region the first two team members for the South East Asia Management Trainee Program in collaboration with Hilton Worldwide. Sasanka Pathinayake and Shervin Thomas were selected within the hotel as internal candidates. The program is designed to groom the next generation of operational leaders in the hospitality industry. The selected candidates recruited from leading hotel schools or internal applicants will go through an eighteen month intense course exploring all the departments in the hotel. Throughout the duration of the program, the trainees will be closely monitored by the talent development team of Hilton worldwide. Having joined the Hilton Colombo in 2009, Sasanka, a diploma holder in Tourism and Hospitality Management at the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management, has become the most outstanding student in the management batch for food and beverage operation in 2010. Sasanka, who started his career at the Hilton Colombo in the Food and Beverage Department, moved to front desk in 2012 and was promoted as a customer service agent team leader. He has also followed a Japanese language course and has a strong passion towards chess, sports and flair bar tendering. The other candidate, Shervin Thomas, an old boy of St. Joseph’s College, joined Hilton Colombo as an apprentice in the Kitchen Department and has followed the three year program. NVQ qualified Shervin has also followed the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority course and is currently following a Diploma in Travel and Tourism Economics and Hotel Management at the University of Colombo. In 2007 he was certified a distinction for Young Enterprise International Examination by the University of Cambridge International. The Hilton Colombo remains pioneers in the hospitality industry while contributing towards the country’s tourism sector. Tourism is one of the world’s largest economic earners and extensive training programs the hotel’s training department conducts, will contribute more towards the development and training for young individuals which will enhance the industry in the years to come.