STEVEN Bagg, who has spent a great deal of his 14-year hotel management career with Sun International, has been appointed Sun City's new director of operations. He inherits the reins of the group's flagship at a point following revolutionary changes in the SA gaming industry and as the resort is once again operating in the black.
"I will be taking stock of the stakeholders to see how each may be better served. These are the customers, the employees and the shareholders," he said. "For the shareholders, I must ensure a fair return, and for customers, I want to push up the satisfaction index by using our 'mystery guest' programme, which currently runs at an average satisfaction of nine out of ten. And for staff, I want to see multi-skilling as a natural process, both for the continued success of the resort, and the remuneration of the staff.
"In the cyclical nature of the hotel business, I would like to see existing staff covering their traditional tasks and also - with commensurate additional remuneration - taking the roles of those who would normally be recruited for the peak times. Our record in National Qualification shows that this is an eminently achievable goal. The benefits of multi-skills to staff within a scheduling system - in operation elsewhere in the hospitality industry - are the greater number of shifts for which the individual is rostered, based on his or her ability in a number of fields. I intend to inculcate a spirit of entrepreneurship among staff."
Technology is another of Bagg's abiding interests, and he will promote the efficient use of technological resources in every aspect of management and the operation of the resort, including the speed of communication and response to information. He is exploring the application of smart card technology to function at the resort.
Bagg is determined to enhance the high standards, and says he sees Sun City as a single 1 310-room hotel within which each element should combine in a collective, identifiable culture of excellence.
"Clearly I would not like to see the character of each of the individual hotels change in any way - their identity is paramount - but from a client service perspective the operation should be seamless."
(Adele Mackenzie)
