Co-organised by Macau Federation of Trade Unions, Labour Affairs Bureau and Sands China Ltd.
MACAO, June 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sands China's first group of team members to graduate from the Professionalism Training for Gaming Practitioners programme were honoured Thursday at The Venetian® Macao, at a ceremony that also inaugurated its next class of students. Co-organised by the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (FAOM), the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) and Sands China Ltd., the training programme launched in July of last year as the first course of its kind in Macao for gaming employees -- creating a three-way partnership between union, employer and the government.
The coursework in last year's Professionalism Training for Gaming Practitioners programme focused primarily on occupational professionalism. This year, the course has been expanded to cover an overview of the gaming industry, civic education, occupational professionalism and responsible gaming. New materials in this year's course include an introduction to the current development of the country, the Belt and Road initiative, Macao's development path, and the impact of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to Macao's gaming and tourism industry.
Sands China is committed to having 3,000 of its team members trained in two years, and aims to train 7,500 in five years -- representing half of the company's total gaming workforce. Thursday's ceremony recognised the first set of Sands China team members to have completed the training, and also welcomed the programme's newest cohort. The 600 team members participating in the first round of the programme attended 14 hours of training over the course of two full days, in classes of 30 team members, held at Sands® Macao. The latest round of training began June 5.
In contrast to last year's programme, which was open to dealers only, this year's cohort comprises team members from departments such as table games, slots, cage, international marketing, market development, loyalty marketing and security. It thereby allows more gaming practitioners to participate and improve their occupational professionalism.
Officiating guests at Thursday's ceremony were Huang Huagai, Director of the Social Work Department and Deputy Secretary-General of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR; Teng Nga Kan, representative of the Macao SAR Secretary of Economy and Finance and Chief of Office; Wong Chi Hong, Director of the Labour Affairs Bureau; Chan Kam Meng, President of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions; Paulo Martins Chan, Director of the Gaming Inspection and
Coordination Bureau; and Dr. Wilfred Wong, President of Sands China Ltd.
Teng said: "This training programme marks a first-of-its-kind success -- a collaborative on-the-job training initiative between labour, employer, and government. This is a major step forward for vocational training in Macao. This programme has achieved considerable success and has gained recognition from the gaming industry and gaming practitioners. It aims to enhance gaming practitioners' core competencies and adversity quotients, helping them improve their performance to ensure more opportunities for upward or horizontal mobility, thereby contributing to the healthy and orderly development of the gaming industry."
Chan Kam Meng stated: "Improving gaming practitioners' occupational professionalism is important because it helps them make necessary adjustments at work, develops their problem-solving skills, empowers them to cope with pressure, and therefore, enhances the core competitiveness of enterprises. All of these contribute to Macao's development into a world centre of leisure and tourism. We hope to encourage more gaming practitioners to actively participate in training programmes through a three-way partnership between union, employer and the government in order for them to improve their professional expertise, strengthen their core competencies, enhance their industry knowledge, reduce their stress at work and develop essential skills for career planning."
Dr. Wong remarked: "Sands China is pleased at the success of this programme, and we are very proud of our first group of graduates. We've made a commitment to have 3,000 of our team members trained in two years, and we aim to have half of our total gaming workforce trained in five years. This training programme is beneficial to both the company and to our team members, as it raises their professionalism and knowledge, and contributes towards Macao's growth as a world centre of tourism and leisure."
As part of Thursday's ceremony, two of the programme's graduates, one of the course lecturers, and a director of the gaming department shared their experiences on stage. The two graduates shared some of things they have learned during the professionalism training and why they think it's important, the course lecturer shared her views on how team members reacted to the course, and the director of casino operations shared what improvements he has seen in team members since they've completed the training.
Sands China offers its team members various courses to enhance their professional skills, including courses on communication skills, effective time management, advanced social etiquette for professional success, and service emotional intelligence, among others. Sands China considers their development to be crucial to Macao's transformation into a world centre of tourism and leisure. The Professionalism Training for Gaming Practitioners programme is one of the company's many investments into its local team members.
Media contacts:
Corporate Communications, Venetian Macau Limited
Mabel Wu
Tel: +853 8118 2268
Email: mabel.wu@sands.com.mo
Josie Ho
Tel: +853 8118 2024
Email: josie.ho@sands.com.mo
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Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170615/1877096-1-b
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