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Casa de Campo, known to be one of the “Leading Hotels of the World”, as well as the “World’s Leading Golf Resort”, has throughout the years, received many awards thanks to its world class facilities and quality in numerous services provided by its many staff members; some who have only recently become part of the big family while others have, for many years, served hotel guests, residents and villa owners in Casa de Campo – which is why today we invite you to meet another hardworking member of the team; Rosario Vélez, Casa de Campo’s Human Resources General Manager!
During an event celebrated on Wednesday the 30th of May to honor don Anito, a hardworking gentlemen, who served Casa de Campo for 30 years, we had the opportunity to speak to many different professionals of the Casa de Campo team – and today we share an interview with Rosario Velez, who with great spark and joy has colaborated with the company for 10 years – 5 of them as the hotel’s Human Resources General Manager, a position which has not only allowed her to continue acquiring more knowledge in her profession, but has also allowed her to learn from the many experiencies of her co-workers, their circumstances, realities and desires of becoming better professionals each day.
@cdcliving: Give us a few examples of exemplary employees – what is it about them that makes them so good?
Rosario Vélez: To become an exemplary employee, the person would definitely need to LOVE serving others, he or she needs to have strong moral values, comittment and responsability. Knowledge and discipline is also required to offer quality service. As well as Don Anito,who recently retired, another exemplary employee is Doña Digna Alvarez, who has been working for Casa de Campo for 22 years with the great responsability of providing for her family, as her husband has been ill for 20 years. However; she always serves breakfast at the Lago Grill for our many guests with a bright smile everyday. It takes a lot of courage and love to do this for 22 years in these circumstances, and she is also well experienced in this area and is of much help to the new generations, something which is deeply appreciated in Casa de Campo.
@cdcliving: Please tell us about the training programs in Casa de Campo.
Rosario Vélez: We make great investments in training our employees and it is a great competitive advantage. We are focused on developing our managers and supervisors’ skills, and keeping them up to date according to our high standards. After our staff has been involved in an English training program, we have noticed a direct impact on the quality of our service and fluency in this language.
@cdcliving: What challanges does a Human Resources General Manager face as part of one of the most important hotels and resorts of the Caribbean?
Rosario Vélez: The challenge is to mantain Human Resources management as an integral part of the business strategy to accomplish our objectives. I’ve always thought that people tend to commit to their job when they see that the organisation actually appreciates it; in terms of sports, when people actually understand the importance of your roll in the court to win the game. So if people are motivated through these different programs – which improve the quality with which they can perform their tasks and live their lives, it makes it a fair and adecuate remuneration, as well as a fair and objective process for our team members, all of this is managed by the human resources department, so that we can ensure great service, which will definitely make a difference and will allow us (Casa de Campo) to stay in this priviledged position.
Casa de Campo’s Human Resources team!
@cdcliving: How would you describe Casa de Campo’s staff members?
Rosario Vélez: I have worked in 6 different companies with the hotel, I know a lot of companies, I’ve been able to visit a lot of hotels and I can say that we undoubtedly have the best staff! We have just received a visit from the directors of “the Leading Hotels of the World” and they described Casa de Campo as a paradise, but what really impressed them was the quality and hospitality of our people. During the past few years, we have worked very hard and to make sure that we have a committed and “service-orientated” team who are proud of being part of Casa de Campo and I’m pretty satisfied with the final results.
@cdcliving: What does Casa de Campo mean to you?
Rosario Vélez: Working for Casa de Campo has been a great challenge for me. Luxury doesn’t really catch my attention, what really does is the wonderful people I’ve met here, people who may be economically limited, but who are really hard working, people with great spirits, people with very interesting life experiences and that for me has been the most important part of working here, to be able to continue helping more people, which is what I always ask for when praying to God each morning.
Many thanks to Rosario Velez for this interview. Congratulations and thanks for helping Casa de Campo be #1, not only in its services, but also for making sure that it’s success is greatly attributed to our people’s hospitality!