Sherwin Banda, the general manager at The Table Bay
People are at the core of delivering world-class, authentically South African experiences at the prestigious 5-star Table Bay at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa. In the hospitality sector where appropriate and quality skills are in short supply, attracting, nurturing and retaining talent has been critical to the exceptional, ongoing success of The Table Bay โ one of the worldโs leading hotels.
The sheer number of employees who have chosen to work at the Table Bay for more than ten years bears testament to its efforts, and success, creating and maintaining a productive, passionate, and inspired team.
โWe put strong focus on performance and development to ensure that our people are motivated, empowered, and up-skilled to help them reach their fullest potential. This includes encouraging our employees to experience our offerings, facilities and service first hand. Not only does this allow them to speak and promote from experience, but it also invokes a real sense of what it means, as a guest, to have a truly 5-star experience. It motivates people to continue providing the very best service to our guests and delivering an authentic, South African experience,โ says Sherwin Banda, the general manager at The Table Bay.
Passion for people, commitment to service excellence and attitude are essential traits for thriving in the hospitality industry. At The Table Bay, these traits are valued, quickly identified and harnessed โ even in people with very little experience.
โThese exceptional characteristics are highly-coveted in this industry. With these traits as a foundation, the necessary skills can easily be developed in house. Even well-experienced people can fail to succeed if they have the wrong attitude,โ comments Banda.
He explains that staff development is considered on an individual basis to ensure that each personโs needs are addressed and individual career paths can be mapped based on what they want to achieve. The hotel runs a customer service training programme which is very much about the wellbeing of the employee and their own positive sense of place from a personal and organizational perspective.
Employees are encouraged, and empowered, to become ambassadors for the hotel, not only through engaging with customers, but also through engaging with their communities in support of The Table Bayโs commitment to social development and upliftment. The Social Responsibility committee, is made up of hotel employees, and encourages staff to become involved in community efforts and charitable initiatives in their local communities.
Banda firmly believes that no strategy can be effective, and goals cannot be achieved, if everybody on the ground is not committed to working them. As such, he involves his team in devising and communicating the strategy, so that everyone understands the goals and how they contribute to achieving them.
Banda is an arbitrator of style and believes that style is expressed both inwardly and outwardly. โThe Table Bay Hotelโs landmark architecture is a reflection of whatโs on the inside,โ he says.
From beautiful flower arrangements, to the ever changing high tea menu, to providing epicureans with unfamiliar Fynbos dishes, the hotel strives to fulfil every desire.
โThere are many beautiful hotels in Cape Town, so why would someone choose to stay at The Table Bay Hotel?ย ย Obviously our location at the Waterfront is spectacular, but I think itโs our people that make the difference. The real essence of their innate character shines through and each individual embodies what is so unique about South Africa which in turn enhances the guest experience in a meaningful way.
โOur employees play an active role in creating memories. It is easy to do something special for someone, to treat a guest as though they are family โ in this way The Table Bay is remembered and we start to create a history with someone.โ
