Page 17 - aruba-today-20190211

LOCAL Monday 11 February 2019
A17

Hotel Hustle

Column by: Shanella Pantophlet
A New Crew

IEAGLE BEACH — As I’ve touched on in previous articles there
is an issue of an aging staff to contend with in the hospitality
industry. In both our maintenance and housekeeping depart-
ments, they’re feeling the sting of age, as some people get
closer to retirement age and others aren’t able to perform to
their former standard, due to illness, pain or injury.

As some of our colleagues come to the close of their careers,
new people are joking the team as they begin their own jour-
ney. For every celebration of a career well done, there’s also
a welcoming to the change of the guard. We aren’t the only
people affected by the change though. After long careers
many of our staff have developed interpersonal relationships
with our members and longtime guests.

Oftentimes they’re heartbroken at hearing the news that this
person they’ve become used to seeing year after year will no
longer be there to greet them with their warm smiles and wel-
coming embraces. Being the new guy it can be a daunting
challenge to overcome not only integrating to a new envi-
ronment, but also having to step into the shoes of the people

they are replacing. The challenge is especially hard when you start working in a timeshare, it’s a different way of doing things, the standoffish
nature of working in a transient resort no longer exists, everyone becomes a member of an extended family and you’re the new person recently
adopted in, trying to find your place, while adapting to a new routine.

It can take time for our members to get used to the new faces, they can at times even be resistant to the change, preferring to find someone
else they are familiar with to help them than building a relationship with the new person. I’ve been on both ends of that spectrum and been com-
pared to my predecessor, it can be a challenge to establish yourself when you’re constantly being compared both by colleagues and guests
who have become used to a certain standard over the years they’ve been coming.

Now that I’ve been integrated into the team and accepted by the members, I’ve been on the other side seeing people leave and welcoming
in new people. I try to remember my own start and help them to integrate in the best way possible, while fighting my own urges to guide them
into my way of doing things. My poor interns already have to deal with that, so I try to remember that the people hired to take over are trained
and educated professionals who know what they’re doing.

It’s never an easy transition, but after a few weeks of getting used to each other and seeing how the work flows it gets easier. Eventually work
friends are made and slowly but surely members start to develop a new relationship, a new friendship and a new trust. Comparisons to the past
lessen and the future is allowed to thrive. Watching a new career start to blossom is one of the most fascinating things about my job.q

Aruban born and bred Shanella Pantophlet is passionate about tour-
ism. That is the world she studied and works in, so we might as well call
her a specialist. Luckily for Aruba Today Shanella also loves to write.
And together with the fact that the majority of our readers are tourists,
we found ourselves a perfect combination for a column: Hotel Hustle.