Back in September 2012 our parent Company, Elite Hotels introduced a new scheme specifically to champion outstanding staff in each of their four hotels.
The scheme is called the GEM Awards.. GEM standing for 'Going the Extra Mile' and any staff member can be nominted by a guest, fellow colleague or Manager in their own hotel. Each month nominted staff are presented with their GEMS by the General Manager and once they have 5 GEMS, these can be 'cashed' in for various gifts.
To be awarded these prestigious GEMS you must have done something over and above what is required of you in your normal working enviroment. Standards are high here at the Grand anyway...so these staff are truely special. Over the years our staff never fail to amaze us, both with humour and outstanding service... so in no particular order here are a few of the GEM nominations we have seen since the scheme came into being!
Madeleine, you probably know is our Guest Relations Assistant, she was called into action one very busy Sunday to do a full wedding show round as the Sales Department were already busy with appointments... With no fuss off she went and the outcome was a confirmed wedding for 100 guests.
Robert Hollands works in our Garden Restaurant and came to the rescue when a birthday celebration didn't quite work out!.. A special glass with '50' written on it was delivered ahead of a birthday lunch. Sadly in its transit the numbers had smudged... So Robert went off, bought a new glass and painted the message on to make sure it was secure!... Our Birthday guest was delighted!
This story is of a guest nominating a member of staff... The lady in question had mislaid a very sentimental hankerchief, it had survived 2 World Wars with her, so you can imagine her distress! Our boys Les, Alex and Oliver came to her aid searching high and low.... the hotel bins were even searched, which is not the nicest of jobs, but no stone could be left unturned! Amazingly the hankie was found and returned to its grateful owner... albeit a little smelly!
One GEM came via a Conference Organiser of a Nestle Meeting being held at the hotel. She says 'I arrived at the hotel to find I had forgotten my deoderant. When I asked Leonie on the Reception Desk where Icould buy some, Leonie gave me her own and wouldn't take payment.. Excellent service!'
Now as you can imagine from a hotel of this size, our Maintenance Department are kept on their toes, but these two accounts just show what GEM really stands for.....
Roman was due to go home after a long shift when he took a call to go to a bedroom with a door lock that didn't work. When he got there he came across a rather distressed Bride... she was locked out and all her wedding attire was inside. He worked and worked until the lock was finally mended, well over his normal hours. The Bride was reunited with all her belongings and of course her beloved dress.
Not to be outdone! Steve, our Maintenance Manager became 'SuperMan' when he was called out at 2.30am on Boxing Day night!... The problem... a main heating valve had failed... we had a full hotel of 200 guests too! The contracted company could not be raised and so with the help of a couple of Managers, quick thinking and some serious improvisation the problem was fixed and our guests were totally unware of the possible inconvenience of no hot water or heating that could have happended!
Since the beginning of the scheme the list has become extremely long and just goes to show how important our staff are and how our guests really do appreciate that 'Extra Mile'
The latest contender for a GEM award was put up today! At a large Dinner and Dance last weekend a guest asked in jest if it might be possible to send a plate of the main course to his wife who could not attend as she was sick as it was so delicious. As they lived in Eastbourne our Conference and Banqueting Manager, Tom decided this was indeed possible.... You can imagine the shock and delight when a taxi arrived…