Sharon Flax Mars, Director of Human Resources at Rosewood Little Dix Bay

She was able to provide the students with information on what her department does at Rosewood Little Dix Bay in terms of attracting, selecting, training, assessing and rewarding employees. She highlighted the use of an employee handbook as a tool for employees to understand their compensation and benefits package as well as the rules by which the company operates and its conformance to Virgin Islands Labour Code.

Ms. Flax Mars further highlighted that the human resources function now takes into account developing the employee as a complete individual through personal development plans (PDPs) designed for employees who want to develop careers in hospitality.

In a short statement, Ms. Flax Mars said she was impressed with how focused the students were on their future careers and how eager they were to interact with her. She explained that she visits the schools on Virgin Gorda as often as she can and encourages her colleagues to do the same. Mr. Frances Hamlet, Assistant Grounds Manager at Rosewood Little Dix Bay also visited the BFEC recently to talk with the students about careers in horticulture.

Business Education teacher at the BFEC, Ms. Catherine Walter, said that she was very grateful to Ms. Flax Mars for taking the time to come and speak to the students. She said that the presentation was very comprehensive and that she herself learned a great deal about Rosewood Little Dix Bay and their policies from the discussion. She added that the students were very keen to learn about recruitment and appraisals as well as the non-wage based compensation package offered by the resort.

The students were further invited to take a tour of the resort and encouraged to keep in touch after graduation as a few had shown some interest in pursuing a career within the tourism and hospitality industry.