Club Magazine Nov/Dec 2017

STAFF FEATURE

GARY TAN Members who have enjoyed The Club for many years will know that the Jackpot Room used to be a common fixture onsite. When the outlet was closed at the end of August 2016, some staff took the opportunity to retire, while others expressed their willingness to continue serving within The Club. Gary Tanbelongs to the latter group, and like several of his teammembers, embraced the opportunity to be cross-trained and redeployed to other outlets. As part of The Club’s efforts to groom potential staff like him to take on future leadership roles, Gary was placed into an in-house 12-month F&B Management Trainee Program. The structured on-the-job program provides staff with in-depth training in all of The Club’s F&B outlets to prepare them for their career switch or lateral advancement. With no prior experience in F&B, Gary has exceeded expectations and transitioned into his new roles with ease. He spent six months at Eagle’s Nest, two months at The 2nd Floor, and two months at Thyme café before wrapping up his training with two months at Union Bar. In the one year, he has had a hand in planning staff rosters, conducting daily briefings, and handling Members’ feedback, and has gained knowledge and skills in leadership, customer service and The Club’s overall F&B operations. What have you learnt from the program and what were some of the challenges? Everything in F&B was new to me, from setting of tables to receiving feedback from Members after their patronage. It was challenging learning how to master the new skills, especially given that I only had 2 months in most of the outlets to digest everything. It was also tough leaving an outlet after bonding with colleagues. Thankfully, my seniors and mentors were patient and willingly shared and guided me with their years of experience. I have learnt so much about the workings of the entire F&B operation, and thoroughly enjoyed getting involved in the preparation and execution of events, from marketing and sourcing of decorations, to reservation taking, table management and deployment of manpower. How valuable was the program to your self-development? I highly recommend this training program to my colleagues, to be given the rare opportunity to work in different environments and really get to know other team members during their careers at The Club. I have learnt many new skills from various team leaders on the functioning of The Club business, standing me in good stead for my own career progression. The proud F&B Management Training graduate is now based at Eagle’s Nest – do say hi next time you’re at the outlet!

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THE AMERICAN CLUB NOV / DEC 2017