Waters Edge Opens Doors to “Our Shop” for Staff Welfare
Renowned for its innovation Sri Lanka’s favourite hotel on the outskirts of Colombo Waters Edge today opened doors to its very own staff welfare shop to benefit the loyal staff of the hotel. A part of an ongoing welfare program to uplift the lives of those that serve the hotel wholeheartedly, the welfare shop named “Our Shop” will provide daily essentials at concessionary rates to all employees.
The idea for the welfare shop first dawned on SusilSilva who is currently the President of the hotel’s Welfare Committee. Speaking at the opening ceremony he noted, “Having started off at Waters Edge from the commencement of the hotel thirteen years ago, I have always wanted to do something for our employees. With the appointment of the new management and a new HR Director ThusharaHettihamuat the hotel, we have been able to implement many new ideas that will benefit the employees financially. This welfare shop is only one of them”.
“Our Shop”stocks a wide variety of staple products needed for a household such as powdered milk, rice,sugar and children’s products besides fruits and vegetables. All these are made available to employees of the hotel at discounted prices. Further benefitting them, the system in place deducts the entire month’s grocery bill from the respective employee’s monthly salary. This is designed in a way to also educate employees on smart money management.
Speaking at the opening ceremony Chairman of Waters Edge Chamath de Silva noted, “This welfare shop is not just an indication of the commitment that Waters Edge has towards its employees but also embodies the fact that we are all one family. It will serve as a constant reminder of the strength of our team.”
Also speaking at the opening ceremony General Manager of Waters Edge Rohan Fernandopulle said, “For any institution employees are the heart of all operations. Therefore it is imperative that they are well taken care of. For a hospitality brand this also trickles down to how employees treat the guests.”
Waters Edge has an extensive staff welfare programme that is headed by a skilled committee and they carry out many projects annually that benefit the employees. Another project under this programme is opening of a staff gym for all staff commencing from this year.
In this regard Mr.Fernandopulle also said, “As a renowned hospitality brand Waters Edge endorses a healthy lifestyle for all its employees. We also strongly believe that a healthy lifestyle has a direct impact on the way we work and it trickles down to how we serve our guests. Therefore we hope that everyone will use this opportunity to benefit not just themselves but also Waters Edge.”
In conjunction with the opening of the welfare shop, a blood donation program was also organized. Once again the brainchild of the General Manager, the blood donation saw the participation of many employees who extended a hand to help save many lives by donating a pint of blood. It was also another attempt to bring together a staff that has diligently stood by each other throughout the years.
