“Team work” is a much overused and abused term in tourism industry and is basically used to make resort workers work harder and better. The idea behind teamwork is pretty straight forward but the problem about the term is how its used. Most of the time those who advocate the cause of teamwork (the managers, supervisors etc) will take advantage of the good works their colleagues put to their work. So its basically teamwork at work level, but when the time comes to take reward or recognition, its not teamwork any more! By then it becomes “I did this” or “I made this happen”, or “I facilitated this etc”… The “we did this” thing never comes to mind at that time.
This is a pretty much basic issue and most senior managements do not seem to be able to penetrate this deception at middle management and supervisory levels. Its not likely that this selfish human tendency could be a novelty for experienced top managements but like the marketing trick, if you do something however boring for a sufficiently long time, its likely to be tolerated and ultimately accepted.
New year and Christmas season in resorts is a pretty hectic time for resorts workers and is a good time to observe this issue. The hardwork of resort-workers are seldom appreciated even during this time and where if it ever were appreciated, it would be in some small insignificant gesture like fashion, such as giving a star in the report card… (which translates to a “star of the month” award of “smile of the month award”). The real big appreciation which translates to promotions and financial incentives will invariably go to middle managements who does all the bragging about others work.
These issues are likely to stay in our tourism industry for the time being because we still have to catch up on a lot before we can claim to have mature tourism industry in the country. It takes time, effort and a desire to understand and learn from mistakes to grow up. It also takes expressions of issues like these to wider debate and awareness throughout in the industry. There will never be any substitute for handwork or dedication to work. But there are substitutes for braggers, people who generally take rewards from others hard work.
Maldives Resort Workers 
Team work scam seems to be a new kind of scam originated from Maldives.
Its not easy, I have been trying to get this done for past 2 years. But for various reasons the project kept on dragging and now I’m in Malaysia, I’m working on it and its slowly moving forward. If you want a good life for resort workers get contact details of as many Maldivian resort workers as possible and keep it with you. Possibly keep a key contact from each resort. I’l tell you when its ready to go public. What I can guarantee you is its a lot of hope for everyone and possibility of success is very much.
Team work and motivation are importance elements to drive hospitality industry. It enables employers to have less staff and reach higher quality of service. It is saddening that reward and (not or) recognition are not in place in most places to balance the mechanism.
I have personally experienced several down falls in the industry, from both employers and employees side. Staff working at 4 star resorts expecting a 5 star salary is a major issue. If someone is highly qualified and experienced then he should join a resort of similar grade in order to expect a higher pay. On the other hand food and accommodation should not be in poor condition as workers are trapped away from public facilities.
There are lot of problems. Where is the solution? Good news is its coming. What we lack here is a “leverage” to motivate employees and employers equally. My remedy will be a source of cash for employers and employees, both parties will have to “work” to get it. If employees got it then the employer also got it, if employees did not get it then the employer lost cash in considerable amounts. This is all I can tell now, all resort employees are requested to email your contact details with Name, Resort, Department, Job title, Contact Number etc, you can send to info at ahmedshareef.com , I will need a community to be established before I introduce this mechanism.
But how?