Staff at The Auchrannie Resort in Brodick got an early Christmas present this year when they were honoured with three new awards.
The first of these – the RCI Gold Crown award – has already been held for a staggering 17 years by the Auchrannie’s Country Club.
This means that the country club is recognised as one of the top five per cent of similar resorts worldwide.
The RCI’s Gold Crown designation requires resorts to meet certain standards of excellence based on customer feedback and other areas like check-in, hospitality, maintenance, housekeeping and resort amenities.
‘This new Gold Crown award is testament to Auchrannie’s on going development in enhancing the reputation of its luxury lodges as some of the best in the UK’,
said country club manager, Mandy Barnett.
The second honour is again one that the Auchrannie has previously held – the Investors In People award that is recognised nationally as a framework for improving business.
The resort has gained the additional bronze level for higher achievement.
‘By applying the ‘plan – do – review’ approach we get our strategy right, enhance employee engagement, improve management effectiveness and evaluate what’s working best to continuously improve our performance,’ said Mandy.
A much improved, more efficient approach to personnel management at the resort combined with further investment in training and development of staff along with improved induction and review procedures, have resulted in staff turnover dropping by 50 per cent in 2009 compared to the following year.
Mandy added: ‘Huge expenditure and continuing improvements to our staff accommodation, as well as an increase in staff benefits have also helped this retention.
‘The latest development in our constant desire to provide a first class customer experience is a our new bespoke management development program, currently being implemented to encourage up and coming talent and school leavers, especially those from the island, into the industry.’
The final award is through the Green Tourism Business Scheme, which sees the Auchrannie being assessed against a rigorous set of criteria, covering a range of areas like energy and water efficiency, waste management and biodiversity.
The resort achieved silver awards for both the Country House Hotel and Spa Resort with the Country Club lodges gaining a bronze award.
Richard Small, general manager, said:
‘Supporting a more sustainable tourism benefits the environment by conserving resources, reducing waste and costs, fulfilling customer expectations and experiences, benefiting the local community, supporting the local economy and helping to enhance Arran’s natural environment.’
Source: The Arran Banner