S andals resorts in the western end of the island are reporting that they are already seeing a morale boost among their managers and supervisors who were recently trained in the five stages of leadership.

The programme — The 5 Levels of Leadership — was developed by renowned American author John Maxwell and delivered by Sandals Corporate University in partnership with Jamaica-based company, Building Opportunities for Leadership Development (BOLD)

Some 100 managers and supervisors from Sandals Montego Bay, Sandals Inn, and Sandals Royal Caribbean participated.

Training and development manager at Sandals Royal Caribbean Tracey Shortridge said she has noticed the difference.

“Our managers say the knowledge provided has helped them to understand themselves and their colleagues a lot better, and some say they have already started to integrate what they have learned into their work,” Shortridge told the Jamaica Observer.

She added that the lifting of spirits will benefit the resort, which has over 500 employees, because, like all other Sandals resorts, it is heavily dependent on strong leaders to drive the brand’s success.

“At Sandals, we take leadership training very seriously because we have many teams which are only as effective as the people who lead them. Our company has also been named the world’s best all-inclusive resort 22 years in a row, and to maintain that standard, we need the best leaders who are adequately equipped with knowledge such as that entailed in the The 5 Levels of Leadership training programme,” said Shortridge.

Sandals said the training programme was implemented to redefine and refine the company’s leadership culture by aligning it with the company’s vision and core values. It was designed to help leaders understand how their personal values impact their own growth and how they can use their positions to positively influence the teams they lead. It featured discussions, practical activities, and certification.

For environment, health and safety manager at Sandals Royal Caribbean Shaville Lowther, the programme provided simple and practical ways to become a better leader.

“The suggestions on how to become a better leader didn’t seem impossible to achieve and so I am eager to start putting them into practice. It was really effective and provided great insight. I believe everyone who did the training feels motivated to become a greater leader,” Lowther said.

For Rev Baldwin Powell, the director of BOLD and chief instructor of the leadership training programme, Sandals Resorts ought to be commended for investing in its team in a way that he said enhances not only their professional lives but their personal lives as well.

“As a former Sandals general manager who worked with the group for 20 years, it’s been my inestimable pleasure to see the Sandals teams that have undergone this training fully engaged, energised and excited by the simplified and insightful material presented. It connects individuals with principles and core values that have permanent and fundamental worth that will impact their lives in this career and beyond,” Powell said.

“The managers who participate in this programme get to keep books and materials that they can draw on throughout their careers and even apply to their personal lives. It is not often that you find companies investing this much in their human resource,” Rev Powell added.

According to Powell, the programme helps leaders identify the various levels of leadership and understand that the level at which they operate determines their influence and effectiveness.

“It’s training that could really transform some of our organisations in Jamaica,” he said.

The two-day training programme was implemented in the last week of June.