Sands China Highlights Talent Development Achievements at Sharing Session in Innovative Setting

Includes announcement of new Management Trainee Programme

(Macao, Nov. 25, 2020) – Sands China Ltd. celebrated the achievements of its various human resources initiatives with the Sands China Academy Distinctive Talent Development Sharing Session Wednesday at The Venetian^® Macao.

Sands China considers its human resources initiatives as an essential part of the company’s commitment and determination to nurture local talent. The company created the Sands China Academy as a platform to give team members training for their career development, and to help foster professional talent in the wider Macao community, while implementing a human capital strategy that is constantly innovating and evolving.

With a new, creative theatrical venue setup at The Venetian Theatre, Wednesday’s event included videos and a magic show, as well as a theatrical performance that highlighted the successes of Sands China’s varied talent development initiatives.

Sands China’s various human resource development initiatives centre around three key features. The company strives to provide programmes that are diverse, high-quality, and dynamic as the market evolves.

• Diversity: Offering an abundance of horizontal and vertical management talent development programmes in order to meet the ever-changing business and market needs, thereby contributing to the pool of diversified talent in Macao.
• High quality: Screening and shortlisting of potential candidates based on strict criteria to ensure high standards for participation.
• Dynamic: Keeping abreast of the times and adjusting programmes based on the latest market trends.

“Over the past decade, Sands China has remained committed to local talent development by continuously improving its human capital strategies in line with the direction set by the Macao SAR government,” said Dr. Wilfred Wong, president of Sands China Ltd. “To that end, the company created the Sands China Academy as a platform to help foster professional talent in the Macao community across sectors to contribute to the development of Macao and our country — through cooperation with local and international universities, government departments and educational institutions. We are very pleased to present this sharing session to review the noteworthy achievements of our diversified talent development initiatives, which feature innovative training programmes that advance with the times.”

Through a variety of horizontal and vertical management talent development programmes, Sands China is able to encourage team members to develop in different fields, challenging potential candidates with high standards for participation, while adjusting programmes from time to time based on the latest market trends.

Among the examples, the Sands China Integrated Resort Business Analyst Development Programme and the Sands China Manager Development Programme for Integrated Resorts have successfully helped over 1,600 team members to advance their careers since 2016 by completing more than 30 programmes. For Sands China’s All-Round Food and Beverage Management Programme, a collaboration with the Labour Affairs Bureau, the company accepted only six out of 100 candidates into the programme, ensuring the highest standards for participation. And with the Train-the-trainer development series, regular performance reviews ensure maintenance of high standards. To date, more than 410 team members have passed their exams to become certified trainers.

Wednesday’s sharing session also featured a preview of the company’s new Management Trainee Programme, which aims to incubate future integrated resort leaders who are able to develop strategies with big-picture thinking, and to better meet the needs of participants in light of changing realities in the market.

Over 200 people attended the event to celebrate the company’s human resources achievements, including guests of honour from the government, educational institutions and associations, and Sands China team members.

Sands China’s human capital strategy focuses on three key areas: horizontal and vertical management talent development, professionalism training, and development of industry professionals outside of Sands China.

The company’s horizontal and vertical management talent development programmes encourage team members to take advantage of opportunities within the company to develop new skills and undertake training in different fields. One example is the My Way programme, which was launched in 2016 as the first large-scale horizontal development programme in Macao. In 2016, Sands China also launched its professionalism training programme, making it the first programme in Macao co-organised with the Labour Affairs Bureau and the Macao Federation of Trade Unions. Initiatives like the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Visit have helped enhance team members’ knowledge of the latest developments in mainland China.

And to aid the development of Industry Professionals Outside of Sands China, Sands China created programmes like the Sands Retail Academy and the Sands Procurement Academy. Both initiatives are the first of their kind in Macao, and respectively focus on advancing the retail industry and Macao’s local SMEs.

Sands China offers a variety of horizontal and vertical mobility opportunities to its team members through the Sands China Academy. Since 2004, team members have earned more than 19,500 vertical promotions, and have taken advantage of over 2,000 horizontal career movements. Over the years, the Academy has provided more than 12 million on-the-job training hours for its team members; more than 10,000 retail employees and nearly 200 SMEs have completed its programmes.

As of October 2020, Sands China had delivered more than 1.24 million on-the-job training hours to team members. On average, each Sands China team member receives approximately 48 hours of training, higher than the standard of 34 hours introduced by the Association for Talent Development (ATD).

The company’s focus on providing team members with ideal development prospects has helped increase employee loyalty. Including the 950 team members celebrating 10- or 15-year anniversaries in 2020, more than 8,100 team members have now served the company for 10 years or more, representing more than 30 per cent of Sands China’s employees. Among them, over 2,200 have hit the milestone of 15 years of service. Over 1,300 of them have been with the company since 2004.

The company’s nurturing of team members has resulted in a substantial growth in the ratio of its Macao locals in management positions – more than quadrupling from 20 per cent in 2004 to 90 per cent currently.

Photo caption: Sands China Ltd. President Dr. Wilfred Wong speaks at the Sands China Academy Distinctive Talent Development Sharing Session Wednesday at The Venetian Macao. The event celebrated the achievements of the company’s various human resources initiatives.

Photo caption: Guests of honour from the government, educational institutions and associations, and Sands China team members attend the Sands China Academy Distinctive Talent Development Sharing Session Wednesday at The Venetian Macao.

Photo caption: Guests of honour participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday at The Venetian Macao for the Sands China Academy Distinctive Talent Development Sharing Session.

Photo caption: Team members attend the Sands China Academy Distinctive Talent Development Sharing Session Wednesday at The Venetian Macao. With a new, creative theatrical venue setup at The Venetian Theatre, Wednesday’s event included videos and a magic show, as well as a theatrical performance that highlighted the successes of Sands China’s varied talent development initiatives.