‘Making people smile’
HANDS-ON: KEEPING STAFF OF 99 HAPPY IS HER MAIN OBJECTIVE
SunSquare Montecasino general manager is highly qualified for the job.
Wilma Swart, general manager of SunSquare Montecasino, says her “never give up” life mantra has contributed richly to her strong and steady rise through the ranks to her position at the helm of the busiest hotel in Montecasino.
She quotes lyrics from a song by Shawn Mendes, “Sometimes I feel like giving up, but I just can’t. It isn’t in my blood”.
She has been passionate about hospitality and “making people smile” since she was a small child, and believes her strengths of energy, fun, and focus are adding value to the hotel, staff and guests.
Swart has worked for seven different hotels since 1996 and says SunSquare Montecasino is the most exciting.
“The SunSquare brand is quirky and trendy and very attractive to guests of all ages. It’s a fun brand to work for and it lives out its fun style more readily than more formal five-star hotels possibly would.
“At SunSquare Montecasino there is always a buzz and always something happening – in the highly popular Aarya restaurant, at the front desk – at all hours, long after other hotels and restaurants have quietened down for the night. I love it – it’s my kind of crazy.”
SunSquare Montecasino is a 179-room hotel located on the Piazza.
Swart started at the Garden Court Pietersburg (now Polokwane) in 1995 as guest services attendant, front office, and soon after joining, her potential was recognised, and she was identified as excellent management material.
She moved to Pretoria to Holiday Inn Garden Court Burgerspark as PA to the GM and then as reservations manager.
In 1998, she joined Holiday Inn Garden Court Eastgate in Johannesburg as food and beverage manager and front office manager, which was followed by four years at Holiday Inn Pretoria as executive housekeeper and rooms division manager, which she thoroughly enjoyed “because housekeeping is the heartbeat of the hotel”.
She then spent five years in the hospitality services industry for experience in sales, where she also excelled, winning awards and incentives.
She was head-hunted back to Tsogo Sun to Southern Sun Pretoria as assistant GM in 2009 to familiarise herself with the systems, and in 2010 took over as GM of Southern Sun Katherine Street Sandton.
In September last year she left to join SunSquare Montecasino.
Through the years, Swart has notched up a formidable collection of qualifications, including certified hotel administrator through the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute, an MBA from GIBS Business School, where she won action learning project of the year, a hotel management diploma from Wits Hotel School (student of the year award 1999), several Damelin management diplomas and numerous courses in training, coaching, finance, management, and risk.
She has a staff of 99, who are her primary focus.
“Helping them grow is vitally important. If they don’t have job satisfaction and a passion for what they are doing, they are not going to deliver the excellent service that we pride ourselves in at the hotel.”
Swart’s philosophy is to be accessible, compassionate, realistic in her expectations and to be hands-on.
“Every staff member has their own unique circumstances in life and I need to understand that and determine what they need to give their best. Our staff need to smile all the time to ensure our guests get the best experience here – I need to make sure they have reason to smile at work.”
Her advice to youngsters starting out in the industry or considering a career in hospitality is first to be sure that they know what they’re getting into. – Citizen reporter