Crown Metropol – March 2010

As Crown Metropol prepares to open its doors, we are delighted to advise that we have successfully concluded our hiring and selection process.

We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all applicants who expressed interest in employment opportunities in our new Hotel.

With over 5,000 applications reviewed, the selection process was very competitive and the standard was extremely high.

The Team at Crown Metropol wish you all every success with your future career
and hope that you, your family and friends will take the time to experience the
 “nu-luxury” that is distinctively Crown Metropol.
 

Crown Metropol - December 2009

Excitement is really building now in the lead-up to Crown Metropol's grand opening, with lots happening throughout the property and behind the scenes.

Bookings are now being taken from 1 May 2010, meaning we officially have guests on our books!

To service those guests we'll need a great team of employees. After reviewing over 2,000 expressions of interest for Crown Metropol we are pleased to report that recruitment is in full swing.

A number of senior appointments are already in place, and recruitment for the many frontline positions including Front Desk Attendants, Bell Attendants, F& B Attendants and Massage Therapists will be rolled out across December and January.

To everyone who has applied, we sincerely thank you for your interest in our new hotel and wish you well with your application.

While this is going on, the builders and tradesmen continue to make amazing progress on the building every day.

If you've driven past the hotel lately, you'll hopefully have seen the recently installed Crown spray illuminated on top of the City Road side of the building, and the vertical Crown Metropol sign on the corner of Whiteman and Clarendon Streets.                     

Inside, furniture install for the accommodation floors is up to level 22, with four levels to go.

Each of the unique Crown Metropol feature areas is also taking shape very quickly:

Level 28: Club Lounge and Sky Bar                                     

• Host desk, buffet and bar being built       
• Kitchen has been fitted out  
• The balustrade for the terrace is nearly completed

Level 27: Isika urban day spa and retreat

• Pool has been tiled
• Plunge pool has been tiled
• Concrete walls have been poured for the vitality pools in the change rooms and the couples' treatment room
• Reception desk is being built

Level 2: link bridge                              

• The link bridge that connects the new Crown College to the existing employee wardrobe area is almost complete
• Carpet has been layed
• Reception desk is being built
• Training rooms, offices and interview rooms are well underway

Level 3                                                

• Carpet for the meeting rooms and business centre laid
• Business centre is currently being defected
• Joinery being completed for the meeting rooms
• Housekeeping offices nearly complete
• Back of house admin offices are nearly complete  

Level 1                                                

• Light fittings being installed
• Dispense bar being built
• Host desk being built
• Buffet being built
• Stone flooring being laid
• Tiling is underway
• Room service kitchen is being fitted out

Lobby                                   

• Timber panelled walls installed
• Laying of the bluestone flooring
• Reception desk being built
• Groups desk being built
• "Jewel box"/luggage store is being built        
• Car-park wall (porte cochere) has been painted  

Stay tuned for further updates on this page as we get closer to our opening date, and for more information visit the Crown Metropol website: http://www.crownmetropol.com.au/.

Once again, if you have applied to join our team, thank-you and all the very best with your application.

Best wishes,

The Crown Metropol Team

Crown Metropol - September 2009

Melbourne has certainly embraced the latest addition to the Crown Complex with over 1950 people expressing interest in working at Crown Metropol.  The recruitment for specific roles will begin in November/December. Our Recruitment team are currently reviewing the hundreds of applications received to date. In the meantime, construction of the hotel continues at a rapid rate, and we are on schedule for opening in early 2010. Recent milestones include: 

• Our outdoor terrace for “28”, our exclusive club lounge and sky bar is complete
• The pool and plunge pool walls on level 27, a key feature of Isika day spa and urban retreat, have now been poured and will be ready for testing next month
• All floors are currently under fit out
• Bates Smart, our designers  are currently reviewing the hotel accommodation rooms on level 16 for building quality 

 Stay tuned for further updates  
Cheers The Metropol Team

Introducing Our New Indigenous Programme Coordinators!

As part of a nationally led initiative, Crown Melbourne and Burswood Entertainment Complex (wholly owned subsidiaries of Crown Limited) have partnered with the Australian Employment Covenant to provide employment opportunities to Indigenous Australians.

As part of our support and commitment to this initiative, applications were sought earlier in May for two Indigenous Programme Coordinators, one based in Melbourne and another in Perth.

We are pleased to announce the successful candidates for these roles and welcome Christine Ross and Charles Williams to our business.

Crown Melbourne and Burswood Entertainment Complex would like to congratulate both Charles and Christine

on their appointments and look forward to working together in the development and implementation of the Indigenous Employment Strategy.

Christine Ross, based at Burswood Entertainment Complex in Perth, is an Arrernte/Kaytetye woman born in Alice Springs and raised in Darwin.  After graduating as a teacher from the University of South Australia in 1984, Christine spent several years teaching in the Northern Territory before taking up the role of Manager of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Support Unit within the NT Department of Education.  After 14 years with the NT Department of Education, Christine went on to such roles as General Manager at the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) and Lecturer in Education at the Kulbardi Centre at Murdoch University.

Burswood is proud to have Christine join the team as Indigenous Programme Coordinator where her focus will be to recruit Indigenous people across all areas of the business.

Charles Williams, based at Crown Melbourne, is a descendant of the Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta, Gunnai, and Gunditjmara people and is a proud and active member of the Victorian Koori Community. Charles has an extensive understanding of Indigenous employment having worked for the past six years across the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP), Structured Training and Employment Projects Employment and Related Services (STEP ERS) and Job Network programmes. Crown Melbourne is excited to welcome Charles as their newly appointed Indigenous Programme Coordinator.

For more information contact:

Christine on 08 9362 5495 or

Christine.Ross@burswood.com.au

and Charles on 03 9292 7108 or

CharlesW@crownmelbourne.com.au

11th March 09 - Crown & Swinburne University in Partnership.

Crown and Swinburne University of Technology have announced a partnership to create learning pathways for hundreds of Crown employees.  The deal with mean Victorians employed at Crown will be paid to complete graduate qualifications that will be nationally-recognised and issued from Swinburne.The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Education and Training between Crown and Swinburne was signed today - Wednesday, 11th March by Crown's CEO, David Courtney and Swinburne's Vice-Chancellor Ian Young. 

The partnership will establish a strategic alliance which makes Swinburne Crown's Registered Training Organisation for two of the most innovative programs to come out of Crown College since it's inception over fifteen years ago.  The programs are aligned to the nationally-accredited Certificate IV in frontline Management and Diploma in Business, enabling employees who complete these programs to be awarded the relevant qualification from Swinburne.

25th February 09 - Crown to create 300 new jobs for Indigenous Australians

Crown Melbourne and Burswood have signed up to the Australian Employment Covenant (AEC) which is aimed at creating 50,000 jobs for Indigenous Australians. Crown Limited was the first company to sign this covenant.

As part of the project, Crown will develop an Indigenous Employment Strategy that will operate at the Crown Entertainment Complex in Melbourne and the Burswood Entertainment Complex in Perth.   Job-specific training and individualised mentor support will be a key part of our objective.  The project will be the first step towards part-time and full-time careers in hospitality, tourism and allied industries for 300 Indigenous people. 

The Covenant is the first-ever national industry-led initiative to create sustainable Indigenous employment opportunities.  In signing up to the Covenant, Crown - which is one of Australia's largest entertainment groups - has reaffirmed its commitment to the employment of Indigenous people. 

23rd February 09 - Organ Awareness day

'Organ Awareness Day' at Crown is being held on Friday 27th February, as part of the Australian Organ Donor Awareness Week.  A kiosk will be set up for any interested staff to hear from volunteers from Transplant Australia, who will be sharing their personal experiences and answering any questions. 

9th February 2009 - Crown Support for Victorian Bushfire Victims

Crown today pledged $500,000 for bushfire relief to assist families and communities affected by the devestating fires.  In addition, Crown has joined forces with the Salvation Army and set up collection areas for those wishing to make personal donations. 

18th November 08 - Crown Promenade Hotel – Winner Deluxe Accommodation, Victorian Tourism

Last night at the Victorian tourism Awards Crown Promenade Hotel was the winner of the Deluxe Accommodation category for the third year in a row and thus was elevated to the Tourism Hall of Fame. This was achieved in just four years of eligibility. This award is a wonderful recognition for all of the hard work and dedication to service of our staff. The award recognises excellence in all the many forms of the hotels operations and so reflects the great team work and success shared by all of our departments who work so well together to make the hotel a great success.

25th October 08 - Community and Safety Week

The entrance to our staff restaurant was abuzz from 20-25 October as Crown celebrated Community and Safety week with a range of displays, giveaways, competitions, stalls and activities. With a focus on creating “A Healthy and Safe Place for Everyone”, both within the Crown community and at home, every day featured something new. Here’s a recap: 

Monday 20 October: Health and Hygiene Day -  The week kicked off with the launch of the major competition: ‘Who Walks Further?’ The challenge was to rank 12 different job types in order of who takes the most steps per shift. Salvador Espineda (Table Games) proved his intuition and knowledge of Crown and won a night’s accommodation in Crown Towers plus a 150 dollar F&B voucher. Xin Tan (Table Games) was the runner-up.  Alongside the competition was a big day of health promotion activities, featuring the Stroke Foundation of Australia, Red Cross Blood Services and LifeGift (organ donor registry).  Plus, Malcolm Garth (First Aid Supervisor) offered free blood pressure assessments, and the team from The Sanctuary injected some fun with a Wii Fit challenge. 

Tuesday 21 October: Emergency Services Day - The Victoria Police Crime Prevention Unit dropped in with hundreds of one-way screws for Crown employees wanting to keep their number plates on their cars and out of thieves’ hands. Also popular were The Metropolitan Fire Brigade/Country Fire Authority, delivering tips on home fire safety, and First Intervention providing access to first aid supplies for the home. 

Wednesday 22 October: Clean Up Crown Day - Whilst Engineering and Maintenance worked busily to collect over 100 cubic metres of hard rubbish from across Crown, down at ID’s the colourful Mango Tango band and a cart of fresh fruit proved one of the most popular attractions of the week. 

Thursday 23 October: Employee Support Day - Crown offers a number of support services for employees: Crown College, Recruitment, HR, Payroll, WorkCover and Injury Management, Health & Safety, Crown Social Club, OSA Group for those in need of help, Crown Retail, Community Affairs and the Responsible Gaming Centre.  They all turned out on Thursday to answer questions and have some fun. 

Friday and Saturday 24-25 October: Hazard and Incident Reporting - The theme of the final two days was identifying hazards and promoting ways we can report concerns.  ‘Safety Man’ Chris Lavery entertained the masses with his balloon creations, while your Health & Safety Representatives won friends by handing out Chupa Chups. ‘Spot the Hazard’ and ‘Identify your Health & Safety Representative’ competitions made this a very interactive day.

15th October 08 - Helping job-seekers through our Access Program

Crown’s Access Program helps job seekers who are having difficulty gaining skilled employment due to personal circumstances. These people include early school leavers, long-term unemployed and people returning to work after a long break. In partnership with Mission Australia and the Brotherhood of St Laurence we are currently delivering our second Access program in 2008.  

The participants are 6 West African refugees, who are working in Crown Promenade Hotel as Room Attendants while they complete a Certificate I in Work Preparation at Crown College. We hope that many of these have long and successful careers with us.

10th September 08 - Crown continues the focus on the environment

• 40% (or more than 3,000 tonnes) of waste (cardboard, glass, aluminium, steel, PET) is now recycled every year. 
• In addition to general waste, 500 tonnes of food organics are recovered from landfill to natural recovery (or composting) each year;
• Crown is a Sustainability Victoria certified Silver “Waste Wise” Business.  Crown’s total water consumption has been reduced by 16% though various means including rainwater harvesting, flow restriction, timed-flush urinals, reverse osmosis cooling tower bleed treatment, laundry recycling;
• Energy efficiency is also a high priority.  Crown operates a 6MW gas-fired co generation plant that generates greener power than drawing from the electricity grid and saves approximately 25,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually.

10th July 08 - More staff join the Crown '5 year club'.

Another 5 year club celebration was held on Monday night at our 'Fusion' nightclub.  Over 260 staff and partners partied the night away and enjoyed sensational food, drink and entertainment.   It is a great reflection on our business that such large groups of our people stay with us for so long.    

11th June 08 - Who is the Hottest Chef Competiton 2008

This year's Tabasco competition is about to begin for Crown and Burswood Chefs. Our Chef's love this competition, which requires competitors to create a menu with an original entrée and main dish.  The winning Chef will again enjoy a trip to Louisiana and visit Avery Island - home of the world famous Tabasco Sauce.  This exciting gourmet experience includes a tour and tasting of the pepper fields and sauce factory, plus a trip to New Orleans to enjoy great food and music. This is one of those times we would all like to be Chefs.

30th May 08 - New Leadership Development Program is Launched

Crown has implemented a company wide initiative aimed at the development of our Supervisors and employees acting in Higher Duties roles.  The Leadership Development Program is one of the initiatives that was  at our recent CEO Forum.  At this forum, the Executive Team emphasised the importance of the development of our 700 plus supervisors across the business, and how their growth is a key part of a broader business strategy.  

“We believe that positive leadership and coaching our supervisors is vitally important in building the confidence and skills of front line employees”  Crown Melbourne Chief Executive Officer  - David Courtney 

27th May 08 - Hotel Graduate Management Trainee Program 2008

Crown Towers and Crown Promenade Hotel are offering an exciting opportunity for two successful tertiary graduates to take on the role of Graduate Management Trainee. The Graduate Management Trainee Program allows the successful candidates to gain experience across various hotel departments whilst developing supervisory and leadership skills.Successful completion of this program will result in an ongoing Supervisory/Management role with Crown.

20th May 08 - New online system helps candidates apply for jobs at Crown

Crown has today gone live with our new online job application system.  Designed to enable candiates to easily apply for any Crown vacancy or to register for any jobs which may become available in the future, the system will also enable us to match a person's details to future openings. We will also be able to communicate with people far more frequently in order to keep everybody up to date as to the progress of their application.  

We have also built an internal portal to enable our current staff to apply for internal vacancies or to register their details for future opportunities.   

Should you be applying for a role with us, or be simply registering your details - we hope that you find the system informative and easy to use.  

12th May 08 - This week is 'Healthy Heart' week

Over the next week Crown is providing all staff with the opportunity to have a Free personal Heart Health Check, where we will be able to have our cholesterol, blood pressure, blood pressure etc. assessed. 

8th May 08 - Service Leader Prize Winners

Crown CEO - David Courtney with the 'Service Leader' Prize Winners

7th May 08 - Celebration for our Service Leaders

Another Service leader luncheon has arrived and today we will be celebrating the achievements of 48 of our colleagues.  All will go into the draw for one of three trips, with the winner enjoying a trip to Las Vegas !   We will also be celebrating the achievements of our Trainees and Trainers of the Year, as well as our new 'Emerging Excellence Award' for the achievements of some of the newer members of our team.  Stay posted to see who wins this time.