Amid the ongoing struggle for workers, Lewis Land Group last week celebrated the staff of their three big venues, at the organisation’s very first awards ceremony.
Staff members from The Fiddler and the Camden Valley Inn joined 41 of their colleagues from the Belvedere Hotel in Queensland, who were flown to Sydney and accommodated for the get-together.
Both Sydney venues were partially closed, to allow as many staff to come as possible.
The Group provided food trucks, cocktails, live music, arcade games, photo booths and a pop-up silent disco tent, in association with venue partners – plus $25k worth of prizes.
Awards spanned 19 categories, including Employee of the Year, Bartender of the Year, Chef of the year and the People’s Choice Award.
Prizes included a $5k travel voucher to visit Hamilton Island, a 65-inch Samsung TV, a $3k travel voucher to visit Victoria’s St Hubert’s Winery, as well as Red Balloon vouchers and a collection of other experiences.
“Last night, we were finally able to celebrate our staff the way we have wanted to and the way they all deserve to be,” offered Brad Jenkins, Lewis’ head of leisure.
This event follows Lewis Land’s promotion to reward and engage staff during the busy Christmas period, where a new $30k T Cross Volkswagon was given away to a staff member.
All new and existing staff at both The Fiddler and the Camden Valley Inn were given a chance to win the brand-new Volkswagen, to encourage recruits and retain current employees.
The giveaway was deemed a big success in the face of staff shortages, and Jenkins suggests rewarding workers “is and always will be” a priority for the Group.
While venues are regaining a post-pandemic normal, issues with staffing levels continue to be of great concern to operators and LLG says it understands its venues would simply not operate without them.
“We are so pleased to be in the position to celebrate and reward our staff after the last few years working in hospitality,” further Jenkins.
“We haven’t been able to treat our staff to a Christmas Party since 2019, so we wanted to say thank you in a very big way.”
