Fiona Hartley, the recipient of the inaugural Tourism Service Excellence Awards 2008-09, says she believes that passion has its own rewards.

"When you love what you do with passion - meeting new people and picking up after them, giving everything your personal touch, making it all beautiful, it shows," she stated during a recent interview.

Now seven years into her job at Beaches Boscobel, Hartley secured the post after being turned down in an initial interview because she had "too many children".

The resident of Islington in St Mary responded by enrolling with HEART/NTA to do the one-year programme in housekeeping.

On completing her programme with distinction, she secured a six-week internship at Sandals in Ocho Rios and then a six-month contract, proceeding to dazzle everyone with whom she came in contact.

The mother of six credits her success today to the constant encouragement of her own mother and a real love for transforming the environment in which she lives and works.

Hartley passed her early days volunteering in areas to which she was not assigned, such as the laundry, as a means of learning more.

In the laundry, she would make her appearance early, pick up hand towels and start to press them until her own department opened.

Even while at HEART, Hartley assigned herself to cleaning the bathroom for everyone in her dormitory, taking her own chemicals from home, because she believed it was a way of excelling at her chosen path. Her dedication was noticed and she was promoted to the breakfast programme.

Hartley chose Beaches Boscobel again she said, as even though she was asked to stay on at Sandals. Beaches in St Mary was where she wanted to work.

Room attendant

Employed as a room attendant there since 2002, she has received numerous awards recognising and rewarding her for her efforts, some of which include the Most Creative Team Member 2006, Employee of the Year 2004, outstanding departmental trainer and departmental star.

In October, Hartley topped 13 finalists to win the Service Excellence Award, which is part of a Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) project to recognise and reward individuals and organisations that exemplify service excellence in the Jamaican tourism sector.

Major objectives of the programme are to recognise and reward tourism entities that continually train and motivate staff to achieve excellence in customer-service delivery and recognise individual workers who have and continue to surpass customer service delivery standards.

In her acceptance speech for the recent award, Hartley said, "The pride of wearing my immaculate housekeeping uniform and representing my resort and team members was overwhelming.

"It was an uplifting experience for me, and with that, I believe other housekeepers across Jamaica were encouraged to see how positive and valuable their jobs are."

Hartley was overall national champion in the individual category.

She stated at the awards function: "I really want to thank you for the positive impact on my family. There is an increase in joy and the meaning of accomplishment in my family. The task of raising a family of six children is challenging, but I have been coping with God's help.

"My children were incredibly happy after my win. They were jumping and screaming 'Mommy, is this true?' The people in my community were motivated and inspired by the news. The phones were ringing endlessly.

"The honour of the award has definitely impacted the performance of my duties, making me even more conscious of the level of expectation from my guests, my resort and the Tourism Service Excellence Awards body."

High-touch experience

Concluding her remarks, Hartley said, "Service is a high-touch experience. It is my passion to continue to deliver service excellence to all those I touch at Beaches Boscobel and within my community."

Work, she says, is a fun-filled experience. "If you are not enjoying what you do, it does not make sense."

avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com