Dileep oversees two departments namely the teambuilding and training portfolios. Teambuilding falls under the umbrella of the Sports and Recreation unit at the hotel. A certified customer service Trainer, Dileep talked about how the teambuilding idea came about initially. He joined Klana Resort six years ago. Studying social policy and administration in the UK, he saw himself as a self-starter and coming back to Malaysia on completion of his studies, took up a position as an Administrative Officer, with a Dutch company, contractors to a Shell refinery jetty at Port Dickson at the time. All done on a handshake.

Possessing sixteen years in HR Administration and Training, a good number of these years was spent in the oil and gas construction sector. When Dileep joined the hotel, management had conceptualised the idea of ‘my all-inclusive destination’ or MAD in short. It was based around the idea that hotel patrons needed something to occupy themselves with at their leisure. The hotel was sitting on some twenty four acreas of land, and saw this offering as something unique that they could provide the hotel patrons with. In time, the teambuilding and leadership programmes have gone from strength to strength and it has firmly become established as a HR initiative in the last three years.

It was at about the same time that teambuilding began to gain prominence locally with outward bound training concepts being used as part of a larger agenda towards training and development; lessons were being incorporated into employee training sessions. With this move, Dileep and his team began to slowly come out with their own programmes, which are now being marketed externally as a service to others.

The beauty of this initiative is that over the last 3-4 years, the department has been income-generating. For the year ending 2007, teambuilding-generated revenue contributed 10% of total hotel revenue in terms of room nights and food/beverage (F&B) sales. For the My Teambuilding Destination (MTD) for July 2008, teambuilding has so far contributed 5% to hotel revenue in terms of rooms & F&B sales.

All manner of industry come for these events, ranging from manufacturing, banking, insurance, multi-level marketing and the oil and gas sector. On average, the hotel runs between seven to eight programmes a month, last month accomplishing some thirteen programmes.

But it’s a small team in HR & Sports & Recreation - two supporting staff, the HR Assistant Manager, the HR Secretary and the HR Director, and ably supported by a Programme Coordinator and Two Programme Facilitators, who have duties in Sports & Recreation in addition to their existing portfolios. The Managers, Coordinator and Facilitators have all undergone Train-the-Trainer programmes. They deal with spikes in service by multi-tasking and pulling staff in from other departments on a regular basis, these staff comprising what is known as the Teambuilding Reserve Unit (TRU).

Some of the more permanent members of the TRU have also undergone Train-The-Trainer programmes, and all continuously expand on their knowledge and training skills. In the last year and a half, the resort has set a module for building and nurturing a high performance culture, again emphasising the use of their 31-obstacle course and the numerous extreme activities they have in place.

This, the HR team undertakes alongside their other responsibilities with the hotel. - none of their responsibilities are outsourced. Dileep argues that it works well for them and its based on their preference for a much more personal encounter with their employees, present and prospective.

Curious about forward plans for this, I asked Dileep about what lay ahead. The contingency plan is to look at recruiting more people but Dileep was keen to emphasise that, that call was determined by the business volume generated – its all about the bottom line. For now, its about using the HR and Sports & Recreation teams effectively, taking on board the TRU as and when needed and running refreshers every year to keep their eye on the ball.