From 2024, Onyx Hospitality Group will make it compulsory for all staff to complete 60 hours of training every year in order to advance on their personal career track in the organisation.
The requirement is part of the new Onyx Academy, which will launch in the new year with instructor-led as well as online courses that are jointly developed with a range of partners such as Lobster Ink, LinkedIn, eCornell and Harvard Business School Online.
Yuthachai Charanachitta, owner and CEO of Onyx Hospitality Group, told TTG Asia that Onyx Academy “is essential, as it forces team members to stretch their minds and capabilities”.
He said: “There will also be cross-training opportunities, where we will assign some of our staff to other properties. At the end of it all, they will be better ready to move forward on their career track.”
Completion of courses will also earn participants valid certification with reputable institutions.
He believes the programme will appeal to the younger generation, as they “want to learn and rise up quickly in the company, and the academy provides such career development opportunities”.
When asked to put a dollar value on the implementation of Onyx Academy, Yuthachai said it would easily be in the range of US$1 million to US$2 million every year.
“This is because we have almost 4,000 staff across our system and we intend to involve 100 per cent of them. Taking them off duty for training also comes with opportunity costs,” he explained.
However, this is an investment that Yuthachai is happy to make, especially as the company looks to continuously expand and up-skill its workforce to support ongoing expansion plans.
The company has a target of 54 properties across its brands by 2025, up from 44 currently. Its Amari Hotels & Resorts portfolio welcomed the opening of Amari Raaya Maldives on August 1, and is set to further grow with four more in 2024 – three city hotels in Sri Lanka’s Colombo, Laos’ Vientiane, and Thailand’s Bangsaen; and one resort in Niseko, Japan.
Onyx Academy will join the company’s other ongoing talent acquisition and retention projects, which include providing education and job opportunities for underprivileged youths at Thailand’s Pimali Foundation; and the Pre-Employment Program with universities that offers local students internship placement, attractive pay packages and possibilities for employment.
