A spectacular Gala Night was held at the Radisson SAS Bay Point Resort on 28 November when 53 Island Hotels Group employees were awarded for their outstanding performance in 10 categories including friendliness, the best smile, eco initiatives, creativity and humanitarian acts.

The categories in which employees were nominated by their managers and colleagues were designed in line with the Island Hotels Group culture and values and were meant to encourage the employees of the group to strive towards continually achieving the objectives encompassed in the ideology surrounding each category. Overall winners for each category were selected by an appointed committee.

This grand event was the highlight of a year of hard work for many employees following the launch earlier this year of the Pearl Awards, a recognition scheme originally suggested by Jennifer Muscat, an accounts clerk within the group who submitted her idea as part of a Creativity and Innovation competition held within the group.

The group’s human resources team, headed by Christina Galea, further developed this idea into the Pearl Awards, incorporating a range of 10 award categories ensuring that employees at all levels and from all areas of responsibility have the opportunity to be rewarded for excellence and outstanding performance. The grand finale was the announcement of the final 10 Overall Pearl Awardees who received a crafted crystal award to commemorate their success.

The overall Pearl Award winners on the night were Elysia Scicluna as the Smile a Mile Champion, Manuel Aquilina as the Outstanding Performance Champion, Audrey Muscat and Marika Abela as the PrecEyes Champions, Christopher Simon Etim as the Friendliness Champion, Mark Caruana as the Eco Champion, Alexia Vella as the STAR Champion, Gordon Ciantar as the Creativity Champion, Claire Vella as the Newcomer Champion, Stefan Meilaq as the Humanitarian Champion, and Keith Farrugia and Joe Cleaven Grech as the Team Champions.