Joelle McCrae, Human Resources Manager at Cayman Turtle Farm: Island Wildlife Encounter, has been named Allied Manager of the Year in the 2015 Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA) Stingray Awards.

The 2015 Stingray Tourism Awards were held at the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman on 23rd June. The Stingray Awards recognise CITA member company employees for their service in the tourism industry.

Cayman Turtle Farm Human Resources Manager Joelle McCrae was nominated for the Allied Manager of the Year award along with Mary-Ann Mehigan of Celebrations Ltd. and Oraine Lawrence of Budget Rent-a-Car.

It is a fitting award for Joelle, who received his first award for being a Tourism Ambassador 20 years ago in 1995.

Employed with Cayman Turtle Farm since 2005, Joelle is involved in community and church activities as well as being an active member of the Cayman Islands Society of Human Resources Professionals (CISHRP), and the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM)

Joelle started at Cayman Turtle Farm: Island Wildlife Encounter as Food & Beverage Manager. Over the years he has focused on continuing education, earning a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management and also his Professional Human Resources (PHR, Hons) designation from the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI) where he is required to maintain his credentials by obtaining annual recertification.

Joelle brought many years of experience in the tourism industry to Cayman Turtle Farm. His hospitality career spans 37 years, and he has worked in a wide variety of positions at properties including the fondly remembered Galleon Beach Hotel, and the “old Grand Caymanian Holiday Inn” that were iconic legends on Seven Mile Beach.

Joelle is committed to customer service, and provides a daily example to junior staff on the importance of good customer service and providing a positive guest experience. As CTF HR Manager, Joelle has been very successful in recruiting Caymanians into the tourism industry, so much so that out of 90 employees at CTF there are only four on work permits.

Joelle has been the driving force at Cayman Turtle Farm: Island Wildlife Encounter in ensuring that all staff members – in all levels and positions — receive customer service training in order to understand the importance of customer service at our attraction and in the tourism industry. Courses include DoT PRIDE training (which includes sections such as Know Your Cayman Islands, Promises, Leading the Promises and Foundations), as well as other related training courses being offered by the CI Chamber of Commerce.

During the past year, Joelle has been outstanding in taking on additional oversight roles in management and maintaining good disciplines in three different departments during extended periods while CTF was recruiting the managers to lead those departments: Lifeguards, F&B, and Retail /Gift Shop. During the interim periods between managers, Joelle stepped in to ensure continuity of strong leadership. Then when the new line managers for those departments came aboard, Joelle invested a lot of time and effort in coaching them and their junior leaders.

Joelle is an integral person to the development of staff policies and guidelines at Cayman Turtle Farm. He was the driving force at Cayman Turtle Farm: Island Wildlife Encounter in developing an updated and comprehensive staff handbook that includes all benefits for employees as well as all company policies. Joelle has also driven the implementation of a regular staff evaluation programme. In particular, he has been instrumental in developing the policies, guidelines and structure for the Lifeguard department and continues to provide day to day support for the manager of this division of the company.

“We are very proud of Joelle’s accomplishments and congratulate him on this well-deserved award of Allied Manager of the Year. We also thank him for his hard work and dedication,” said Cayman Turtle Farm Managing Director Tim Adam.

“We also extend our congratulations and thanks to our three other outstanding nominees for CITA Stingray Awards – Fanny Martin for Allied Employee of the Year 2015; Annie Mae Ebanks for the Long Service Award 2015; and Rebecca Bush for the Rising Star in Tourism Award,” Mr. Adam said.

“We nominated some excellent candidates for Stingray Awards this year. Each one of our nominees makes a special contribution to Cayman Turtle Farm: Island Wildlife Encounter,” said Mr. Adam. “We are very pleased to have them recognised among their peers in the tourism industry for the great job that they do each and every day.”