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Star Staffing News
Fall 2014 • Volume 3, Number 2
The Employee Newsletter of Star Hospitality Group
Rising star
Seizing opportunities
opens doors for
Wilmary Rodriguez
W
hen Wilmary Rodriguez
sees an opportunity to
learn a new skill, she takes
it. That has served her quite well in
her eight years with Star Staffing,
where she started out as a receptionist
and has since been promoted through
the ranks to the position of payroll
manager.
“Star Staffing has been like a
school for me,” Wilmary said. “I have
learned so much working at Star. I’ve
assisted great supervisors and managers who have taught me a great work
ethic and to believe in myself.”
When Wilmary joined Star in
2006, she was in charge of the main
reception area and some basic office
work. A year later, she started helping the company’s bookkeeper after
a member of the accounting staff left.
A year later, Star’s bookkeeper left
and the company tapped Wilmary to
run payroll, billing, reception and the
office, as well as assist the chief finanRISING STAR, continued on 2
Wilmary Rodriguez has worked her way up
from receptionist to payroll manager.
Celebrating the grand opening of the Hampton Inn Brooklyn with a photo taken from the hotel’s
rooftop are, from left: James Cheek, Star Staffing director of client services; Antoinette Rochester, the hotel’s executive housekeeper; and Mike Walker, Star Staffing CEO and president.
Star Staffing employees help new
Brooklyn hotel get established
T
he perfect fit. That’s what Antoinette
Rochester, executive housekeeper
for the new Hampton Inn Brooklyn,
is looking for when it comes to hiring the
housekeepers and housemen who help keep
the hotel running well and looking great.
But finding the right people can be a challenge – especially when you’re opening a
new hotel.
“I’m so happy we connected with Star
Staffing,” Antoinette said. “Our new hotel opened in mid-July, and they’ve been
here every step of the way as we got off
the ground with the final post-construction
cleaning, the official opening and then as
we built up steam and got going.”
The Hampton Inn Brooklyn has 117
rooms and a second tower is currently being
built, which will bring the total number of
rooms to 322. There are about 20 Star Staffing employees working at the hotel.
“Finding the right fit with housekeeping
staff is so important,” she explained. “You
want to make sure they are hard workers
and will fit in with how we do things at the
hotel. We have a great group of people from
Star and many of them have been with us
since the beginning.”
Hotel General Manager Jason Wade
agrees. He noted that hiring housekeeping
staff isn’t always easy and using Star Staffing to fill in the gaps has been a huge help.
“Star Staffing really took a lot of stress
off of us during the opening process – knowing they were working to find us the right
staff,” he said. “Finding housekeeping staff
is a bit of a challenge, but they have a good
pool of workers to choose from. We treat
their employees just like we do our own,
and it has been a great fit.”
Star CEO Mike Walker has also noticed
how well The Hampton Inn Brooklyn treats
its staff. “They have a unique approach
to making staff feel like family,” he said.
“They are very respectful and appreciative
of the people working at the hotel.”
Star Staffing and The Hampton Inn
Brooklyn have developed a great relationship in just a few short months, Mike noted.
“Our partnership has been very rewarding and fulfilling,” he said. “They are a great
hotel to work with.”
Innovative housekeeping training center opens
S
tar Staffing has taken the innovative
step of opening a housekeeping training center to ensure employees are
well prepared for the challenges of their
new jobs.
The center opened earlier this year in
Union City, N.J., and features full-scale
replicas of hotel facilities, so employees can
work on their skills before moving to their
on-site jobs. The training program includes
one to two days at the center and then two
to four days on-site at the hotel.
Since the facility opened in April, 18 employees assigned to the new Hampton Inn
Brooklyn and 32 employees for the Crowne
Plaza JFK have been trained, according to
Heather Smith, Star’s director of operations.
“We have seen a lot of early successes
with the center,” she said. “We have seen a
decrease in our turnover rate since the employees that go through the center before
being placed at the hotel are more comfortable and adapt at a faster rate.”
The results are evident at the hotels, too.
Heather said staff members are doing a better job on site and room guests are more
satisfied with their rooms.
Star clients are excited about the training
center and some have sat in on the training
sessions, Heather said.
“No one in the industry is taking this
kind of care to ensure that only the most
qualified workers are placed in the hotels
we staff,” she said. “We believe the more
our clients learn about the benefits of having
such a facility available to them, the more
they’ll be more confident
in our service, which will
lead to business growth.”
Star CEO and President Mike Walker said
the training center sets
the company apart from
its competition.
“Our clients already
recognize us for our dedication to workplace partnerships,” he said. “The
creation of this unique
approach to training is a
natural evolution of that
service model. We are
confident this investment
in our workforce will allow us to continue to furStar’s new training center has a full scale replica of hotel facilither enhance our operaties, such as these guest room beds, where housekeeping emtional excellence.”
RISING STAR,
continued from front page
cial officer. “It felt like a hundred roles,”
she joked.
Wilmary is now officially Star’s payroll
manager and primarily works with payroll and human resources. She also helps
the company’s chief financial officer, Lee
Eichenbaum.
“I feel I’ve learned from the best people
at Star,” she said. “I’ve grown so much as
a team member and as a person. I’ve had
the best peers around me and a great boss.
“Star is not only a company, we are a
family, and we work together to make things
happen.”
‘Thirst for knowlege’ is one of
Wilmary’s strengths
Star CEO and President Mike Walker
said Wilmary is “an absolute pleasure to
work with” and has a great work ethic.
“I really admire her loyalty and professionalism,” he said. “Everyone loves her,
and she’s great to work with. She is very
flexible and has a thirst for knowledge and
learning new things. She’s a wonderful
employee.”
Star’s growth keeps Wilmary’s job duties
varied and interesting, but she says she’s up
to the challenge.
“We are a growing business – we are
currently bigger than a year ago – and I
think that trying not to disappoint anyone
internally or externally is a special challenge for me as I am held responsible for
all payroll and billing,” she said. “But I’m
really excited about the future and what Star
has to offer.”
ployees can learn and practice essential skills.
Health care reform: What does it mean to you?
T
he Health Care Reform Law, also
known as the Affordable Care Act
and “Obamacare,” offers advantages
to many who need it.
Young adults: Children may stay on
their parents’ policies until age 26. People
under 30 may buy a catastrophic health plan
through the Health Insurance Marketplace
(healthcare.gov). This type of plan mainly
protects covered individuals from very high
medical costs. Also, unless an exemption
applies, young adults must have health coverage or pay a penalty, beginning in 2014.
Adults with a pre-existing condition:
Since 2014, health insurance companies
can’t refuse to cover adults with pre-existing
conditions or charge more because of an
individual’s pre-existing condition. This is
true even if an individual has been turned
down or refused coverage in the past due
to a pre-existing condition. This provision
applies to all employer plans, such as those
offered by Star Staffing, and plans offered
through the Health Insurance Marketplace
(healthcare.gov).
Children with a pre-existing condition: Group health plans and health insurance issuers may not impose exclusions on
coverage for children with pre-existing conditions. This provision applies to all plans
offered through the Health Insurance Marketplace (healthcare.gov).
Low income employees: Special provisions exist via Medicaid programs for low
income adults who are below a certain income level.
Staffing and Outsourcing
for the Hotel Industry
New York Office
211 E. 43rd Street, Suite 2001, New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 661-6148
New Jersey Office
400 38th Street, Suite 220, Union City, NJ 07087
Phone: (201) 217-8288
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