Managing Human Resources Towards Eco Sustainability- Story of Jetwing

 

 As a hotelier,  it was decided to discuss about the sustainability practices in relate to the HRM. In present, my current working organization of Jetwing hotels is a pioneered hotel chain in improving sustainability practices in Sri Lanka. It comes to our mind naturally when we are discussing about the sustainability in hotel industry as they have proceeded a lot of sustainability projects through out the Jetwing hotel chain. For this achievement, the management of human resources brings an immense support with great dedication.

"Additionally, an organisation's human resources department plays a critical role in fostering an enterprise-wide culture of sustainable growth. SHRM considers the social, economic, and ecological aspects of an organisation's objectives when conducting human resource functions. SHRM is in the ideal position to provide leadership and to drive innovation to persuade organisational stakeholders to adopt more sustainable attitudes and practices. It has the potential to play a critical role in the adoption of a sustainable mindset in business organisations " (Ref: 01, page 02)

Sustainable Practices at Jetwing hotels

Jetwing Yala

✔Jetwing encourage innovation, exploration and growth in all their associates. With a host of benefits and opportunities that contribute to overall satisfaction and well-being, Jetwing family remains close-knit and constantly supportive of one another, especially in dedicated associate engagement initiatives that cover welfare, sports, the arts, and a variety of celebrations that stay true to the welcoming spirit of legendary hospitality.(2)

✔Operating since 2014, Jetwing Yala boasts the largest solar power system in any hotel in Sri Lanka. Over 1000 solar panels, set on 1.2 acres of land, produce about 1500 kWh of energy each day. This meets approximately 80% of daytime electricity usage of the hotel, accounting for more than 35% of the hotel's total use each day.(2)

1 MW solar farm at Jetwing Yala (Source: https://www.jetwinghotels.com/jetwingyala/gallery/)

✔Jetwing Yala is the only second hotel in Sri Lanka using a special vapor absorption chiller, (VAM) which cools the air. It consumes a mere 14 kW of electricity and addresses all the air-conditioning requirements of the hotel. This operates mainly on steam originating from a biomass boiler. The same steam is used for laundry and hot water at night. The boiler operates all day long, producing up to 1500 kg of steam hourly at an estimated daily consumption of 4000 kilograms of cinnamon wood. This same wood serves for cooking in the staff cafeteria, while the steam helps in cooking rice in a special steamer.(2)

✔All the hot water in Jetwing Yala is generated with the help of 100% renewable energy. The system contains 90 solar panels providing hot water from 9 AM to 4 PM, while the biomass boiler generates the hot water at night.(2)

✔Finally, all transportation within the facility is provided with electric buggies that do not pollute the air.(2)

✔Jetwing Yala in Sri Lanka has pledged for sustainable practices in the management of water and waste. The hotel draws seawater, which is treated into potable water through the Reverse Osmosis (RO) Plant, saving one-third of energy demand. It also treats 100% wastewater on property and reuses the same with biological treatments to black, gray, and laundry water. Sludge produced is used as a soil enhancer with nutrient value; the final rinse water of laundry undergoes treatment for reuse as primary washwater, thereby reducing freshwater usage by 30%. Organic waste generated is treated and recycled within the premises, whereby food waste is fed into the biogas digester for cooking and sludge used as soil enhancer. The garden sweepings and clippings, upon being treated, are passed through a modified windrow composter and enhanced-process composting machine to turn them into compost, which is a rich-in-nutrient soil enhancer used within the hotel's gardens and organic farm.(2)

✔Jetwing Yala has an onsite glass bottling plant for hotel operations, reducing plastic waste and carbon footprint. The plant has a 2000 litre bottling capacity and features semi-automated washing and filling systems. Jetwing Yala also nurtures an organic garden, irrigated from treated water, and uses fresh regional produce in its kitchens. They prioritize local sourcing and work with local farmers to purchase fresh milk for curd production, a unique product of the region.(2)

✔Jetwing Yala, off the famous Yala National Park, subscribes to the principle of co-existence with the animals and birds. They are particularly concerned with the conservation of turtles-egg laying on the beaches includes five species of turtles. These eggs become vulnerable to poachers and wild life actions. Jetwing Yala identifies nests and secures them in-situ to ensure that at any given time, the eggs are not removed. In collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Conservation, they have started on-site turtle hatchery operation in order to protect turtle eggs; hatchlings are released into the sea after constant monitoring.(2)

Sustainability measures at Jetwing Yala (Source: https://www.jetwinghotels.com/jetwingyala/sustainability/)

Jetwing Vil Uyana

✔Since the 2006, this has been a shining beacon of a miracle story of commitment from Jetwing towards community and culture at Jetwing Vil Uyana, from the pre-opening formation of the Jetwing Youth Development Project (JYDP), later winning a PATA award in 2007. The JYDP is now practiced on several properties in the Jetwing family, and though mainly focused on training school leavers from poor farming families in Sigiriya. In cooperation with the Chief Monks from nearby Buddhist Temples and with a determination to learn from each school leaver, Jetwing, aided by a teacher in Polonnaruwa, carried out a free six-month training program which gave each participant a powerful working knowledge of hotel operations, English, etiquette, cultural history, and industry insights. Today, most of those youngsters are proud to be a part of the launch of the most exclusive sanctuary on Earth and have managed to inspire quite a few ambitious youngsters just like them across many of our homes of Sri Lankan hospitality.(3)

✔Jetwing Vil Uyana is committed to paddy cultivation on its four-acre landsite through traditional practices and with the contribution of the local community. The local fruits, vegetables, and herbs grown within the premises are produced by the on-premise farm and are prepared into exquisite dishes in the kitchens. All glass water bottles used within the premises emanate from the bottling plant at Jetwing Lake. Jetwing Vil Uyana is designed to be environmentally-friendly: houses in the complex are made with natural materials-local wood, bamboo, and thatch. Moreover, some unique construction method like a mixture of clay and cement applied for plastering was used with the aim of minimizing maintenance in the long run, avoiding the release of VOC.(3)

Sustainability measures at Jetwing Vil Uyana (Source: https://www.jetwinghotels.com/jetwingviluyana/sustainability/)

Jetwing Colombo Seven

✔This hotel also equipped with an additional 50 kW rooftop solar photovoltaic system that supports the day's grid electricity supply. Jetwing Colombo Seven is also the first to install a water-to-water heat pump system in Sri Lanka. The groundbreaking system utilizes ambient heat generated from a range of heat-emitting elements that includes body heat and electronic equipment within each room to generate the entire hot water requirement for the hotel.(4)

✔Moreover, all glass windows used throughout Jetwing Colombo Seven are double-glazed, providing a significant amount of sound isolation at the heart of the city while minimizing the heat gain within all air-conditioned spaces. This is further supported by the use of decorative clay tiles, which are of natural cooling material and cover most of the building façade. The icing on the cake is that at Jetwing Colombo Seven, all air-conditioning is done through a state-of-the-art Variable Speed Drive (VSD) centrifugal chiller to ensure optimum cooling in each room.(4)

✔First ever electric tuk-tuk which is one of the biggest innovative products by Vega innovations was purchased as the first customer in Sri Lanka by Jetwing Colombo Seven. Currently E-drive tuks are being used for the transportation of guests and staff of the hotel. Also, locally produced E-charging stations are also has been installed at the hotel for the advancement of eco sustainability.(4)

Fig: Jetwing Colombo Seven started using of Vega E-tuks for their transportation needs.

(Source: https://www.jetwinghotels.com/jetwingcolomboseven/sustainability/)

Fig: Jetwing Colombo Seven started using of Vega Electric charging stations for their transportation needs.

(Source: https://www.jetwinghotels.com/jetwingcolomboseven/sustainability/)

Highlights of Sustainability Practices among Jetwing group.

✔ All the hotels are using refillable glass water bottles which are produced by the own water bottling plants at Jetwing Lake, Dambulla, Jetwing Yala and Jetwing Blue, Negombo. This avoids the use of plastic water bottles throughout all the hotels. Also it creates extra jobs to the people relate with the water purifying, bottling and other processes.

✔All the amenities relate to hygiene such as shampoo, liquid soap, etc are using refillable glass bottles to maximize the sustainability practices.

✔Most of the hotels are farming required vegetable,fruits, honey and spices in their hotel lands and sending to other hotels as per requirement. These cultivation processes create extra jobs for the villagers as well.

✔Management of every hotel is caring about their employee healthy well-being in good manner. Every employee is provided healthy meal by the hotel daily.

✔Every Jetwing hotel is trying to be a zero plastic area or minimal usage of plastic.

✔Every employee is well trained for the emergency situations such as fire, Tsunami, floods, etc

References:

1. Journal of Exploring Sustainable Human Resource Practices and Framework in Star-Rated Hotels, by Jennifer Kim, Lian Chan and Steward Gimsom, 2024

2.Official web site of Jetwing Yala

3.Official web site of Jetwing Vil Uyana

4.Official web site of Jetwing Colombo Seven