Liza Onabia. Liza Onabia.

Liza Onabia, Media One hotel

About Liza
Liza has had an impressive career in housekeeping and due to her dedication to the guests, her colleagues and the job in hand we are nominating her for the UNSUNG HERO. Her career in Dubai started at the Dusit Thani in 2003 as a Room Attendant and she was there for 2 years until she had an opportunity to work in London with Hilton Hotels & Resorts for 12 months. She thoroughly enjoyed the experience but found it daunting at the beginning of finding her own accommodation in central London; but she was adaptable and resourceful in order to enjoy her first taste of real independence. In 2006 she returned to Dubai to be part of the preopening team of the Oasis Beach Tower, as a room attendant but she was soon working as the Housekeeping Co-ordinator to ensure everything worked smoothly. In 2007 she was headhunted to be part of the preopening team for The Palace Old Town by the Executive Housekeeper she worked for a short time in The Dusit, Nadine O’Connor; and it was Nadine who also brought Liza to Media One in September 2009 for pre-opening. Liza has proved herself to be ideally suited to pre opening projects but at Media One she has continued to develop her skills and the teams, by her dedication and loyalty to the hotel over the last 3 years. Her first position was as Supervisor with the added responsibility of the Co-ordinators role. But in April 2011 she was promoted to Senior Housekeeping Supervisor due to her ability to meet deadlines, being co-operative with all departments in a firm, but friendly manner. During this year’s enthusiast’s party she was voted as supervisor of the year by all the staff.

Above and beyond the call of duty…
Liza excels in all aspects of her role and when the Heads of Department met to discuss the possible candidates for the title of Unsung Hero everyone had Liza in their nominations due to her dedication and passion towards all her duties. She is available at all levels – from actual cleaning with the team, to meeting and negotiating with suppliers and dealing with the many demands made by the other departments within the Media One Hotel. Nothing is too much trouble. The mission statement for the Media One enthusiasts is to ‘GO BEYOND’ and Liza implements this philosophy for herself daily. Liza is responsible for the team of six students from Dubai Centre of Special Needs who have come to the hotel for work experience every Wednesday since 2010. She has trained them to sort laundry and make beds. They are very happy at the hotel as her patience is very long and believes communication is the key to assisting the students to develop and enjoy their time in Media One. Liza is continually doing small things for guests in her own time and with her own money that are truly appreciated and show how she regularly goes beyond her basic job description. When we were working with the Joining Jack charity she personally went out to buy an ‘extra goldfish’ in Satwa for his room ready for his arrival; as the two in the hotel were already being used by other guests. Jack is a four year old boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy who was visiting Dubai to raise awareness of the charity in the UAE. Liza also collects and donates book for Volunteer in Dubai to raise monies for charity. She often goes over to the pharmacy in the Marina for guest’s contact lenses and simple medications; there was also a time to get nail cutters as the guest had forgotten his own. Occasionally she has also ironed the guest’s laundry herself as it has been too late for express and the guests are insistent they need for special events. These are not major requests but are ongoing tasks she adds to her busy schedule to ensure guests leave the hotel satisfied. Sometimes it is the little things that make all the difference! Liza is also an active member of our Enthusiasts’ social committee called United Ventures and has often participated in activities and attended others to support the other teams. She played as part of the volley ball team and was seen on the sidelines at both the football and cricket shouting on members from housekeeping. Liza was also part of the committee for the staff party in January. She was responsible for getting all the décor together to create the atmosphere of ‘Hip Hop & Funky’; the graffiti wall was something special. Another example of Liza’s concern is to be environmentally friendly and she has singlehandedly trained her team to ensure the green initiatives for the hotel are implemented.

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Testimonials for Liza
“Liza constantly displays professionalism and innovation far beyond expectation. Against all the odds, she has continually progressed, has stepped in to work countless hours of overtime; and learned as much as possible to support her seniors and more importantly her team, to progress her career with Media One. Liza is helpful and efficient taking on more responsibilities and ‘GOING BEYOND’ in everything she does. Nothing is too much trouble for Liza,” Mark Lee, GM, Media One.

“Sometimes in this industry you come across employees who are so dedicated to their role and their team’s success that you need to tell them to go home! Liza is one of those. Hard working beyond belief, quick thinking under often intense pressure and a team player like I have rarely seen before, Liza is certainly worthy of this nomination,” Luke James, operations director.

“I have worked alongside Liza since September 2009 when we both joined Media One Hotel. Her operational skills are excellent and she is always organising, managing and following up. She friendly but firm and all the team knows what is going on as she always briefs us in advance and sometimes meets team members individually to ensure they understand the message. Liza treats everyone the same and easily forgives and forgets to keep a happy team. People respect her as she works alongside us in the operation if needed and guides us to maintain standards too. My favourite thing about working with Liza is her flexible attitude as she listens to suggestions and sometimes implements them if it makes the job more efficient,” Khem Raj Parajuli, housekeeping supervisor.

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