Dubai, UAE-headquartered hospitality company TIME Hotels has underscored its commitment to staff welfare and dedication to positively supporting local communities with the launch of the group’s 2021 CSR calendar.

The campaign, which is based around the four pillars of workplace, marketplace community and environment, has been a mainstay of TIME Hotels’ commitment to improving others’ lives and forms part of a 12-month programme of initiatives.

Each month TIME will focus on a different theme with the year kicking off with team building and strengthening bonds within the workplace. A range of health initiatives will also take place in the first half of the year, as well as a cleanup drive to support environmental goals and a focus on female employees as part of International Women’s Day. Earth Hour and Ramadan will be honoured in March and April, respectively.

The second part of the year will begin with a blood donation drive. Breast cancer awareness will occur throughout October and prostate cancer awareness in November, before rounding out the year with a special festive celebration. A happiness initiative will be rolled out throughout the year, focusing on both employees and hotel guests.

Eddie Ignatius, Corporate Director of Quality & Business Excellence, TIME Hotels, said: “After the difficulties faced within the tourism industry in 2020, staff morale and workplace happiness are now more than ever, of the utmost importance. As such, we have developed a range of initiatives to create a safe, warm, engaging and proactive work environment conducive to success in 2021.

“Over the years, we have built a reputation for delivering wide-reaching CSR initiatives that have benefited communities in the UAE and internationally, where our mandate has always been to help those most in need. CSR forms an integral part of our business strategy and part of our operations across our portfolio of properties, in line with our ‘You Really Matter’ slogan.”

Despite the challenges faced in 2020, TIME Hotels rolled out a unique outreach programme during the year.

Over 70% of staff took part in the company’s initiative to wear national dress every Thursday, which provided an opportunity to interact with guests and discuss their homeland’s history and heritage. As part of International Women’s Day, female staff members participated in self-defence classes under the expert eye of a 3rd Dan black belt and certified taekwondo coach. The TIME Hotels team also took part in the Dubai Fitness Challenge, clocking up over 4.5 billion steps totalling more than 3 million kilometres.

These initiatives contributed to TIME Hotels being awarded the Happiness at Work Award in the category Best Employee Engagement Program awarded by Sustainable Mindz and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce CSR Label for the sixth consecutive year, obtaining the highest score compared to the overall average in the process.

In terms of supporting the local community, TIME Hotels employees collected and donated over 25kgs of aluminium cans to the Emirates Environmental Group can collection drive, and offered complimentary stays for medical front line workers across its portfolio of properties. TIME Hotels was also awarded the Green Key environmental accolade thanks to a range of sustainable concepts and waste management programs.

“We believe in the importance of giving back to the community in which we operate for a better tomorrow’s world,” concluded Ignatius.