Hospitality hiring program on a roll

A Flinders University-backed program to increase employment of people with disability in hospitality arrived in Victoria this year with positive results. 

It focuses on giving employers the confidence to hire people with cognitive disability, including intellectual disability, autism, ADHD and mental disability. 

As well as making jobs in the sector more inclusive, Dr Jung Voon, research fellow at the Centre for Social Impact at Flinders University, said a big part of the program’s design was to encourage employers to “improve their capacity to problem solve” and work with people from diverse backgrounds. After beginning in South Australia and spreading to Victoria, there are plans to expand across the eastern seaboard.  

Voon said the program is building on its early success and this year has grown to employ 13 people with disability, with 12 hotels involved including Qantas Lounge. 

Voon said the hotels have built the confidence to employ staff with disability independently, outside of the Flinders program. 

The program is rolled out in several stages, beginning with sharing information with employers about the benefits of hiring someone with a disability. 

“We want to bring the more genuine motivation from the managers and the people and culture team,” Voon explained. 

From there, staff are prepared to hire a person with disability through specialised training.  

The university team then conducts field visits to observe the work environment and implements a mentoring relationship with employers to support them through the program. The mentor involved has experience working in a large hospitality employment program and can act as a sounding board for employers when they need it. 

Recruitment then begins, followed by a six-month employment probation period, and then feedback exchange. 

Voon said data indicates the program has been a success so far, with people with disability “having a really great experience” and employers gaining confidence in employing people with disability. 

And of course, she added, that’s what it’s all about. 

“We should just give people the opportunity to learn. And… we can make customisations and make environments more accessible, inclusive and welcoming,” she said. 

“Anyone can have challenges when they start at a new job [and] don’t know what to do. It’s not about [whether] you have a cognitive disability or not, it’s about how the learning process is going. If you just make the work environment more inclusive, they can learn.”