The iNUA Collection selected Down Syndrome Ireland as their charity partner in 2019. On, Thursday May 26th, they launched their innovative learning workbook, designed with DSI Ability Programme Partnership to be a tool to help their DSI colleagues throughout the hotel group, as well as future potential colleagues, to fulfil their ambitions. Since The iNUA Collection started the partnership with DSI, they now have eight colleague graduates employed in seven of their hotels and plan to expand this in 2022 with further opportunities as the company grows.

Speaking about the partnership with DSI, Deirdre Buckley, Group Director of HR at The iNUA Collection says:

Aoife Gaffney, Head of Employment at Down Syndrome Ireland, has been an invaluable resource in assisting iNUA in making the most of our partnership with DSI from the very beginning, selecting graduates from the DSI Ability Programme Partnership interested in hospitality roles and who were work-ready from their education programme. Once we started work with DSI, we were conscious of providing sustainable employment and mapping out learning plans for the graduates, so the idea of the workbook began. Our ethos of development in our hotels is Learn | Evolve | Thrive and our ambition for this workbook is to be a tool to help our colleagues to maximise their opportunities with us, and perhaps also act as a steppingstone to their next role. Seeing colleagues develop skills and grow in confidence along with making new friendships and relationships at work is a key part of working with The iNUA Collection.

DSI offers support to employers right through the employee lifecycle stages from advertising vacancies, shortlisting applicants for interview, support with onboarding and ongoing support at work, particularly if there are changes in work systems and processes. DSI also provides training and support for the graduate mentors in the hotels, a key element to the success of this programme in the case of The iNUA Collection.

Working with Down Syndrome Ireland and their employment programme makes absolute sense for our business, says Sean O’Driscoll, CEO of The iNUA Collection. We get an opportunity to work with dedicated, committed, and great colleagues from our communities who are supported by job coaches from DSI if required, and who love hospitality and the fun and friendships it nourishes. We hope our newly launched learning workbook helps develop this already strong relationship with DSI and we greatly appreciate all the important input and support from Aoife Gaffney, the Head of Employment at Down Syndrome Ireland and the DSI Ability Programme Partnership.

For more information visit www.inua.ie.

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