Local companies praised for recruiting disabled staff
Monday, October 23 2006
The McDonald Cardrona Hotel, the Roxburghe Hotel & Golf Course and Tesco Galashiels have all been singled out for their dedication to providing employment to people with disabilities.
The three local organisations were among national award winners at the Scottish Business Diversity Awards, presented at the Scottish Union for Supported Employments National Conference at the Peebles Hydro Hotel on Thursday, 12 October.
The Awards recognise those companies in Scotland who are doing most to promote inclusion and equality for employees with a disability and welcome diversity into the workplace through their staffing policies. Companies nominated for the awards have all taken positive steps towards recruiting and retaining people with disabilities, sensory impairments or other disadvantages.
Bruce Brodie, Ways2Work Project Manager at Scottish Borders Council, said, “It is a great honour for the Borders to host such a high-profile and successful conference. All three local companies have performed very well in the face of stiff competition from other areas in Scotland, and I am pleased that they have been nationally recognised for the excellent attitude and commitment they have shown to employing disadvantaged people from the Borders.”
He added that all three prize-winning local companies have distinguished themselves by being flexible in their approach to employment and on-the-job training. For example, they may adapt their interview procedures to suit people who may have difficulty with the traditional, formal style of interview. They have also shown themselves willing to look at flexible shift patterns and even to change parts of the job itself to try to ensure that employees can be retained in paid work.
SBC Director of Social Work, Andrew Lowe, said, “I am delighted that Bruce Brodie was able to bring this important national event to Peebles. The conference was an outstanding success, and the National Business Diversity Awards provided a showcase for the best of Borders. I congratulate all the shortlisted entries and the staff they employ and see their success as a challenge to ourselves to do more to support inclusive employment.”
Nominees for the Scottish Business Diversity Awards qualify for the national awards by winning at regional level.
The national winners were :-
Overall Winner - Fife Constabulary
Recruitment Winner - McDonald Cardrona Hotel, near Peebles
Retention Winner - Fife Council Social Work Services
The Roxburghe Hotel and Golf Course was highly commended in the Staff Retention category and Tesco Galashiels was highly commended in the Overall Category.
The awards were presented by Liz Catterson (Equal Access to Employment, Glasgow), Mark Kilsby ( Welsh Centre for Learning Disability) and Dave Stewart (The Employers Coalition, Highlands), who all ran workshops during the conference.
The ceremony was hosted by Callum McGregor of Employability Fife and Alan Weaver, Chair of the Scottish Union for Supported Employment.
If you would like to find out more about Ways2Work, or feel that you might have work opportunities to offer to disabled people, please contact Bruce Brodie on 01835 825080 ext 5642 or online
Unified Solutions.