The Sandhouse Hotel wins top accolade at the inaugural Fáilte Ireland Employer Excellence Awards.
The Sandhouse Hotel, Co. Donegal received the Outstanding Employer Award at the inaugural Fáilte Ireland Employer Excellence Awards which took place in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.
The awards ceremony celebrated businesses who have demonstrated their commitment to making the tourism industry an appealing and rewarding place to work through their participation in Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence programme.
“These Employer Excellence awards will help drive a further improvement in the both the quality and the perception of careers in the tourism sector”
More than 170 tourism businesses registered to participate in the first intake of the Fáilte Ireland programme which launched in September 2022. As part of the programme, a survey was conducted with staff of participating businesses, which gave staff the chance to highlight the strengths of their workplace, along with areas for further development.
Actions speak loudest
Fáilte Ireland is now supporting these businesses to implement actions identified in their survey to further enhance employee engagement. The winning businesses were chosen based on this employee feedback.
“Over 20,000 tourism employees have already been positively impacted by the initiative”
The 11 winning businesses are:
- Best Employer – Outstanding: Sandhouse Hotel – Co. Donegal
- Best Employer – Wild Atlantic Way: Trident Hotel Kinsale, Co. Cork
- Best Employer – Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands: The Lakeside Hotel, Co. Clare
- Best Employer – Ireland’s Ancient East: The Hoban Hotel Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny
- Best Employer – Dublin: Big Bus Dublin, Co. Dublin
- Best Employer – Attraction: EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, Dublin
- Best Employer – Food and Drink: The Reg, Co. Waterford
- Best Employer – Hotel Group: Prem Group, Co. Dublin
- Best Employer – Large Business: The River Lee Hotel, Co. Cork
- Best Employer – Medium Business: Aspect Hotel Dublin Parkwest, Co. Dublin
- Best Employer – Small Business: Cahernane House Hotel Co. Kerry
“Tourism has an unparalleled track record of providing a diverse range of employment opportunities in communities the length and breadth of the country,” said Fáilte Ireland CEO Paul Kelly.
“The inaugural Fáilte Ireland Employer Excellence Awards are a celebration of the businesses who have set the industry standard for employee engagement and workplace culture in the tourism sector. These Employer Excellence awards will help drive a further improvement in the both the quality and the perception of careers in the tourism sector.”
Tourism businesses who are interested in joining Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence programme can find out more at https://www.failteireland.ie/employerexcellence.aspx”
“We know there are excellent employers and great workplaces in the industry but to attract and retain the best people to work in tourism, we need to highlight the best of careers and employment in the sector,” said Jenny De Saulles, Fáilte Ireland’s director of Sector Development.
“A key element of Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence programme is putting the views of tourism employees front and centre and tonight’s winning businesses have all been chosen based on employee feedback. Over 20,000 tourism employees have already been positively impacted by the initiative. So, it’s fantastic to gather together for these awards to showcase the best-in-class examples of employers along with those professionals who are thriving in the industry.”
Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence Programme
Fáilte Ireland developed the Excellent Employer Programme to provide tourism businesses with a competitive edge as they recruit and retain staff in a highly competitive employment market. The initiative will help to drive improvements in employment practices across the industry and provide businesses with tailored action plans. Participating businesses will obtain the Employer Excellence mark on completion of the programme.
The mark will become a recognised trusted symbol for tourism businesses denoting a quality workplace for employees. Managers of participating businesses will have the opportunity to undertake a new Best in Class People Management Programme, which has been developed by Fáilte Ireland as part of this initiative. Areas covered include Best Practice Recruitment and Induction, Probation and Performance Management and Building High Performing Teams.
The programme launched in September and the latest figures show:
- To date approx. 170 businesses have registered to participate in the Programme.
- 2100 People Managers and Team Leads from these participating businesses are completing our bespoke Fundamentals of People Management training, upskilling them on core People Management skills such as Performance Management, Team Development and Managing High Performing Teams.
- Over 20,000 employees in tourism have been positively impacted by the programme.
Main image at top: Jenny De Saulles, Fáilte Ireland’s Director of Sector Development; Paul Diver, Sandhouse Hotel – Co. Donegal ; and Paul Kelly, CEO Fáilte Ireland. Pic: Naoise Culhane
