On May 19th, Tourism HR Canada’s Destination Inclusion team organized a targeted virtual recruitment event with The Westin Ottawa and Delta Hotels by Marriott Ottawa City Centre. A group of enthusiastic Destination Inclusion program participants took the opportunity to meet with industry leaders from these two prestigious hotels, including: Andrew Falkenberg, Market Director of Human Resources, The Westin Ottawa & Delta Hotels by Marriott Ottawa City Centre; Annu Sandhu, Director of Operations, Delta Hotels by Marriott Ottawa City Centre; and Patricia Watt, Director of Rooms, The Westin Ottawa.
On behalf of both hotels, Andrew shared the various job vacancies and the hiring challenges they faced during their business recovery, and then introduced the hiring processes, business operation structure, and workplace cultures of these two hotels. Annu and Patricia also shared their responsibilities and personal career growth in the hospitality sector, which inspired great interest from the participants.
Participants were then split into three breakout rooms to engage with the three leaders respectively by asking career and job search related questions. The engaging discussions further connected employers and job seekers, allowing them to share their needs and challenges and create fruitful and authentic relationships.
This successful collaboration between the Destination Inclusion program and The Westin Ottawa and Delta Hotels by Marriott™ Ottawa City Centre provides a creative solution for tourism businesses to tackle their labour force challenges. which is a win-win-win solution.
This is a win for program participants. Programs like Destination Inclusion not only provide participants with industry-related skills training and pre-employment mentorship support, but also provide customized career counselling before connecting qualified participants with meaningful job opportunities.
This is a win for tourism employers. Tapping into hidden talent pools by collaborating with community organizations and programs like Destination Inclusion not only provides access to a diverse workforce with industry-needed skills, but also fulfills their social responsibilities by supporting equity deserving groups.
And this is a win for the program itself. As a pan-Canadian organization with a mandate aimed at building a world-leading tourism workforce, Tourism HR Canada always strives to promote jobs opportunities and tourism careers and to support employers by providing tools and guidance to build an inclusive workforce. This initiative tested an effective method to fulfill Tourism HR Canada’s mandate and improve the employment outcomes of the program.
Learn more about Destination Inclusion and sign up for an upcoming virtual information session