Emerson Douglas

Name: Emerson Douglas
Position Title: Food & Beverage Table Assistant
Company: CaPTA Group

From the moment Emerson Douglas entered Rainforestation Nature Park, the team at The CaPTA Group knew they had made the right decision.

With only a couple of weeks work experience behind him, an autism diagnosis and learning difficulties, Emerson had struggled to find employment, but had expressed a desire to work in hospitality. Carer, Wendie Van Den Brink, had reached out to CaPTA HR to see if her client could get some work experience with the company.

After attending a number of Cairns Chamber of Commerce sessions on the importance of diversifying workforces and building inclusive workplaces to fill skills shortages, CaPTA HR were inspired and agreed to see how Emerson went on a work experience day.

“His kind nature and evident work ethic made him an instant success”, explained People & Culture Officer, Joel Wale.

“Emerson got stuck into the work and was genuinely enjoying it. On his trial day, he boosted the morale of the staff because of his great work ethic, exceptional manners and the effort he made to complete his tasks”, said Joel.

CaPATA provided a chance at employment, a supportive team environment and opportunities for Emerson to succeed. Since being employed, Emerson has completed his RSA, funded by My Pathway and completed his Food Safety Certificate.

“Rather than setting him up to fail by putting him in positions that he would struggle with, we created a specific job description to play to Emerson’s strengths. Not everyone learns in the same way. Understanding this and re-evaluating the way we onboard and train all employees has enabled us to change our practices, attract the best people and retain them long term” explained People & Culture Manager, Cristy Pointing.

“Initially, Emerson required a support person to be present while on shift and there were some concerns with this”, Joel mentioned.

“We were worried it could take time from other staff members’ work time and there was a question on how he would deal with the tasks and understand what was required”, he said. These concerns were quickly put to rest with Wendie explaining the best styles of communication and suggesting that set tasks that could be ticked off, along with regular check-ins with his supervisor, was the best approach.

It wasn’t long until CaPTA provided Emerson with a Permanent Part Time Contract of 12 hours per week. Emerson is currently working Mondays and Thursdays at Rainforestation in the F&B department as a F&B Table Assistant.

“Emerson is now a key member of the team and has the full backing of The CaPTA Group. He is an absolute ray of sunshine and proof that you can achieve anything with a good attitude and a desire to succeed”, said Joel. Emerson is now at the point where his support person can now drop him off and then leave, to return at the end of his shift with no difficulties whatsoever.

“With his positive nature and genuine want-to-be-at-work attitude, staff are simply mesmerised by his commitment and joy, which positively impacts all the staff who work with him”, said Joel.

“We’ve seen that employers are starting to open their hearts and minds a bit more to explore alternative ways of doing business and employing staff they may have previously overlooked”, said the Chair of the Cairns RJC, Jodie Duignan-George.

“Many employers are citing great success stories through engaging workers with disability, neurodiversity and those where English is a second language. These workers can be extraordinarily productive if they’re given the right opportunity and help build a great company culture within your organisation”.

Ms Duignan-George said she was pleased with the success of the RJC’s in Cairns, with a number of businesses embracing initiatives of the RJC as they strive towards addressing regional jobs growth, retaining long-term employees and attracting new employees to the workforce, therefore achieving mutually beneficial outcomes for everyone involved.

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