Craig Cochrane, senior VP human resources, Movenpick Hotels & Resorts with Right4Children graduates currently working at Mövenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate, Dubai.
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has renewed its long-term partnership with Right4Children, continuing a programme which provides disadvantaged young people access to hospitality training and job prospects in the Middle East.
The Swiss hospitality firm and the Nepal-based NGO have agreed to run the Mövenpick Hospitality Programme for at least another year, offering underprivileged youngsters and their families the chance to boost their living standards through skills creation and career opportunities.
“Right4Children aims to provide disadvantaged young people with what they need most — access to education and training. The Mövenpick Hospitality Programme has achieved this goal, demonstrating the positive impact the hotel industry can make on underprivileged communities through vocational training initiatives. We look forward to nurturing more talented students and bringing them into the Mövenpick family as future employees,” said Movenpick Hotels & Resorts senior VP human resources Craig Cochrane.
Mövenpick and Right4Children launched the initiative in 2009 and since then, 132 youngsters have completed the six-month training programme, on one of three tailor-made courses: housekeeping, culinary services (for chefs) and food and beverage services (for service attendants).
Of those graduates, 85% have secured job placements at a Mövenpick property in the Middle East, with participating hotels to date located in Dubai (Ibn Battuta Gate, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Al Mamzar and Bur Dubai) and Jordan (Dead Sea, Aqaba and Tala Bay), while others have gained employment with other companies in the local hospitality industry.
The wider impact of this programme is just as significant, with more than 650 family members of participants benefiting from the outcome of their training in terms of gainful employment with regular income.
Programme graduates include Radhika Ghatri, housekeeping attendant at Mövenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach, Dubai, who was named ‘Employee of the Year’ in 2014.
“Joining the team at Mövenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach has been a life-changing experience,” said Ghatri. “It’s not only taught me responsibility, but given me the chance to meet with people from many cultures, which has improved my communication skills, and I am immensely proud of these achievements. I will always be grateful for this once-in-lifetime opportunity, which has given me and my family hope for a happy future.”
Another programme graduate, Niraj Bimali, joined Mövenpick Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel Dubai as a food & beverage trainee in May 2014 and in just three years, has worked his way up the career ladder, recently being promoted to the position of banquets captain.
“I came from an economically underprivileged background and my family could not afford higher education for me, but Right4Children supported me with vocational training, which led to a job with Mövenpick,” explained Binali. “I have learned new skills and gained confidence, enabling me to build a career and help me and my family to live a better life.”
Mövenpick’s partnership with Right4Children is part of ‘Shine’, the hospitality company’s global corporate social responsibility programme. Shine’s initiatives are grouped around three pillars: namely, environment, employer and social sustainability, with education as a common focus.
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