Cork restaurants taste success at Fáilte excellence awards 

Two Cork restaurants were honoured at the annual Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence Awards last week.

The event, which took place at the Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel & Spa in Limerick, is aimed at recognising businesses which have demonstrated a commitment to making the tourism industry an appealing and rewarding place to work through participation in Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence programme.

The awards ceremony, now in its third year, saw a total of 14 Irish businesses honoured, including Cork’s Goldie restaurant, which won the Best Employer Ireland’s Ancient East Award, and Orso Kitchen & Bar, which won the Best Employer Food and Drink Award.

People business

“Tourism is fundamentally a people business, and nowhere is this more evident than in Ireland, where our greatest asset is the céad míle fáilte provided by tourism staff and businesses to our visitors,” said Fáilte Ireland CEO, Paul Kelly.

“An engaged workforce is key to delivering successful businesses and this warm welcome to our visitors.

“The Fáilte Ireland Employer Excellence Awards celebrate the businesses that have set the industry standard for employee engagement and workplace culture.

“These awards will help drive further improvements in both the quality and perception of careers in the tourism sector.”

As part of the programme, a survey was conducted with staff of participating businesses, which gave them the chance to highlight the strengths of their workplace, along with areas for further development.

Fáilte Ireland is now supporting these businesses to implement actions identified in their survey to further enhance employee engagement.

The winning businesses completed management upskilling, engaged with HR experts, and were then chosen based on employee feedback.

For more information on Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence programme, visit https://www.failteireland.ie/employerexcellence.aspx.