Blog by Kathleen Linehan, Strategic director of HR at Trigon Hotels
This year at Trigon Hotels I was delighted to work with our HR team to create events across our three hotels; Cork International Hotel, Cork Airport Hotel and The Metropole Hotel Cork for our team. Ahead of Mother’s Day which takes place on Sunday 31st March, we took a little time on a Friday morning to celebrate motherhood, and the women of influence in each other’s lives. Whether they were a mother or not, all our team were invited to attend a coffee morning in each hotel to share stories about their parenting experiences, celebrate maternal bonds and learn a little from the wisdom of others.
Staff Appreciation
We were delighted to take this opportunity to recognise the hard work of the women at Trigon Hotels. Each of our team members are vital to the overall success of Trigon Hotels and to improving our customers’ satisfaction. We value their input, dedication and continued commitment to the passionate pursuit of perfection. Celebrating Mother’s Day with donuts and coffee was a small way to share our gratitude with our team. It was also a fantastic way for the team to recognise each other, giving everyone a chance to share some of the positive things they have been working on. There was a great sense of togetherness as we joked about having a close-knit ‘work family’.
Building Community
As a very busy hotel group, it is not very often that we get the chance to relax and chat about our personal lives. It is fantastic to take time out to allow our teams to meet with members of other departments. Getting to know people outside of your department is fundamental to a successful career. It allows us to collaborate, share ideas and discuss issues in an informal environment. It provides us with an opportunity to get to know one another ensuring Trigon Hotels a friendly place to work. It also nurtures communication and interpersonal skills and confidence at work.
Being HR Aware
The HR team plays a fundamental role in any company, however, in all too many cases, many of the staff never see or hear from HR after their day of hire. At Trigon Hotels, we have a strong and dedicated HR team and this initiative was one of many events that we have hosted to further foster relationships with employees across all three of our hotels. We want to get to know our team as we are interested in each member’s career development at Trigon Hotels. We have an open-door policy and we believe that developing personal relationships with our team will increase the number of people who approach us to assist with their career progression and career goals as well as improving overall job satisfaction.
Flexible Work Environment
At our coffee morning we saw many working mums attend on the day to share stories about their families. There was such diversity in the sizes of their families and the number of generations. We chatted a little about the flexible work environment at Trigon hotels and it was great to see the impact this is having on our workforce. Having a commitment to offering flexible roles has meant that we can create a better work-life balance, improving satisfaction and happiness for our team. It has also meant that more women are moving up in their career with our company as they are provided with the resources and tools they need from the outset. This has given them the confidence to assume more senior positions, knowing that they will be fully supported by management on a personal and professional level.
Workvivo
The hotel business is a 24/7 industry and we know that not all of our team could make it in for our coffee morning. We didn’t want anyone in any of our hotels to miss out on the fun, so we made sure to take our Mother’s Day fun online too! HR team member Cattleya ran a competition on our employee engagement tool, Workvivo, with a prize for the best selfie and caption of mums with their kids. It is a great initiative to get everyone involved, no matter their work schedule and to help us get to know one another across the three hotels.
Mother’s Day Cards
Mother’s Day also saw our General Managers Carmel Lonergan (Cork international Hotel), Diarmuid Vaughan (Cork Airport Hotel) and Roger Russell (The Metropole Hotel Cork) celebrate and honour our women in the workplace by giving cards to each of the mums in the hotels. It was a simple gesture to recognise their achievements on both a personal and professional level.
Easter at Trigon Hotels
We’re already looking forward to Easter at Trigon where we’ll be having a colouring competition for the children of mums, dads, aunties, uncles, grandparents, babysitters and more at Trigon Hotels! Entries will be showcased in each of the hotels and there will be prizes for the best submissions.
For more information on working with Trigon Hotels, or to find out what roles are currently available, please contact careers@trigonhotels.com