- Seventy hotels attended the Irish Hotels Federation’s inaugural Quality Employer Awards in Athlone.
- Exceptional People Management Award jointly awarded to Cork International Hotel and The Metropole Hotel.
- Best-in-Class Awards distributed across Certified, Advanced, and Expert levels to twelve hotels.
- The event recognised excellence in people development and HR practices.
- Judges praised employee supports, including health, wellbeing, and career opportunities.
Seventy hotels gathered at the Irish Hotels Federation’s inaugural Quality Employer Awards at Radisson Blu Hotel in Athlone. The event recognised teams for excellence in people development and HR practices through the Quality Employer Programme. The Exceptional People Management Award went jointly to Cork International Hotel and The Metropole Hotel for their care in employee wellbeing and development.
Best-in-Class Awards at Certified Level were given to Clanard Court Hotel in Kildare, Ballygarry Estate Hotel & Spa in Kerry, Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa in Cork, and Conrad Dublin. At Advanced Level, recipients included Kilkea Castle Hotel & Golf Resort in Kildare, Dromoland Castle in Clare, Inn at Dromoland in Clare, and Clayton Hotel Cardiff Lane in Dublin. Expert Level awards went to Ballykealey House in Carlow, Muckross Park Hotel & Spa in Kerry, Midlands Park Hotel in Laois, and Slieve Russell Hotel in Cavan.
The programme provides tools for enhancing HR practices and certification for quality employment. Judges noted commitments to onboarding, engagement, performance, learning, career development, community, flexibility, diversity, inclusion, and positive culture, with supports for health and wellbeing.
Michael Magner shared “Warmest congratulations to Cork International Hotel and The Metropole Hotel, both hotels exemplify all the hallmarks of a Quality Employer. We are extremely proud to recognise their leadership and commitment to promoting an environment that provides people with opportunities to thrive and flourish through exceptional employment practices.” Michael Magner shared “Our judges were unable to choose between these two outstanding hotels, General Managers Eoghan Murphy and Louise McNamara are an inspiration, having cultivated wonderful workplaces for their teams.”
Donagh Davern shared “The judging panel were delighted to see evidence of a people-centric approach and the progress made in elevating the employer brand of the hotel profession. All of the finalists showed an outstanding commitment to employee onboarding, engagement, performance management, learning, career development, community involvement, flexibility, diversity, inclusion and the cultivation of a positive people culture in their organisations. The increase in supports for both the physical and mental health and wellbeing of employees was particularly noteworthy, as was the array of benefits now on offer to Irish hotel employees.”
Michael Magner shared “It is an honour to be among so many inspiring HR leaders to celebrate the very best of people development across our hotels and guesthouse sector. Each and every property that participates in our Quality Employer Programme is striving for the same goal, to make their hotel a wonderful place to work and build a career. The importance of this cannot be overstated; our people are the beating heart of our industry And what an amazing profession we have, with over 67,000 livelihoods directly supported by hotels and guesthouses and over 270,000 supported by our wider tourism industry. As we can all attest, empowered and supported people make such a vital contribution to our sector, they are the defining characteristic of any successful hotel.”
