In the fourth of a series marking National Inclusion Week, Julien Morel and Antonia Rubio meet Islanders who have first-hand experience of the benefits of inclusive workplaces.
HIS friends jokingly call him ‘Postman Sam’ but 27-year-old Sam Cross is quite happy to accept the moniker.
Sam is now a full-time postal operative at Jersey Post, the first of six graduates from the latest cohort of a training programme run by Beresford Street Kitchen to get a permanent job.
Sam, who started at Postal Headquarters this summer, said he was loving the job.
“I’ve been made to feel really welcome” he said. “When I started, I was nervous and quite quiet, but I’m not nervous at all now and have a lot more confidence.”
Sam – a huge Arsenal fan – added that one of the icebreakers had definitely been the universal language of football, particularly the banter on the sorting floor after a match.
There, his responsibilities include sorting parcels that slide down from the large revolving belt into wheeled cages, which the posties then take on their rounds.
“The job has given me independence, but I know that there is plenty of support from the team as well as BSK if I need it,” he said
Sam said that his training at Beresford Street Kitchen had made a big difference, which had included practice interviews and customer service training.
Starting at BSK eight years ago, he worked in the catering side of the social enterprise: in the Beresford Street café and also at La Hougue Bie when BSK ran that.
His journey with Jersey Post started with a tour of Postal Headquarters alongside other BSK crew members, with some of them – including Sam – then offered work experience.
Sam was then offered a short-term contract which has now become a full-time job.
Jersey Post’s Toby Clyde-Smith said that Sam had been nothing but an asset since joining the service.
“He is incredibly popular and is living proof that an inclusive workforce is a better workforce,” he said. “We’re delighted to have him on the team.”
This week, another BSK graduate from Sam’s cohort, Ryan, started full-time work at the Hotel de France after successfully completing a work trial there.
BSK is reaching out to all employers to provide potential job opportunities for their four remaining graduates.
The enterprise’s community engagement lead, Louisa Lemprière, said: “Most people know us as a café, but we’re actually an education centre: we train and teach individuals with learning disabilities and/or autism.
“We run a variety of courses, including life skills and work skills courses. Our crew members – and we have 65 of them – go through these courses then put the skills they’ve learned into practice in our social enterprises: our café, print works and catering workshop.
“During that time, they can go off on work experience, so we’re always encouraging firms to offer us work placements. They are on a paid, fixed-term contract with us – which includes us paying them while on work placement – and after that they leave us and go off into the world of work. Our ultimate aim is to get them permanent employment.”
Louisa added: “We continue to support our graduates as well as their employers: we might help the workplace make reasonable adjustments or just give them a hand to settle that person in. We’re definitely there for them.
“We are always looking for more work placements for our crew in varied industries, whether that is retail, office-based, in childcare or elsewhere. We find it as rewarding for the employer as it is for the employee.”
FREE BREAKFAST INCLUSION EVENT
Accessible hotel Maison des Landes is hosting a free breakfast event to mark National Inclusion Week and to promote inclusion in the workplace this Friday at 8.30 am, with guest speakers representing Jersey Employment Trust, Beresford Street Kitchen and PwC CI. The breakfast is aimed at everyone with an interest in making their workplace more inclusive, especially business leaders and HR professionals. Email susan.parker@maisondeslandes.co.uk or ring 481683 for more information.
