For almost 10 years, Dominos in the Hunter has worked with Castle to build and support an inclusive workplace. So, when Disability Employment Services Case Manager Abby approached Nathan from Domino’s at Greenhills about hosting three Castle NDIS participants in a work experience program, he was excited to be involved.
Together with Dominos, Castle developed a clear program of support to provide a structured training course for participants Tyler, Debbie and Chloe. The program consisted of 3 month's of work experience with onsite training by Dominos, ongoing support by Castle’s employment and NDIS teams, and the potential for ongoing employment to be offered to participants after completion.
Prior to participating in the work experience program, Tyler and Debbie also engaged with Castle NDIS’s social and living skills programs, enjoying activities and events in the community with friends, as well as learning everyday living skills like shopping, cooking and budgeting.
Services, so Castle’s combined approach to achieving employment goals provides ultimate flexibility, choice and control. When a participant’s goals turn to employment, exposure to a real work environment provides a priceless opportunity to develop job readiness and employment skills.
At the start of the placement, all three participants were understandably nervous, very quiet and reserved. Their main tasks during the day shift included preparing ingredients for the pizzas, making and cooking the pizzas, cleaning and communicating with customers. Over time, Chloe and Debbie developed a knack for the food prep stations, learning invaluable food hygiene and processing skills, and becoming more comfortable working with the Dominos team members.
The team worked together to identify the strengths of each participant and shaped their tasks accordingly to allow them to blossom in the role. Dominos Supervising Manager Dan was impressed with how quickly the three learned the ropes and even began training each other as they went.
“With some more time and training, Chloe could definitely fill a customer service role here.”
By completion of the 3-month program, the social skills, engagement and workplace capacity of the participants had developed significantly. Support worker Georgia commented on the trio’s growing confidence, motivation and propensity for hard work, not only in the workplace, but in everyday life;
“Tyler would be running around like a blow fly getting everything done. Before you would walk past him in the hallway and he wouldn’t even speak, and now you can’t keep him quiet.”
With the program focusing on employability and skill outcomes as much as personal capacity building, NDIS Service Manager Treena Stock is in no doubt of the success and viability of this style of support moving forward.
“The best thing about work experience is that you can experience all different types of things, you might take one or two skills from each and then when you put them all together it will help you personally and mentally be in a place where you know what you want to achieve.”
Although circumstances didn’t align for the participants to be eligible for ongoing positions, the Castle and Dominos teams are both in agreement that the future looks bright for Tyler, Chloe and Debbie.