Claire Francis

I head up the Tourist Navigator Pilot, maximising the opportunities to help small and medium sized (SME) tourism businesses address barriers they have previously identified in recruiting, retaining and progressing employees and jobseekers with disability including:

• Developed comprehensive project plans with clear timelines and budget requirements, ensuring timely delivery of high-quality results in providing expert advice in supporting and enabling SME tourism businesses to employ people with a disability and/or upskill existing employees with a disability

Activities delivered through the Project are focussed on:

• Building tourism SME’s capability, disability confidence and workplace accessibility through locally tailored industry approaches and resources.
• Reforming workplace culture and employment practices of local tourism SME’s.
• Connecting tourism businesses to existing local disability resources, supports and specialist information.
• Ensuring sustainable local tourism job creation for people with a disability looking to participate in the labour market through better workplace preparedness and targeted on the job training and support.

Delivered through -

• Providing expert advice in supporting and enabling SME tourism businesses to employ people with a disability and/or upskill existing employees with a disability
• Leveraging existing networks and connections with tourism employers at the local level to promote the benefits of employing people with disability
• Providing support for employers to utilise JobAccess resources including the National Disability Recruitment Coordinator (NDRC)
• Development of a new resource toolkits.

• Maintain strong communications with customers, and families.
• Supporting and motivating customers to find suitable and meaningful employment opportunities.
• Maintaining strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Report writing and Case note management.
• Offering friendly and efficient services to customers, handling challenging situations with ease.
• Participated in continuous improvement by generating suggestions, engaging in problem-solving activities to support teamwork.
• Completing paperwork, recognising discrepancies and promptly addressing for resolution.
• Devoted special emphasis to punctuality and work to maintain outstanding attendance record.
• Developed and maintaining courteous and effective workplace/employment relationships.
• Set up and support customers interviews.
• Support and encourage information interviews.
• Drive operational improvements which result in savings and improved profit margins.
• Learned new skills and applying these to daily tasks to improve efficiency and productivity.
• Working with customers to understand employment goals and needs.
• Conduct research, gathered information from multiple sources and present results.

• Provided guidance and recommended coping mechanisms for young disabled youth with securing employment and all stages towards employment.
• Supervised young disabled adults in engaging environment to promote security and safety for all ages.
• Assisted youths with homework assignments, sports and fitness, art and literacy.
• Used cognitive behaviour therapy to assist clients in recognizing and redirecting poor habits.
• Interacted with young disabled youths and adults and offered resources and programs to surmount challenges.
• Monitored youth disability behaviour and offered guidance and support for positive change.
• Performed in advocacy capacity for disabled youth to provide access to resources.
• Engaged and interacted with disabled youth members, teaching sustainable habits and coping mechanisms.
• Led group therapy sessions consisting of 5 to 10 disabled youth focusing on finding and keeping a job.
• Communicated closely with other counsellors to devise programs and activities based on developmental and academic levels.
• Taught skills in communication, work place behaviour and I.T via both classroom and individual instruction.
• Implemented variety of fun and recreational activities for young disabled adults.
• Wrote reports for family and caregivers, documenting progress, challenges and achievements.
• Planned, developed and implemented strategies to convey information with key decision makers.
• Worked on a discovery and vocational action plans.

• Maximised efficiency through time management and staff supervision to boost productivity.
• KPI's
• Utilised promotions, print and digital marketing to attract new clients.
• Oversaw upkeep of entire facility and notified maintenance for service repairs.
• Managed activities related to staff training, treatment procedures, inventory management and marketing.
• Recorded product sales into spa's weekly income report.
• Maintained front desk workstation by keeping it clean and organized.
• Greeted spa guests warmly to create positive first impression of establishment.
• Led spa tours for new members to keep guests up to date with services provided.
• Managed spa inventory by keeping detailed track of supply use and forecasting need to direct ordering processes.
• Maintained high functional, operational and organization levels during high-traffic hours and seasonal promotions.
• Worked with new employees to enforce account management protocols and customer service standards and optimize performance.
• Held individual meetings with employees to address performance issues, improve performance and boost profitability by guaranteeing excellent spa and customer service programs.
• Responded to customer inquiries or complaints.
• Handled high priority clients while managing day-to-day activities of spa and employees to maximise profits.

• Developed tour programming to enhance guest experiences.
• Built personal relationships with guests to promote positive experiences.
• Researched information on various destinations to provide accurate, detailed tours.
• Collected and deposited payments from guests.
• Collected tickets and fees from each individual prior to start of tour.
• Worked closely with management staff to create new and lucrative tours.
• Researched and studied on topics that pertained to tour locations so that such information could be added to scripts.
• Carried out day-day-day duties accurately and efficiently.
• Actively listened to customers, handled concerns quickly and escalated major issues to supervisor.
• Developed team communications and information for meetings.
• Participated in team-building activities to enhance working relationships.
• Interviewing & recruiting of all employees
• Co-ordination of in-house and external training
• Implementation of company disciplinary procedures
• Control of staff holidays and sickness records
• Undertaking management projects within local branch to increase profitability
• Sales activity within local market place including leaflet drops, cold calling and promotional stands etc.
• Responsible for maintaining a consistently high mystery shopper score across the whole team on a quarterly basis.
• Used critical thinking to break down problems, evaluate solutions and make decisions.