Selwyn Cooke spoke of his business life over the past 30 years and what he has gained from it as a person.
He was very involved in the Shell Service Station trade at one stage owning 18 Shell Service Stations in the Hamilton, Cambridge, and Morrinsville Areas, 200 staff, and annual transactions of 5 million.
One of his major issues was the 50% staff turnover annually.
Selwyn shared with us the story of Chris who came looking for a job.Chris had health and disability issues but was persistent that he wanted to work for Selwyn. In the end, Selwyn agreed and Chris worked for Selwyn for 8 years and was a true inspiration.
In the last 3 years of his business in excess of 70 disabled staff members joined his workforce through the Employment Services of Workbridge, Blind & Low Vision NZ, Deaf Aotearoa, Enrich Plus, and Idea Services.
As a result of employing people with health and disability issues, Selwyn found increased profitability of his businesses through reduced staff turnover, less absenteeism, fewer sick days, low-performance issues, and an overall high-level commitment to their jobs.
Now Selwyn is a Facilitator helping Employers and Disabled Job seekers. His goal is to build their disability confidence and then see and enjoy the benefits that disabled employees can bring to the workplace.
Selwyn’s presentation was very enlightening and thought-provoking.