Hiring adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) creates meaningful opportunities while building more reliable, consistent, and engaged teams in the hospitality industry.
A simple four-step process designed to create meaningful employment opportunities and lasting community impact.
Hotels contact INNclusivity to begin the partnership process and learn more about creating inclusive employment opportunities.
Hotels host a 4-hour hands-on immersion program including behind-the-scenes tours, job shadowing, and practical activities.
After the immersion, hotels are encouraged to offer employment with ongoing support and resources for successful transitions.
Recognize your hotel's role in creating meaningful community impact and fostering workplace inclusion.
Each hire comes with a dedicated job coach who works closely with your team, HR, and supervisors to ensure a smooth transition and ongoing success.
IDD adults are conscientious, punctual, and deeply committed to their roles. For many, their work is a source of immense pride and purpose.
Teams consistently embrace IDD adults with enthusiasm, creating a more positive, collaborative work environment for everyone.
When hotels intentionally build more inclusive teams, they're not just doing the right thing—they're creating a stronger, more welcoming workplace culture.
People with IDD bring reliability, consistency, and a genuine sense of pride in their work that often becomes contagious across a team.
Inclusive teams show significantly lower turnover, reducing hiring costs and building institutional knowledge.
Both employees and customers report higher satisfaction in more diverse and inclusive environments.
Dedicated team members consistently deliver exceptional customer service that drives loyalty.
22.7%
Employment Rate for Adults with Disabilities
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024
At the same time, there is a shortage of labor and a greater reliance on contract labor in the hospitality industry.
Hiring capable adults with IDD provides opportunities for individuals focused on doing exceptional work while filling vital job openings. This creates a win-win scenario: meaningful employment for motivated workers and reliable, dedicated team members for hospitality businesses.
Beyond addressing labor shortages, inclusive hiring brings measurable benefits: reduced turnover costs, enhanced workplace culture, and improved customer satisfaction. Many hotels report that IDD employees become some of their most dependable and valued team members.
Typically, positions fall into two categories based on individual strengths and personalities
Heart of House
For those whose strength is focused, independent work
Best-fit roles:
Guest-Facing
For those with outgoing personalities
Best-fit roles:
Quick answers to common questions
Typically 10 adults with IDD and 2 or 3 employees from the vocational school itself.
Typically, 9:00-1:00 pm and can vary slightly.
To get a behind the scenes understanding of how a hotel operates by going through the various departments while getting some hands on exposure to hotel operations. We are also determining if participants are well suited for hotel opportunities.
Activities such as making pizzas with the chef, setting up a banquet room or banquet tables, practicing pushing bell carts, creating deserts with the pastry chef are all great and if there are unique things about your hotel, you may wish to showcase those.
We will let you know if there are unique needs based on the individuals that will attend, however, having snacks and waters available throughout is helpful.
It’s great when they can meet the hotel executives and department heads but to limit presentations to a minimum is ideal.
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