By Denis Sheehan FIH: Insights for hospitality employers of the need to be more accessible from Calum Milne.
I was recently invited to interview Calum Milne, director of Pale Hall at Llandderfel, near Bala in Wales. I first met Calum some years ago when he was director of Llangoed Hall. The invitation informed me of Calum’s latest appointment and the unfortunate news that following contracting Covid he was totally deaf. So, the interview below I hope captures part of Calum’s journey and speaks to many in our industry of the benefits of being more accessible employers. Most of the words are Calum’s not mine. Thank you Calum.
Calum Milne is director of Pale Hall at Llandderfel, near Bala in Wales. He was previously a director of Llangoed Hall, Llyswen, near Brecon and leading hotels in his native Scotland and England, which achieved national hospitality industry awards.
The hospitality industry has been his life for 35 years, but he has had to overcome huge personal challenges, following deafness caused by Covid in 2020, to return to a profession he loves and in which he excels.
Calum takes up the story.
In early 2020 I was struck down by Covid and was in hospital in Scotland for some time. I don’t remember anything from this period, it’s as if the memory has been erased. I still had a little hearing in one ear but within three to four weeks I was totally deaf.
My brother, Kenny, picked me up from the hospital and I stayed at his house for a week or so, but I wanted to get home as quickly as possible because of my dog.
My audiologist & Consultant put me in touch with the Cochlea Implant Centre in Kilmarnock, but I chose not to put myself forward because I wasn’t prepared to risk being damaged by the surgery.
Has experiencing your hearing loss made you more aware of people facing the same disability and others facing other disabilities?
It has made me more aware of my own disability and how I view others, however I never assume that people have disabilities. Some people are too proud to say they have a disability, but it will never put me off from employing them. There is always a role that someone can play in society.
How did you approach your way back into work?
It was a long, hard road. Thanks to the devotion of my parents who spent three-and-a-half years and a private tutor, I learnt to lip-read. My father would read passages from the newspaper, and I had to lip-read and speak them back to him.
I must also thank my brother, sister-in-law and nephews for putting up with my grumpiness and frustration at not being able to understand what they were saying. I now much prefer to be sat at round tables rather than square ones because it’s easier to see what people are saying when they speak.
After learning to lip-read, it was a case of putting myself out there. I got a part-time job at Crieff Hydro as a breakfast supervisor four mornings a week to rebuild my confidence. The realisation was that I might never be able to work in the hospitality industry again.
I was determined to return to my industry and fulfil my life. It might be a new and quiet world but actually I am still alive, and I have a point to prove. I recognise that other people are a lot less fortunate than I am.
Many deaf people have contacted me on LinkedIn to see if I needed support, however I discovered that they often needed more support from me. Some people just need a helping hand.
Were prospective employers supportive?
Lots of employers are not in the least supportive. My experience of an industry that prides itself as being supportive and inclusive is that it actually excludes people with disabilities. As soon as I told employers I was deaf, I would instantly see their facial expression and would never see or hear from them again. It was totally deflating.
I applied for several jobs in the industry and didn’t get a response, let alone an interview. Out of 40 or 50 jobs I applied for, I had only four interviews.
How supportive is your current employer?
When I secured my current job as director of Palé Hall and Estate, I had a Zoom call from Dubai with Tony Cooper-Barney linked to an app on my phone which worked well for me – everything is possible nowadays thanks to technology! I am fortunate that I have access to technology, which is unavailable to deaf people in other parts of the world.
Tony asked me to travel down from Scotland to Palé Hall and he said his team would be in touch. They were in touch the same day and my late dad said: ‘Go and get it”. I was at the hall within 48 hours and met Tony and his wife, Donna. It was a great interview, and I was offered the job.
It was ironic because I almost purchased Palé Hall for my employer when I was a director at Llangoed Hall. It was as if all the stars were aligning – especially with the Hall having been built by a fellow Scotsman, Henry Robertson, in the 19th century.
I was delighted to get back into the industry that I had worked in for 35 years, 15 of which had been in Wales. Tony and Donna are hugely supportive and have said that they are there if I ever need them, but I am independent enough to know that I don’t need them. I don’t want my disability to define me and to have to rely on other people. They are genuinely nice and fair people and, as employers go, that’s all you can hope for.
Did they have systems and processes in place to help disabled people into the workplace, or like you did they have to adjust accordingly to where they found themselves?
Tony and Donna only purchased Palé Hall in April this year, so it has been a learning process for all of us, but I think I have tried to make things as easy as possible for everyone.
By agreeing to do this interview, I want to encourage other people with disabilities and show them that they can have a normal career.
What has been the most significant piece of learning for you in the process of returning to work?
The hotel is in an area where people predominantly speak the Welsh language. The main challenge I face is understanding the language as I am unable to lip-read Welsh. My tutor always told me that understanding people’s private conversations is always going to be important in my profession.
I recognise that I have a disability, and I occasionally take an afternoon siesta for a couple of hours to recharge the batteries because lipreading requires focused concentration which is very tiring. Tinnitus is crippling sometimes, but I find that is eases when I’m working because I’m concentrating on other things.
Has your personal experience changed your outlook on hospitality being an accessible industry to work in? If so, how? If changes are needed, what would you see as the big changes required?
It has changed a lot. I look at our industry and think we can do so much more for people with disabilities. Deaf and blind people and people in wheelchairs can carry out meaningful roles.
Disability can be hidden. Are we going to cut off everybody just because we see disability? There is such a shortage of hospitality workers in this country. Of the 1.6 million deaf people in the UK, 40% are of working age, so why don’t we employ them? We must make allowances and not let them be excluded.
Guests and staff with disabilities, whether visible or hidden, are welcome here at Palé Hall. There is a place for everyone. It’s just a matter of understanding what they can do rather than what they can’t do. We definitely need more understanding.
With maturity, I have realised that I must be fairer and more tolerant of others. I am now much more understanding, compassionate, tolerant and fair-minded. Do the right thing for others irrespective of whether they have a disability or not.
Has your personal experience changed your outlook on the need for hospitality to be more accessible to employees and guests?
The lack of understanding in the hospitality industry is embarrassing. It has been a real revelation to me. My ex-employer at Llangoed Hall, Sir Bernard Ashley was a very forgiving man. We had ex-convicts working in the garden to welcome them back into society. Doing the right thing is always important in everything that we do. That goes to the heart of who we are.
Where would you be today had you not been given this opportunity at Palé Hall?
I would probably be back home in Scotland living with my mum and not living my life to the full. I am trying to prove a point that anybody can achieve what I have done with the knowhow, the opportunity and sheer grit and determination to succeed.
Thank you, Calum
Denis Sheehan FIH, Publisher H&C News
