Testimonals
Selwyn’s passion for disability employment and his connections and knowledge in this space are unmatched. He’s a wonderful asset to any businesses looking to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
Christine Langdon
Co-founder and Chief of Good: The Good Registry.
It’s been a complete privilege to work closely with Selwyn Cook over the last few years, working to advance the cause of employment equity for New Zealanders with disabilities. Selwyn is one of the few people in New Zealand who really understands both business and the disability sector. This, combined with his natural knack for facilitating, training and coaching make him an ideal conduit to help businesses successfully employ job seekers with disabilities and become disability inclusive employers.
Tanya Colvin
Head of Team Member Wellbeing: The Warehouse Group
When looking for employees we look for people with the "Z Factor" that spark and personality that is a huge part in making every customer's experience with us an awesome one. Selwyn met Jill at a Blind and Low Vision course in Auckland and thought Jill had the Z factor in spades. Selwyn connected us up. We were delighted to employ Jill and she has been an amazing and valuable member of our team ever since.
Jonathan Usher
Retailer: This Way Limited.
We are working in a brave new world and the opportunity for change is now if New Zealand is ready to embrace a dynamic and diverse workforce which includes valuing the skills, experience and knowledge of people with disabilities, and what they can bring to the workplace. Selwyn supported ACC in bringing this to life and we are a better organisation for it. Selwyn is passionate about his work and champions a positive change by supporting, partnering and valuing talent in our communities with disabilities into the workplace.
Claire McGrory
Talent Management Consultant at Talent Management Solutions
I have thoroughly enjoyed my engagement with Selwyn over the past two years, developing Ara’s partnership with Workbridge to support the employment of people with disabilities. Selwyn’s approach was empowering and supportive, as I begun to realize some of my assumptions that I have held when considering employing disabled people. His presentations are outstanding - sharing his experiences of employing people with disabilities. Selwyn most definitely opened my eyes to the benefits of employing these people, as well as the many employers we introduced him to!
Lyn Amos
Manager Ara Auckland Airport Jobs & Skills Hub.
Selwyn's deep passion for facilitating success for both employees and employer's is something to be admired. He has a huge heart and is a supportive advocate for kiwis with disabilities. His own business achievements are a testament to his wide acumen and his broad knowledge of this field means he is able to build strong relationships with various business leaders to execute positive outcomes. Selwyn and I worked together on a partnership between Workbridge NZ and Accor Hotels NZ and successfully found employment for people with disabilities in the hospitality sector. He is a great mentor, colleague and friend and I would not hesitate to refer future business to him as a loyal and trustworthy partner.
Jade Bolstad
General Manager - Grand Mercure Wellington
Meridian would highly recommend getting Selwyn from Disability Employment to come along and share his story. Our people left the session feeling very inspired, moved and motivated to be better change-makers. The resounding feedback included “eye-opening”, “telling personal stories is much more impactful than just telling the statistics” and “thanks for sharing such a different and unique perspective”. We absolutely plan on having Selwyn back to run the session for all our leaders and know you won’t be disappointed in his presentation. Thanks Selwyn.
Lee Millen – Head of Capability and Development
Meridian Energy Limited
Review - A parent of a job-seeker: Hamilton.
"Selwyn was recomended to me. Selwyn's approach is very fresh and engaging, his ability to connect with my son (who has autism) and keep him focused on his goals is pricless. His technique and strategies are unique. The result a very impressive interview with a job my son could see him self working his entire life. He is a joy to work with, friendly, kind and very dedicated. I would recomend Selwyn to anyone looking for their forever job".
Our experience with Selwyn Cook - Parents of a job-seeker: Waikato.
"We have a 22 year old daughter with an intellectual disability complicated by FAS, ADHD and behavioural issues. She has been looking for meaningful work since she left high school. We have tried various agencies but there have been no results. Selwyn was recomended to us by EGL. Selwyn carefully explained to us how he saw things and how it would work if we engaged him to help, he also outlined other avenues of support that we might like to think about such as some interview coaching.
He displays a genuine interest in the people he is dealing with and is highly organised in how he proceeds. His patience is an asset whilst providing guidance towards getting the infomation he is looking for. There is subtle attitude coaching going on when he is engaging with his clients.
So far our daughter has had one job interview (which she has never had before) and while we are waiting for the outcome of that, we are looking at other possible employment situations with Selwyn. His attitude of knocking on doors rather than waiting for possibilities to be advertised is innovative and is so far the most promising approach we have seen.
While our daughter does not have a job through Selwyn's efforts the interview was encouraging and if any approach is going to work we feel that Selwyn's system has by far the hightest probability of success that we have seen to date".
Glen's success story.
Glen is a fine 29 YO young man who was looking for his first job. During the job search stage one approach we used was a direct approach to employers via LinkedIn. The post went viral with at the time of this image being taken there were 100,131 views of Glens video, 3,741 likes, 231 comments and 250 shares. From that five serious opportunites were presented to us for Glen to explore. Glen is now emaplyed in a fantastic role at Gilmours, Hamilton.
Waikato Times & STUFF - 21 January 2021
"Our most grateful thanks for all your work in helping Glen reach his dream of finding a job. Glen has been hoping for this for many years. You took the time to get to know him and you really listened to what he wanted. You saw his strengths and proactively searched for a good match. He is really motivated to make this work. We are so very appreciative. Thank you".
Linda & Gary, Glen's parents.
A success story - A parent of a job-seeker: Hamilton.
Selwyn was recomended to us by EGL. From day1 he has been great to work with especially making Kerryn feel comfortable and employable. He is energetic in his door knocking and through his efforts on her behalf and with the profile he created on LinkedIn this resulted in a job. Kerryn is 'over the moon' having a job again after about four years. She is thoroughly enjoying the job and looking forward to each day. Thank you Selwyn for your efforts, it is greatly appreciated.
“I was able to interview a Job-seeker who had been through this programme. It is not often that we come across an applicant who has such good knowledge of Z Factor and who is so well prepared. She was a real pleasure to interview and we immediately set her up for a work trial.”
Mr Andrew McLean
Z Retailer.