This Restaurant in Mumbai is Served Exclusively By Speech And Hearing-Impaired Staff

In 2014, two first-generation entrepreneurs Shishir Gorle and Raja Sekhar Reddy set out on a venture to promote inclusivity and provide an opportunity to the differently-abled individuals to earn a sustainable and respectable livelihood. They founded Squaremeal Foods, a first-of-it’s-kind restaurant in India, served exclusively by the speech and hearing-impaired service staff.

 

Good food served quietly

 

The staff with speech and hearing impairment works as servers, bartenders, and cashiers. An eight-week classroom training program in association with Dr Reddy’s Foundation and supported by NASEOH and Rochiram T Thadani High School for the Hearing Handicapped targets their self-development and skill development. This is followed by on-the-job training of four weeks. Several of staff from the last three years have been promoted to supervisory levels and are likely to be promoted to managerial levels as well. The entire core team including chefs and managers has been taught basic sign language by a certified tutor.

In a candid conversation with Cosmo, Raja Sekhar Reddy, Founder, Squaremeal Foods, spoke about the inspiration behind this concept, the special provisions for women and more….

 

1) What was the inspiration behind the concept of training and hiring people who are hearing/speech impaired?

While in Canada, there was a restaurant we came across that hired Speech and Hearing Impaired individuals (SHI) in a QSR format. It made us realise that even in India, we have the potential to create a plethora of employment opportunities for them. Someone just needs to take that initiative.

 

We thus opened our restaurants – Mirchi and Mime, Madeira and Mime under the umbrella company — SquareMeal Foods to provide a sustainable livelihood to these individuals. It was our vision to create employment for the SHI segment, so we started with 25 personnel and have gradually come up to 75. We have a robust business model in place, which is operated by them.

 

2) Please tell us about the techniques of training the SHI.

Our goal is to provide employment to the Speech and Hearing Impaired individuals, but it is also imperative to ensure that they are trained as per the job. SHIs have much higher cognition through visual observation and inspection. Therefore, we minimise classroom learning and implement the technique of ‘shadow training’ wherein a new SHI hire is accompanied by a speech and hearing-abled staff member who demonstrates the work that needs to be done. This makes it easier for SHI staff to adapt and learn their exact role and responsibilities with ease, thus ensuring higher productivity. This is only half the training. To create a balanced environment and smooth communication, the balance training is imparted to our speech and hearing abled staff, wherein basic adaptive ‘Indian Sign Language’ and key aspects like awareness and sensitisation are imparted.

 

Our foundation — Eklavya follows a similar pattern for training, wherein we provide vocational training to these individuals and inspire and urge corporates to hire them. We also try our best to ensure that these individuals do not face any discrimination at work, by following a strict reverse hiring policy.

 

3) Are there any special provisions for women?

Yes, we do have special provisions for women. We allow them to choose their shift timings, and provide assistance for accommodation along with a drop facility. We do not discriminate between our male and female employees at the work profile, thus providing them with equal opportunities in terms of growth, and are always to them for taking up leadership roles. In addition to complying with our statutory regulatory benefits, we hold sensitisation training for SHI women for POSCH.