Dundalk hotels' General Manager says DkIT part time course a game changer

William Burke, Cluster General Manager for the Fairways and Gateway Hotels in Dundalk, has said that completing the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) has proven to be a game changer for his role within the hotels.

The Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course teaches practical skills to improve quality and efficiency in any business. DkIT says that it is a great option for team leaders, staff, and anyone looking to lead improvement projects, support change, and enhance their role within their organisation.

Reflecting on today’s business climate, William shared: “It’s a time of real economic challenge within the hospitality industry with rising costs from energy, to wages, to import costs. As we look across our business, there are two things we can do about them. We can sit here and talk about them and complain or we can actually go and do something about it.”

“Doing something about it” was exactly what William set out to do and he applied for the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt at DkIT with a clear goal: to actively improve operations and reduce waste.

Originally from Clonmel, William is no stranger to the benefits of on-the-job training. He left school after his Junior Cert and began working as a carpenter, a role he held for ten years. During the recession, he transitioned into hospitality, eventually rising to General Manager.

Despite not having a formal college degree, William credits upskilling courses—like Lean Six Sigma—as key to his success, particularly in an ever-changing area such as hospitality. The flexibility of part-time learning has been really important for balancing professional and personal commitments. As he puts it, “These courses are key for me to upskill while I’m working, rather than trying to go back to education full time.”

DkIT’s Lean Six Sigma course has been designed to cater for busy professionals such as William. In addition to managing two busy hotels, he was getting ready to welcome a new son just before the course commenced.  The timing was far from ideal and he was nervous that it would impact his ability to fully commit to the course, but he chose to go ahead.

He had previously completed the Yellow Belt and had a keen interest in progressing to the next stage. Luckily, despite his other commitments, he found the course was very flexible, the support from the tutor was fantastic and the time commitment is “really achievable”.

The course takes place over 12 weeks, one evening per week for three hours and in William’s view, “no matter your circumstances and where you are professionally, putting aside those couple of hours every week is well worth it.”

For both his professional growth and the impact it has had on the productivity in the Gateway and the Fairways, the 12 weeks have been well worthwhile. The Green Belt really focused on how to identify waste and cut it out, making the business a leaner operation.

One of the biggest benefits of the course was the interactive classroom environment. With only 12 participants, everyone had the chance to contribute, share experiences, and learn from each other.

“It was fantastic to bounce ideas off different people and pick up new things in the classroom. For me, that interaction beats anything you’d learn online,” William said. 

Armed with his new-found knowledge and back in the work environment, William engaged with fellow managers and various teams, to help identify wasteful processes—from electricity usage to staffing—and introduced changes that improved efficiency and reduced costs.

Reflecting on the process he said; “It’s a case of, diving in to see is everything in the right place, and having a look at everything we do and asking how do we make this as lean as possible? How do we make it so that this is sustainable going forward?”

DkIT says that the benefits of the course can have a positive impact on people in any role or industry and in William’s view “it’s a real eye opener into what can be done in your operation.”

He would encourage any employer to support their staff to apply, or indeed give it a go themselves: “Sometimes when we’re in it we don’t see it and we have to step outside to have a look back in to really see are there wasteful operations or where we could be more productive.”

Being able to access the course just across from his work place was an added bonus for William. Having moved to Dundalk just two years ago, he’s come to realise just how much the town has to offer. Check out the Lean Sigma and other part-time courses at DkIT: https://www.dkit.ie/study/flexible-professional