This week, to mark International Women’s Day on March 8, 2023, HM is giving female leaders in the accommodation industry a platform to share their views on ways to support women in hospitality careers.
In the first instalment of this series, IHG Hotels and Resorts SVP Managing Director – JAPAC, Leanne Harwood, reveals why IHG is introducing gender goals and why she’s adamant that there won’t be any token hires.
I’m pretty proud of the progress we’ve made as a company and as an industry on the gender diversity journey over the years.
It’s brilliant to see HM and other industry leaders taking the Panel Pledge, ensuring professional forums like AHICE include gender diverse speakers and panel members – but even that can be a challenge in itself because women are woefully underrepresented within the pool of top leaders and spokespeople in our industry.
In fact, as I find myself on a more diverse array of meetings, events and board tables across our industry, I’m often brought back to earth by the realisation that the faces around the table are nowhere near as diverse.
Even my own leadership team is far from balanced. So constantly am I reminded of this inequality that I’ve finally been compelled to do something that I’d always promised we wouldn’t: I’ve introduced gender goals in our business.
What it doesn’t mean is ‘a job for the girls’ or helicoptering unready female talent into senior roles – no one should ever feel that they were in a role due to their gender, I passionately believe in the best person for the job. What it does mean is building our pipeline of female talent across all levels of hospitality leadership, then doing everything we can to stem the exodus up the ranks.
If successful – and mark my words we will be – the plan, we have in place should mean we’ll have created an equitable environment along every step of the leadership ladder. That should mean we’re nearing equality in the next three-to-four years, and with a change in culture that means gender diversity happens naturally without the need to swim against the tide.
As we celebrate IWD in 2023, we must keep in mind it’s not just about one day in the calendar: it’s an always-on commitment to 365 Days of Diversity. And, while it’s a wonderful opportunity to stop and acknowledge our achievements, we need to recognise that there is still a big journey ahead.