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.

Hilton Regional Human Resources Director for Australasia, Mary Hogg, shares her belief that a gender-inclusive industry-wide approach is needed to drive female leadership in hospitality.

If we are serious as an industry in supporting the careers of women, then we should start at what might feel like an illogical place: supporting the careers of men. We cannot deny the amazing and positive impact of investing well in our current and emerging female leaders but if nothing changes for our male leaders then we’re only influencing half of the picture.

If we are an industry that has a male leadership majority, then this is where we need to start to make impactful change. Our working norms suggest that it should be women who should be educated to step in to be more “confident” or learn to adjust and adapt their ways of working so they can grow and gain. Understandably if you are a man sitting on the other side of the equation it’s justifiable that you may be wondering why should be supporting something that seems peripheral to you?

I don’t see it that way.

At Hilton our work is to expand the horizons of all leaders beyond traditional norms, so our male leaders feel empowered to work flexibly or to prioritise their commitments outside of work. It is not about men doing less so that women can take over the leadership space, it is about everyone having an equitable opportunity to find the space and balance that they enjoy.

The research still tells us that “men who do take parental leave can face backlash and be seen as weak (and) lacking work commitment” (Tekla Morgenroth). We see that even when companies offer generous parental leave to both partners, the stigma often stands in the way of men even broaching the conversation.

To complement our on-going women in leadership development, we are developing and planning to run male-orientated workshops on how to make flexible working work for you as well as openly discussing the pressures men feel under to confirm to outdated norms. On a professional level I hope this broadens the horizons of our male leadership to help them to continue to be effective leaders but to know they have greater choices available to them.

On a personal level, I am excited to see how this influences the world of work for both my son and daughter.