Diversity in the workplace makes good business sense

Over the last 12 months I have chaired the Women in Hospitality, Travel, and Leisure 2020 – WiH2020 Review, with the support of Korn Ferry, PwC, Oxford Brookes, People 1^st and many others. I was keen to ascertain whether my perception about a lack of focus and meaningful progress in this area was based on facts and data or assumptions and hearsay.

Very little has been written about how the hospitality, travel, and leisure (HTL) sector is preparing to meet the target set by the Davies Report and Hampton-Alexander Review of 33% female executive leadership by 2020. I felt there was no better way to form an opinion on this than looking at the data and talking to the leaders who are making recruitment decisions; women who have made it to senior level; and graduates who enter the world of HTL and experience, first-hand, real or perceived barriers. This is what I set out to do when I set up WiH2020.

The research we have conducted shows that while progress has been made, HTL companies are certainly not leading the way. While there are pockets of excellence and examples of best practice, the reputation of the industry from a diversity and inclusion standpoint is such that although women come into it in great numbers, they do not stay or fail to return after a career break.

The nature of the work (long hours, lots of travel and often managing multi-sites) can make it hard for those juggling a career and a family. But the industry needs to step up to that challenge and come up with creative solutions. For example, there’s very little evidence of returners’ programmes in our industry and these would be hugely beneficial to encourage women to come back after a career break to a dynamic, engaging, fun industry which offers rewarding career opportunities.

The HTL industry is the third largest private sector employer in the UK – bigger than automotive, pharmaceuticals and aerospace combined, and twice as big as financial services. Yet, many leaders across the sector are not being held to account by their stakeholders in terms of how diverse these organisations are and whether they reflect their diverse customer base.

For all industries, improving diversity is the right thing to do, and for ours it makes particular business sense. Our customer base is so diverse, and research shows that when it comes to deciding what restaurant to eat in, where to go on holiday, or what hotel to stay in, women are in charge. Women have that decision-making power, so why wouldn’t we want more women in leadership positions? Add that to the fact that having diverse contributions makes corporate decision-making more robust, and what board member wouldn’t agree to invest more in this area?

The WiH2020 initiative gives our industry the opportunity to present a unified, bigger and louder voice in the area of diversity for the benefit of all who work across the sector as well as encourage collaboration amongst companies. If we join forces we can amplify the impact of individual initiatives for the good of the industry as a whole, we can introduce flexibility despite operational challenges, we can remove unconscious bias, and we can welcome back with open arms women who might have taken a break or women who might have worked in different industries.

With the number of EU citizens leaving the UK at its highest level for a decade, creating a diverse and inclusive culture across the sector is of crucial importance to ensure restaurants, caterers, pubs, hotels, theme parks and entertainment venues are able to attract and retain talented individuals that will be needed to fill the 19,000 new jobs the sector will have generated by 2020.

WiH2020 is looking for commitment from senior leaders to a set of action points that constitute the first ever Diversity in HTL Charter. I believe that signing up to it removes optionality and makes it clear where an organisation stands in terms of its focus and priorities as well as ensuring that change will happen. It is important to highlight that the while the focus is on the larger “minority” group – women – the action points listed in the Charter refer to Diversity as a whole. I would like to see all HTL companies in the FTSE 350 sign up to the Charter and be a role model for the over 180,000 businesses across the sector.

I know that we can make a difference. Men and women working together, taking even small steps in the same direction can create powerful momentum and accelerate progress. I personally encourage chairmen and CEOs to show their commitment to the diversity agenda. There will be many opportunities over the next few months for industry leaders to come together and help shape the future of the WiH2020 campaign and demonstrate that this industry can lead the way in terms of diversity.