From a hotel senior vice president: “Someone said to me, ‘I think so-and-so would be great for that job, but she's coming off maternity leave, and I don't think she'd want to travel.’ And it's like, whoa, you just made a decision for someone; you made an assumption about somebody that may not be true.”
Diversity, equity and inclusion – or DE&I – are top of mind for many hospitality companies because it is the “right thing to do.” Unfortunately, many hospitality organizations fail to provide a welcoming environment for diverse candidates, instead allowing negative stereotypes to infiltrate the work environment.
Negative stereotyping causes employees to have increased burnout, reduced self-esteem and ultimately leave the organization. So what can hotel leaders do to attract and retain a diverse pool of candidates for their leadership teams? Recent research suggests they need to start by establishing an environment that supports inclusion.
Establishing Inclusion
We know there are many benefits to a diverse workforce and leadership team. However, many in the industry do not fully understand the steps required to gain the full advantage of having a diverse workforce. According to a panel of 20 hotel managers, inclusion must first be established on many different levels to enable diversity.
Collaboration: In the hotel industry, employees regularly rely on one another; yet many are not encouraged to collaborate regularly, listen to others’ opinions or input, or work well in a team. It is up to leaders to encourage teamwork among staff and emphasize the value of unique differences among team members. Teaching active listening skills and encouraging interaction among different people are ways managers may establish a collaborative environment.
Transformational leadership: A recent trend in the hotel industry is to give more decision-making power to employees, and offer more opportunities to build trust, get support, develop oneself and be recognized for a job well done. These are all elements of transformational leadership. Being empathetic, actively listening to individual needs and enabling a career trajectory to all who are interested (especially those different from the “norm”) are ways to demonstrate inclusion within the organization.
Diversity management: The most common form of encouraging diversity is to have diversity-management policies, procedures and practices established that encourage the recruitment and selection of diverse individuals. Considering the lack of diversity at the top of many hotel companies, there is still a long way to go in refining diversity-management initiatives. Revising policies to make valuing individual differences the primary expectation from employees is one way to create awareness of inclusion. When an organization works to make sure all employee input is considered and valued, people feel included.
Inclusive culture: One enabler to diversity management is an inclusive culture, but this is the most overlooked piece of creating inclusion. To value diversity and use this as the basis for decisions, interactions and behaviors within the organization is what it means to be truly inclusive in the culture.
Offering tailored support to individual employees (and understanding not everyone needs or wants the same), knowledge sharing, providing job autonomy and recognizing that people have a life outside of work are a few ways to create an inclusive culture. This culture takes time to build, so it is advised that owners and top managers be patient and resilient while implementing this significant change.
Unintended exclusion: This happens in two ways that are not necessarily intended but may result because of a high focus on diversity. First, white males may feel excluded if there is a high emphasis on the hiring, retention or promotion of women and minorities. To avoid this, it is recommended that the message include all individuals without favoritism toward one group or another. Second, social norms influence the ways of thinking, which create stereotypes in the workplace. Segregation by color, age or gender may unintentionally happen within the structure of the organization because of the belief that certain people fit in certain roles. For example, women are placed in support or caring roles (i.e., housekeeping or human resources) while men should handle the operations.
Proper training and development programs that assess individuals for their unique abilities and skills – rather than what someone might assume they would do well – aid in the proper placement of all employees.
Generational differences: Acceptance of differences among people in the workforce is increasing and continues on a positive route. However, we still see discrimination and exclusion in the hospitality workforce, often in top management. Implicit bias training and enabling people to interact with others different from themselves to counteract any stereotypes can help to speed up this process and allow the organization to become more inclusive.
Equity and Diversity Follow Inclusion
Once an inclusive environment at all levels has been established, hospitality leaders need to ensure they are providing equitable treatment to their leaders and employees to enable diversity. Merit compensation, rewards and talent management are all ways that equity can be established. Someone in the organization should be held accountable in the leadership team to review pay increases, promotional and development opportunities, and any bonuses or rewards to ensure there are no unintended or unconscious gaps in the company’s remuneration and to address any differences that may arise.
Establishing equitable practices and an inclusive environment leads to further diversity initiatives that will produce a rich pool of diverse applicants. Diversity goals should be set, and a person should be held accountable for reaching those goals so that it is continually at the forefront of someone’s mind within the company. To ensure diverse candidates are recruited, the person(s) responsible for collecting applications should only pass the applications to the interview committee once there is a diverse pool. The panel of interviewers should also be diverse so that the best candidate for the team may be chosen, and diversity may continue to grow within the company.
To reach established diversity initiatives, it starts with inclusion and, “a mindset change to say hey, we're all in this together and if we want a better tomorrow for our kids, we have to be more aggressive about making sure that inclusion is top of mind for everyone,” as one hotel chief officer explained.
Diversity and reaping the known benefits start with the company values. Does your organization value its individual members for their unique contributions? If the answer is not an immediate and resounding YES, then maybe it’s time to start with these recommendations to build an inclusive environment.
Michelle Russen is an assistant professor of hospitality at California State University, San Bernardino.
Dr. Miranda Kitterlin-Lynch is an Associate Professor and Coca-Cola Endowed Professor in the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University.
This article is based on academic research, submitted in partnership with STR’s SHARE Center, which provides support and data resources to professors and students in hotel and hospitality fields of study at colleges and universities worldwide. The assertions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel News Now or CoStar Group and its affiliated companies. Please feel free to contact an editor with any questions or concerns.