Katie Ward draws on her status as a mom of two as inspiration to go above and beyond in her job as GM of Embassy Suites by Hilton Minneapolis Airport.
Ward, who has worked with Hilton for 23 years, said in an email interview that her daughters motivated her to create an even greater culture of inclusion at her hotel.
One of her daughters has Down syndrome and her other daughter has autism. Ward's team partnered with Project Search to create a program for young adults with learning disabilities to participate in an internship and job rotation at her hotel.
Ward shared more about her journey in the industry with Hotel News Now in this Q&A.
What inspired you enter the hospitality industry?
Initially, hospitality wasn’t even on my radar as a career path, but while attending college to obtain my general elective credits, I applied for a van-driving position at Embassy Suites by Hilton Bloomington. Shortly after starting in that role, I realized the hospitality industry is where I needed to be.
The opportunity for advancement is endless, and in my 23-year career with Hilton, I have held numerous positions including front desk, housekeeping, director of rooms, and today, I am proud to be the general manager of Embassy Suites by Hilton Minneapolis Airport. I love going to work every day knowing that I can make a difference in the lives of our guests, team members and my community.
In addition to being a general manager at a hotel, you and your team are also involved in Project Search. Can you share more about that?
Project Search is a program that works with young adults with disabilities. It is a nine-month program that begins with an interview process. If accepted into the program, our interns spend the first two weeks in the classroom learning basic skills including how to provide great customer service and what to do if they are ill and can’t make it to work. From there, our interns enter three 10-week rotations in different departments where they acquire new skills including painting, stocking the market pantry, laundry and assisting in food and beverage. At the time of graduation, our interns are either hired at the hotel or find alternative employment within the community with their newly acquired skills.
As a parent to two daughters with special needs, Project Search helps create an even greater culture of inclusion for our on-property team members, and as a mother, it inspires me with what the future can hold for my two daughters. It’s one of the many reasons I feel inspired to foster development within my team.
What are some key lessons you've learned so far during your 23-year career with Hilton?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned throughout my career is the importance of building key relationships along with the importance of effective communication and trust. These essential relationships include our guests, owners, the community and the key to our success: our team members.
A career in hospitality and most importantly, a career with Hilton, allows for career advancement and opportunity. As a leader, it’s important to lead with strong communication and transparency, but even more importantly, allow your team to grow and advance even if this means a team member looking for advancement opportunities in a new destination with another property within the company. Team members should feel empowered to seek growth opportunities and as a leader, its important to foster their development along the way. The stronger the team is, the stronger you will be as a leader.
How has the pandemic changed you as a leader?
The pandemic was certainly uncharted territory for all of us. As a leader, it reinforced that I don’t have all the answers all the time and through collaboration with my team, we learned to adapt, be flexible and think outside the box. It was, and still is, critical for me to lean into the strengths of the team, which has been an instrumental part of the hotel’s success and recovery.
During the pandemic, the team and I took the insights/needs our guests were sharing with us about what they needed during their stay and we would brainstorm new ways of catering to our guests' needs while adhering to local, regional and federal guidelines. For instance, for a while, we were unable to offer the signature Embassy Suites by Hilton free cooked-to-order breakfast, and instead, we quickly looked for alternatives to offer our guests. As restrictions were lifted and we were able to offer grab-and-go food options, we worked diligently to offer a hot grab-and-go option to our guests who may have missed our free cooked-to-order breakfast. As a result, we were one of the first properties in our area to find new alternatives to offering breakfast, grab-and-go options and shuttle service so we could continue delivering the services our guests expected even if we had to think more creatively about them.
To this day, when our team is faced with a challenge, we collaborate as a team to find a solution while incorporating everyone’s ideas and input.
As a mother of two children, how are you achieving a work-life balance for you and your family?
Having a strong work-life balance is critical to both my personal and professional life so I can be the best for my family when I am at home and the best for my team and our guests while I am at work. Hilton has so many incredible programs available to team members with their well-being in mind. For mothers and families, having 10 weeks of paid maternity leave with a total of 12 available weeks was crucial when my youngest was born. It allowed us time to transition to a family of four — my oldest was eight when her sister was born and having special needs, it was exceptionally difficult for her to adjust. Knowing I had this time was invaluable so I could ensure my family had the time we needed to adjust to being a family of four.
Over the years, I have relied on the EAP — Employee Assistance Program — to assist our family through exceptionally challenging times. It is a comfort just to know that if we need help, it is readily available.
While I haven’t used Hilton’s new partnership with Wellthy yet, I know this is something I’ll be tapping into in the future. They can assist in finding childcare specialists for kids with special needs. I can’t tell you how difficult finding childcare specialists is especially as my children grow older and age out of traditional care centers and services. Wellthy is like having a personal healthcare coordinator that can complete tasks like making appointments and refilling prescriptions so I have more time to dedicate to my family.
What advice would you give to other women in general manager roles across the industry?
Working at Hilton has made me realize that it’s okay to be my authentic self. Allow yourself and your team to be human. Pick each other up on the days that are challenging. Celebrate all the successes and evaluate the shortfalls to be able to turn them into success stories later on.