By Siddharth Savkur
Over the years, many people, particularly women, have told me about their interest in pursuing a career in hospitality after completing their schooling but were discouraged by their parents. They were concerned about the work environment, perceived lack of security and poor compensation and therefore compelled their children to opt for “safer, more prestigious” professions. This often leaves me
wondering about the passionate hoteliers our industry lost out on due to the negative perception that we carry.
It is a universally acknowledged fact that women are generally better hosts, planners, multitaskers, better at personal interaction and more empathetic to others’ needs. Yet, despite these skills being much sought after in hospitality, women constitute a minority in hotel teams and even less among senior executives. Enough has been written about the reasons for this disparity and how the percentage of
women in the hospitality workforce is now steadily increasing, so there is no point in rehashing it. Instead, here are some simple, doable steps that conscientious hospitality businesses can take to make their teams more inclusive and diverse.
Equity, not equality
For too long, the refrain has been about equality among the genders. That may not always have the desired impact of creating a level playing field for all. Socio-cultural factors lead to different sets of challenges between team members of both genders. For instance, a male restaurant manager, in most cases, might wake up, get ready, have a meal already prepared for him and go to work. His female counterpart might have to cook for the family, tend to household chores, perhaps even tend to children and then get ready and go to work. Company policy must not only be transparent but also sensitive to such ground realities. Allowing a higher degree of flexibility for the person who needs it more (in this case, the woman) shows empathy and sensitivity from the organisation. This, in turn, encourages more members from marginalised sections of society to join the workforce and builds diversity. Short-sighted, though well-intentioned, policies often do not take into account equity among team members and focus only on equality. The concept of equality can work well only if all team members are at the same starting line. If some start the race from behind the starting line due to pre-loaded disadvantages, equity, and not equality, must be the goal.
Create awareness and sensitivity down – and up – the line
Create awareness and sensitivity down – and up – the line Hotels often conduct gender sensitisation training for their teams. In most cases, though, the target audience is the rank-and-file and supervisory demographic subset. The harsh truth is that the senior (read, older) team members may need this more than the younger lot who have grown up in a more modern world anyway. Senior team members have more influence in changing the work environment and can serve as role models for newer, younger staff. On the other hand, if the seniors do not believe in diversity and continue to harbour outdated stereotypes and mindsets, all efforts in training the rest of the team would be in vain. The saying “the fish rots
from the head” is apt in this regard and hence, training initiatives must start from the top.
Walk the talk
Walk the talk In today’s sensitised and aware world, most companies do have documented policies that cover diversity, gender issues, transparency and fairness. However, not all stakeholders demonstrate conduct in line with those policies in their day-to-day work. For instance, the clearly stated company policy may be that both genders shall be treated the same however, a misogynistic manager may show preferential treatment towards male team members. Another example that I have personally witnessed is a manager openly asking for male candidates to fill a position because “I don’t want female team members who will go on wedding or maternity leave.” Such conduct severely undermines the best-drafted policies and can create aregressive work environment that discourages diversity. Several studies have shown that a diverse team tends to be more successful than a homogenous one. The hospitality industry has shown tremendous effort in recent years to bring more diversity into the workforce. It is heartening to see more and more women not only stay in the industry but also climb up the corporate ladder. More women at the policy-making table can only lead to more women-sensitive policies going forward.
(The article is authored by Siddharth Savkur, CEO of Kamaxi Group. He is a hospitality expert with 20+ years of experience in hotel operations, asset management, strategic planning and business development with international hotel companies across different markets.)
