Making Diversity Profitable

By Anna Sebastian

One of my best friends, the one who made me get a terrible martini tattoo in Greece, once told me that context is probably the most important part of a story. 

Without context it becomes harder for the reader to really understand why you are telling it. As people of the hospitality industry our lives are intertwined by stories and  memories, whether with each other or with our guests. So when I was asked to write about the importance of gender equality and how it can positively impact a business I wanted to make sense of a topic that is often misunderstood or simply ignored, so here is my story. 

In 2009 I was 22 years old and living my best life in London. After being medically discharged from the army I found my solace working and partying in London’s illustrious club scene. I was having the best time. It was also the year that I realised that inequality really existed. It was the year I realised that being a woman meant you were subjected to unfair treatment that men would never have to endure. It was the year I realised that being a woman, you had to work harder, faster and louder if you wanted to be heard. It was the year that I was part of a court case that went to trial.
The room was full of men - the judge, barristers, policemen and so on. When it was my turn to be cross examined the barrister asked me, “What were you wearing that night?” Time seemed to fall still and my overly confident self replied, “Are you going to ask all the men in the court room that as well?” It was the beginning of nearly a decade of me trying to understand the sociological elements of inequality that evidently were a global issue. I thought to myself ‘what change can I make?’ People often want to change the world but sometimes the world can only be changed through small actions that eventually make a big difference. 

Last year we started a small movement called Celebrate Her with the idea to support and promote more women in the hospitality industry. Initially I didn’t know what direction it would go in, or if there was a need for it but it slowly transpired that it was a welcome movement not just for women but also for men. But everything must have a cause to it, a reason why. It certainly isn’t a club for single women in their 30s to sit around in their White Company Pyjamas drinking chardonnay and listening to Taylor Swift (yes that also has its place), instead it is a way to make the industry better, more diverse, more inclusive, for women - yes, but also for everyone else. It is to give a bigger and better understanding of how to run and be part of a business, to grow your bottom line, to improve public perception, to widen the talent pool and engage better with customers or consumers through diversity and equality. 

The element of business is often forgotten amongst all the glamour of cocktail competitions, brand trips, bar shows and awards but none of these are possible if the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) of a business are not met. Achieving your KPIs in the forever saturated global market where uncertainty is prevalent and businesses are having to think in different ways is tough at the best of times. How you buy and sell, how you engage, how you PR and market are all elements that continue to be under scrutiny. 

Diversity and Inclusion are key players in achieving these results. 

Diversity refers to who’s at work: who is recruited, hired, and promoted by a company. In other words, diversity is the representation of a range of traits and experiences in a company’s workforce. These characteristics include gender, race, physical ability, religion, age, and socioeconomic status, among others - or, as defined by Gallup, “the full spectrum of human demographic differences.”

Inclusion refers to how people feel at work. A company’s workforce may be diverse, but if employees do not feel safe, welcomed, and valued, then that company isn’t inclusive and will not perform to it’s highest potential. Point blank, inclusion is the degree to which employees feel “valued, respected, accepted and encouraged to fully participate in the organization.”

Diverse work forces have been proven to outperform ones that aren’t. Diversity can increase the profitability of company and decrease staff turnover. Companies in the top 25% for gender diversity on their executive team were 21% more likely to experience above-average profitability than companies in the bottom 25%.

To this day women make up around 40% of the global workforce. Only about 5% of those are in CEO and upper management positions and even then, annual salaries of men in similar positions are not equal. Studies have suggested that women earn only 80% of what their male counterparts do. A scary fact according to the UN is that there are only 6.6% of women CEOs in Fortune 500 companies – at this rate we will need 140 years to achieve gender parity if things do not change. 

There are so many advantages to having an equal opportunity environment in the work place including: 

Improved financial performance – when people feel included, equally supported and represented they perform better. Risk is reduced and better decisions are made in a more calculated way. The bottom line takes care of itself. 

Staff turnover – better retention of staff means a happier and more effective environment, and makes teams feel like their opinions are valued by the company and their peers. If people (including women) have a sense that there is a chance to progress thanks to equal gender representation in senior roles then it can vastly increase productivity and positivity which can filter down into the office. 

Widening talent pool – by doing this with a strong diversity pool you are opening your business to talent that you might previously have overlooked. Encouraging new exciting talent and strengths will give a more rounded opinion and better results. 

Improved reputation – in this modern age where millennials rule, everything you need in life is a click away; reputation is key. A business with a strong record on diversity and inclusion is more likely to resonate with people, thus building better connections with future employees and also customers. 

Better connections with customers – one of the biggest and most important things is being able to connect with the consumer. They need to trust the brands and the people they’re doing business with, and the only way to build trust is to be open and honest about who you are and what you do. Brands that are willing to go beyond the baseline “we believe in gender equality” and really take a stand can attract an even more loyal customer base and following. These businesses implement policies that allow them to actively work towards advancing gender equality and not just ticking a box. 

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8th is Each for Equal - promoting equality in business. It is steps like these that are going to make a difference in achieving gender parity not only within our industry but also globally. What we can all do now is to have a good look at our businesses and the ones that we are part of. Have a look at how you hire, what your policies are, what you have in place to actively encourage equality and diversity and then make changes. Be proactive in what you do. Have conversations. Ask for feedback. Every time I do a review or check in with a colleague my final question is always “Is there any feedback you have for me?” You may not always like the feedback you get but at least by asking an honest question you will get an honest answer. Question yourself, each other and make positive and better changes. 

The idea of collective individualism is about all of us being responsible for how we behave and impact the society we live in. We have a responsibility to each other, ourselves and society to make the world we live in a better place. Together we can be better in achieving the parity we need to have.