Inclusion is Key to Success The notion of diversity is continually evolving. For Marriott International, it’s about more than just tolerance.
By Marla Cimini
The
topic of diversity is not a new one within the hospitality industry, as
many hotel companies over the years have launched strategic programs
and created specific processes to educate employees and enhance
awareness throughout their organizations.
Much like the multicultural world itself, today’s notion of
diversity is continually evolving, and its definition now encompasses
more complex areas than ever before. This includes taking a closer look
at the growing multigenerational workplace, supplier diversity, and
creating a sense of inclusion, as opposed to simply, “tolerance.”
Jimmie Walton Paschall, global diversity officer and senior vice
president of external affairs at Marriott International Inc., is
spearheading Marriott’s diversity initiatives surrounding
“inclusion.” She says Marriott has made a decision to place less
significance on tolerance and sensitivity, which is how many diversity
programs were initially launched, and instead place a higher value on
increasing a true comfort level among employees with different
backgrounds and cultures.
“Diversity focuses on what’s different about us, so it focuses on our
unique skills, talents, and experiences, which raises issues of
culture, race, ethnicity, gender, age, etc.,” Paschall says. “When that
is the lens, the reaction is tolerance, sensitivity, curiosity—and
trying to understand where people are coming from, and how they are
different than you.
“Inclusion, which is the direction we are moving toward, is optimizing
our diversity and ensuring that everyone feels valued and respected for
what is unique about them—whether they are an associate, a customer, an
owner, or supplier, and to actually use those unique skills and talents
to drive innovation and business results,” she continues. “We believe
it will translate to improved customer service, perhaps the development
of new products and services, increased preference and loyalty from our
customers, and increased engagement and satisfaction from our
associates.”
Another way to foster inclusion is providing language training to a
growing global workforce. Last year, Marriott launched a partnership
with the language education company Rosetta Stone that offers
associates the opportunity to learn more than 30 languages. A second
Marriot language program, Sed de Saber (Spanish for “thirst for
knowledge”) uses a handheld device with voice recordings, games, and
review exercises to enhance the English language skills of
Spanish-speaking employees. Recently, the program has grown to include
teaching Spanish to English speakers. According to Paschall, both
language programs have received an overwhelmingly positive response.
Another major diversity challenge facing many industries is today’s
multigenerational workplace. Across the world, it is not uncommon to
have four generations working together, including baby boomers,
retirees who may have returned to the workforce, and those from
generations X and Y. In addition, many companies have employees who
work from home and use technology to communicate with their colleagues.
Not surprisingly, today’s Y generation has grown up with
cross-cultural experiences, and many have been introduced to
international travel opportunities as part of their education. Most
have been able to learn one or more languages while in school.
Paschall emphasizes that it is a key priority for Marriott to address
emerging workforce trends and issues, in order to remain a vibrant and
attractive place to embark on a career.
“I think one of the trends we see is that the young people
entering the workforce have a different set of expectations around it,”
she says. “They already behave in a more inclusive way, and are helping
to influence the organizations and the cultures that they join. Work
also holds a different place for them. It is an important component of
their life—but it is not their life.”
Minority Ownership
According to Ray Bennett, senior vice president of lodging development
at Marriott International Inc., by 2010, women or minorities will own
more than 500 of Marriott’s 3,200 hotels worldwide. Currently, 61
percent of all Marriott employees are minorities and 55 percent are
women. Bennett, who oversees Marriott’s diversity ownership initiative,
points out that Marriott continues to increase its multi-ethnic
ownership base, because it is vitally important that the owners reflect
the diverse communities in which Marriott conducts business.
“There is a lot of hard work that has gone into our diversity
ownership initiative and it starts with our chairman, Mr. Marriott. He
is a strong component and supporter of diversity throughout our
organization, whether it be in ownership, whether it be in our
workforce, whether it be in supplier diversity, and it permeates
throughout our organization,” Bennett says. “When you look at our
ownership base, I think we have one of the broadest ownership diversity
portfolios in the industry. And I think a lot of that is attributed to
his dedication as well as to our organization’s focus against that
target.”
Bennett is also involved with Marriott’s Diversity Ownership Education
Symposium, a successful business seminar that is held four times a year
for the purpose of introducing future hotel owners to the world of
lodging. They participate in a day and a half of high-level education
seminars about the hospitality industry, where they meet industry
experts, as well as existing owners.
These seminars provide attendees with details about all aspects of
hotel ownership, including feasibility, construction, architecture,
finance, and operations. Once the potential owner has gone through this
initial training, the company offers new franchisees more in-depth
training.
Bennett says that Marriott has had a great deal of success with the
symposium, including gaining a number of new franchisees, as well as
new business leads. “The symposiums are vital to the success of our
program and our owners,” he says. “We want our owners to feel
empowered, create connections, and ask questions. Our goal is to create
lasting partnerships.
“We are embarking on a cultural confidence where we want to understand
all of the different cultures around the world, and we want all of our
associates to have a greater understanding.” he continues. “I think
that any hospitality company that is doing business in this global
economy will face the same challenges, making sure that their employees
understand the customers with which they do business.”
Supplier Diversity
Although supplier diversity has been in existence for a number of
years, it has re-emerged as a critical area within the industry. Not
limited to the United States, supplier diversity is a far-reaching,
global issue. In fact, Marriott was approached to participate in a
pilot program by the Australian Indigenous Minority Supplier Council
(AIMSC), which is investing $3 million dollars over three years to
foster commercial relationships between indigenous business and
corporations. Beginning in September 2009, this pilot program will take
place in multiple hotels in Sydney, where Marriott will partner
with Message Stick, a company owned by indigenous Australians that will
supply Marriott hotels with technology, communications, and
media services.
Bill Hartwig, vice president of global supplier relations and
international procurement at Marriott, spent two years living and
working in China. While there, he found a new appreciation for other
cultures. He points out that, traditionally, throughout the industry,
supplier diversity has been a silo into itself, often isolated from
other departments. He, along with the Marriott team, found this to be
frequently problematic.
Hartwig says that positive changes have been made, saying, “Now, the
focus is on education and integration.” He further mentioned that
several of his team members have shown a passion for diversity, and
have whole-heartedly embraced the company’s focus on inclusion, even if
it means going above and beyond their usual job responsibilities.
“I’ve engaged two people who actually serve on external boards for
minority organizations,” Hartwig says. “There is a person in each of
our international procurement offices who are the leads for diversity
initiatives in their respective territories or countries.”
Hartwig also speaks to the positive impact technology has made on the industry,
especially in the area of supplier diversity. He says, “In our case,
utilization of a shared service center with a centralized accounts
payable really has helped, because now we have technology that can
measure for us. Whereas before, everything was very manual in terms of
the processes. Going forward, we are currently piloting some
e-procurement tools for ordering purposes.”
With the industry embracing diversity more and more, hotel companies
will undoubtedly continue to launch new programs and benefit from the
value of introducing employees to different languages and different
cultures.
As Bennett points out, the hospitality industry by nature is an
extremely diverse community. Summarizing his outlook on this topic, he
wrote in an e-mail, “As we expand, inclusion and cultural competence
are becoming more of a focus. It is imperative that we evaluate and
learn from each environment where we do business, so that we can best
serve our employees, guests and local communities.”
Bonus Coverage:
Nurturing Diversity--Tecton Hospitality's Raul Leal believes there's a
opportunity to diversity in lodging to new levels.
Broader Inclusion--Carlson's Carmen Baker discusses why opening up the
conversation makes for better diversity and social responsibility
efforts.
