The MBS Group has been championing diversity in our sectors for over thirty years, so we were delighted to be asked to join forces with the WiH2020 initiative and PwC on the latest report on diversity in the Hospitality, Travel & Leisure (HTL) industry.
WiH2020 was founded and is chaired by Tea Colaianni. Elliott Goldstein caught up with the inspirational former Group HR Director of Merlin Entertainments, whose current Board appointments include Watches of Switzerland and DWF, last year where she shared some of her motivations behind the initiative.
Throughout the last quarter, The MBS Group spoke to the CEOs, Chairs or HR Directors of over 100 companies of scale across the HTL sector – seeking to uncover the true picture of diversity and to capture some of the examples of practices being implemented to achieve greater diversity. Our research shows that, in many ways, the sector is making great strides:
At 36%, the percentage of female Direct Reports (into the Executive Committee) has already surpassed the 33% target
39% of Non-Executive Directors (excluding Chairs) across FTSE 350 HTL companies are female
Nearly two-thirds of FTSE 100 HTL businesses have already reached the 33% target at Board level
With around 60 women were promoted or appointed into senior roles in the industry in 2018, there are now more female role models in the industry than ever
For the first time, there are now no all-male Boards across the FTSE 350 HTL
However, on other measures, there is still a great deal to do:
There is a severe lack of women in the CEO role across the industry; just 7% of FTSE 350 HTL CEOs are women, while outside the FTSE 350 the figure is only marginally better at 11%
There are no women amongst the FTSE 350 HTL Chair community, while just 6.8% of Chairs are women outside the FTSE 350
For the first time, our report covered ethnic diversity, where we found just 1 in 33 HTL leaders are from a BAME background (compared to 1 in 8 across the UK working age population)
“The statistics in the review show some encouraging progress, although more work needs to be done by many companies to achieve sustainable change.. The report also sheds light on a number of never seen before collaboration initiatives across the sector such as Comeback to HTL, the ground-breaking first ever cross industry returners programme.” Tea Colaianni – Founder and Chair, WiH2020
Also included in the report are:
7 interviews taking in the ‘views from the industry’, including the CEOs of easyJet, IHG Europe, PizzaExpress and Mitchells & Butlers
An update on the key work streams HTL companies are tackling through the WiH2020 collaboration platform
PwC’s Diversity and Inclusion Leader Jon Terry on how companies can move the dial and turn good intentions into real progress on diversity and inclusion
Download your copy of the report here. To find out more about the WiH2020 initiative, and to see how you can join its collaboration platform, sign up to the HTL Diversity Charter, or book your place at one of their masterclasses, visit: www.wih2020.com.