For the second consecutive year, Hilton joins some of the biggest names from business and entertainment at the MAKERS Conference in Los Angeles. The event will explore ways to accelerate women’s equality, and to further strengthen Hilton’s commitment to this important matter, the company has announced a pledge to achieve gender parity – equal representation of women and men – at a global leadership group level and board of directors by 2025.
Ahead of this year’s conference, Patricia Page-Champion, SVP Global Commercial Director and new Women’s Team Member Resource Group lead, shares more about Hilton’s commitment to women.
Why is the MAKERS pledge important to Hilton?
Hilton was the first hospitality company to enter into a partnership with MAKERS, a platform dedicated to inspiring change and driving the advancement of women in business. At last year’s conference, we made a bold company pledge to support this important agenda and create an environment where all our women can thrive. From our amazing housekeepers and on property heroes to our corporate executives, we are committed to investing in programs that support them at every stage of their career, helping to achieve gender parity – equal representation of women and men - at our leadership levels.
Why do you think Hilton is a fantastic place to work if you are a woman?
The key to our continued success is inclusion, and it’s crucial that we continue to find ways to empower women to build the career they want with us – and to support those around them too. As well as flexible working patterns for our Team Members, we also provide a wide range of world-class training and development opportunities to support each Team Member’s growth, ranging from graduate programs to virtual 1:1 coaching and featuring partnerships with some of the most respected names in education. We have a range of different programs designed to help the individual career paths, aspirations and needs of the men and women in our organization, regardless of background or role.
Are you doing anything specifically at the leadership and development level?
We are committed to supporting and promoting more women into senior leadership positions across the business. Although great strides have been made – and workplace equality and inclusion have never been higher on the agenda – achieving total parity in a global business is a journey and one that we will remain focused on. In terms of development opportunities, our leaders at the SVP and VP level are matched with an Executive Committee mentor for career growth, networking, sponsorship and development opportunities. We recently launched our Executive Development Program, which is an intensive 1-year program to develop future executives, with a focus on building a strong pipeline of gender and ethnically diverse talent across our enterprise.
What are you looking ahead to?
Hilton was recognized as the #1 Best Workplace for Women in the U.S. and the #2 Best Workplace for Women in the UK last year, which stands us in great stead, but there is no finish line to this journey. There is always more to do as the world evolves which is why we’re excited to launch this new pledge and mobilize against it. On this journey we are committed to transforming the way we think, to being open and honest. If we see something that’s not right, we will address it, and work together to make our workplace culture even better than it is today.
Last year we signed the Women in Hospitality 2020 charter in the UK, a ten-point plan that highlights our commitment to driving this agenda forwards. As part of this, I joined the WiHTL2020 advisory board. Together with other businesses across the hospitality and leisure industries, the board will look at how to tackle some of the key challenges still facing our industry.
Interested in learning more about our commitment to women? Hear from Hilton’s Chief Talent Officer and MAKERS Board Member Laura Fuentes or read more about our expanded parental leave benefits and partnership with Milk Stork. To learn more about joining the #1 Best Workplace for Women by Great Place to Work® and Fortune visit jobs.hilton.com.