AccorHotels, the world’s leading hotel operator, is announcing its selection as one of 10 champion corporations of the HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 pilot initiative. To be formally announced on Oct. 14 – 15 at the Women’s Forum in Deauville, France, the group is continuing to make strides towards gender parity in the workplace.
HeForShe is an international solidarity movement for gender equality initiated by United Nations (UN) Women, with an objective to ensure that men also take a stand for gender equality. By creating IMPACT 10x10x10 in 2015, UN Women is expanding this movement and has identified 10 corporations, 10 universities and 10 governments to be its spokespersons. Barclays, Koç Holding, McKinsey & Company, PwC, Schneider Electric, Tupperware, Twitter, Unilever, and Vodafone are the nine other companies that are part of the IMPACT 10x10x10 pilot program alongside AccorHotels.
35% female hotel managers by the end of 2017
As part of this initiative, AccorHotels has made the following pledges:
1.Gender parity in management and equal pay:
- 35% female hotel managers
- Commitment to reduce the pay gap between men and women at the Paris head office and in three other countries
2.Sensitize and motivate male employees in favor of gender diversity, with:
- 35% male membership of internal network Women At AccorHotels Generation (WAAG)
- 50,000 male employees involved as HeForShe champions
Changing mentalities in the hotel sector
As a member of the HeForShe movement, AccorHotels has also committed to changing mentalities in the hospitality industry by paying particular attention to female guests. Though the share of women travelers staying in its hotels increased from 26% to 34% between 2000 and 2013*, the hotel chain sector remains tailored by men for men. For this reason AccorHotels is currently conducting an ongoing survey in partnership with IPSOS** that clearly demonstrates that women, regardless of their culture, have their own expectations regarding all hotel segments. Ninety percent of women consider an offer specially designed for women as innovative. In 2013, luxury upscale brand MGallery developed Inspired by Her, an offer specifically tailored for women traveling on business.
“I am absolutely convinced that women should be free to have fulfilling careers and be given the same opportunities as men. I know that we have the resources and capacity to bring about real change. Our values, our Human Resources policy and the WAAG, and our internal diversity network are the tools we are already using,” said Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO of AccorHotels. “We must all stave off gender-related prejudices, offer a more gender equal remuneration policy, promote more women to managerial positions, ensure that men commit to this change and, through our endowment fund Solidarity Accor, encourage projects that help train and integrate young women.”
AccorHotels’ selection follows the creation of WAAG in 2012, its internal gender diversity network, and in January 2015 the creation of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a program upheld by United Nations Women and the United Nations Global Compact.
*AccorHotels CRM/Database
** AccorHotels-IPSOS survey, Hospitality offers dedicated to women: potential and opportunities, October 2015