Focus on women makes a 5 star experience

I’ve written 137 reviews on TripAdvisor, mostly of hotels. In order to get five stars from me, a hotel needs to really make an impression. Prior to joining Finnfund, I had worked in hospitality, both in operational tasks and as a product manager responsible for customer experience. If there’s something I’ve learned during the years is that everything starts with the employee experience. This is probably true for most industries, but especially when focus is on service, people simply have to feel good about their job in order to go that extra mile needed for success. So, I was curious about visiting yet another hotel.

We were in Kenya to monitor some of Finnfund’s investments in and around Nairobi. One of them is the Radisson Blu Upper Hill Hotel, a hotel investment that was made to support tourism as an important source of employment. The hotel also provides indirect demand for services and products from the local community, and creates jobs for subcontractors and small entrepreneurs in the area. As a shareholder, we are interested in the impact that the hotel has in the economy. During the lifecycle of the investment, we look at several key impact indicators. This time, we studied the amount of local purchases (remarkable) and jobs created (significant), but what really made an impression to me personally was that there is a change going on in the hospitality industry and this hotel is very much the driving force behind it.

Move over, John!

It’s been said that it’s easier to find a director called John than one who’s a woman. One of the indicators for Sustainable Development Goal 5, Gender Equality, is the proportion of women in managerial positions. While the hospitality industry employs both men and women equally, many studies show that there is a strong underrepresentation of women in senior roles. Long working hours and physically demanding jobs are some of the reasons why especially women with families can find it difficult to progress in their careers.

For change to happen, someone needs to lead the way. We spoke to staff members at Radisson Blu Upper Hill Hotel, where women – and mothers especially – have been in focus for several years. The ambition has been to become the number one workplace for women in order to be able to recruit – and keep – the best talent available. Currently, 36 % of the hotel staff and 40 % of senior management are women and the staff turnover is 7,5 % which is exceptionally low for the industry. They must have done something right?

324 employees, 324 situations

“This hotel has taught me everything about hospitality”, said Audrey Muttimos who’s been working as a personal assistant to the general manager since 2015. “I’m not the same person as I was when I came here. And the hotel is not the same.”

In 2015, the focus was getting the hotel up and running – finding the best available staff, getting all operations in place. Staff welfare was not a top priority. “Some of us with small kids would leave home at 4 in the morning and return 12 hours later as the Nairobi traffic easily makes your commute very long”, told Muttimos. “That didn’t really leave us any time with our kids.”

Once the operations were up and running, the hotel management started paying closer attention to actions that could be taken in order to make it possible for women to advance in their careers while also devoting time to their families. “We got lots of ideas from the staff and the management supported the transformation”, she told me. “We started offering flexible working hours for mothers and moving women from physically demanding stations to other tasks when they were pregnant. The maternity leave is usually 3 months but for us, it’s 4 months. You can also add one extra month unpaid leave.”

During these discussions it became clear that the staff is seen as individuals with different situations in life. The management is committed to making the employee experience as good as possible in order to create a superb customer experience – something that is often discussed but not always executed.

Leading by example

Louise Niiru works as bar manager, providing an example of a mother in a managerial position. “As a manager, I can see how my position affects other women in the workplace. They see the possibility of stepping up and I encourage them to do so”, she told me. Being very ambitious, she wanted to educate herself and keep up with the business even during her maternity leave. “I got my degree when I was expecting my child. I was also able to conduct some e-learning courses during my time at home which kept me connected to the hotel all the time”, she said. For her, it was important to not feel left out. I asked her whether she thinks that being a woman and a mother affects her way of working with the female staff. “Not really”, she said. “It’s all very systematic here. It’s more about being a human, paying attention to your team and their individual needs.”

With success, others will follow

Hospitality professionals are active networkers, and the results from Radisson Blu Upper Hill are gaining reputation. Introducing new ways of working can slowly transform the whole industry. Currently, travel & tourism is responsible for 8.3% of all Kenya’s employment, or 1.1 million jobs. What happens in this industry surely affects the viewpoints in other parts of society as well. Louise Niiru told me about the Kenyan telecoms operator Safaricom and their public intentions of having 50 % women at senior management level by the end of 2020. “You see, things are changing”, she said.

Betty Njoroge from procurement confirmed this. “There is definitely a transformation going on”, she said. Njoroge had 8 years of industry background before joining Upper Hill. “I get asked about our approach a lot and I love sharing my personal experiences. Coming here felt like a breath of fresh air and the company has been very supportive in meeting my needs as a mother with a long commute. This is the first place where I’ve seen equal opportunities and a true wish to see more women in leadership positions.”

So, the women are happy. How about the customers? In 2017, Radisson Blu Upper Hill was ranked first out of 36 Radisson hotels in Africa and fourth in EMEA on guest satisfaction scores. In a highly competitive market, it’s crucial to keep up the reputation and gain recommendations.

My personal experience was that the service level exceeded all my expectations. From the first encounter to the last, I was always greeted with both enthusiasm and a smile. I ended up giving the hotel a solid 5 star review.

Valpuri MäkinenCommunications and Marketing Manager+358 50 384 2105valpuri.makinen@finnfund.fi