hospitalitystyle.com

(June 2011) posted on Sat Jun 25, 2011 EDT

HVS Executive Search briefing concludes that women have to work longer hours, sacrifice more to get ahead. No surprise.

By Mary Scoviak

Women who want to succeed in the hospitality industry still have to work longer and sacrifice more than their male counterparts to get to the top of their industry. So said the female hospitality executives who participated in last week’s breakfast briefing in London sponsored by HVS Executive Search and the Leading Ladies of London Association (an organization of female general managers of five-star hotels). While that’s not headline news to anyone in the hotel industry, the fact that it was on the record is noteworthy. How many female interior designers would tell the same story? Most, based on conversations I’ve had.

Hospitality isn’t the only world where women have to fight their way to the top. HVS Executive Search director Lorenza Alessie, the session’s moderator, pointed out that out of 190 heads of state across the globe only nine were women and that only 15 percent of corporate jobs were occupied by women, a figured that hasn't changed since 2002.

“Research by People 1^st shows that women are the backbone of the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism industry, making up 60 percent of the sector’s workforce – but only 6 percent of senior board executives, half the national average,” she said. “It seems that whilst many women progress to supervisor or unit manager level, few are currently able to make the step up to the next level. In the hospitality industry, on average, 25 percent of the male workforce is employed as managers and hold senior positions compared with 18 percent of females.”

Panelist Debrah Dhugga, general manager of  Dukes Hotel  and one of the founders of the Leading Ladies of London Association, said there are some cracks in the glass ceiling. There are now eight female general managers of London five-stars. “Women need to demonstrate that there is a career to be had in hospitality and that we, as women, can make it to the top,” she said. However, the sacrifices she admitted making in order to get there included seeing the long-term benefit of a job which paid no more than the cost of her childcare, missing her children’s school events and living away from home five days a week.