Always learning

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) held its Global Summit this week and the big theme was lessons learnt from the pandemic. I couldn’t be there in person in Cancun – which, after a long lockdown in the UK, was particularly tough to take! – but I was delighted to be able to join virtually along with many others and share some of my thoughts with the conference.

It was great to take part, particularly as the WTTC is such an important partner for IHG and our industry as we work towards a safe and responsible recovery, and it gave me the opportunity to reflect on a year of challenges, what they’ve taught us, and how we emerge as better leaders, organisations and as an industry.

A key lesson for me has been the importance of a strong purpose to help guide your actions as an organisation. IHG’s is to provide True Hospitality for Good, and it’s meant that even in the toughest of situations, we’ve put people and communities at the heart of every decision. Sounds simple enough, but it can be much harder in practice. There’s no playbook for a global pandemic, no amount of preparation you can do, and there’s an intense pressure to act fast to deal with what’s in front of you. Having a purpose to hold your actions up to forces you to stop and consider the short and long-term impact of your decisions, particularly on people, and ultimately your reputation and values as an organisation. It’s that rear-view mirror test: am I going to look back on this and know we did our best?

As a leader, I think this pandemic has also made me appreciate the power of stripping out complexity. For instance, I’ve put more emphasis on global calls so that I can hear from all colleagues first-hand, understand what’s on their minds, and offer a personal perspective that puts us all on the same page.  

Regular touchpoints are now more important than ever. I’ve seen how this has galvanised us an organisation, particularly with so many people working remotely. There’s an added openness within the business to talk and, equally importantly, listen to one another, and a greater recognition that we’re at our best when we feel supported and trusted.

The enormous challenges related to dealing with Covid-19 have also helped me use my time more wisely. I’ve always tried to empower those around me as the experts in their fields, but I’ve looked closely at how and where I now get involved. I’m much more aware of ensuring I focus on where I can make the biggest difference, whether that’s by offering strategic clarity, helping overcoming obstacles, reorganising priorities, or focusing on the individuals involved and the support that they need.  

If I look back from the start of the pandemic more than a year ago, you can never say you got absolutely everything right, but I’m proud of how we handled the big decisions – and I think the biggest lesson from that is the importance of clear priorities and a willingness to move at pace, but with conviction, accountability and sensitivity.

For IHG, that looked like launching enhanced IHG Way of Clean safety protocols for hotel colleagues and guests, flexible booking options and protected points and status for loyalty members. For our hotel owners, many of whom are small business operators facing real challenges, it’s been about lowering costs, supplier negotiations, flexible payment terms and access to vital government support. And for our communities, it’s been about using our kitchens to provide meals for those in need, or providing accommodation for frontline workers, quarantining travellers and the homeless. 

Evolution, or more so the pace at which we can evolve, has also been a big theme from this pandemic. Industries of all kinds have been reminded of our collective ability to make big strides in a short space of time. The miracle of vaccines is the biggest example, of course, but our own hospitality industry has shown innovation, ingenuity and determination – vital qualities in meeting the changing expectations of stakeholders.

The fast-tracking of things like digital check-in and hybrid meetings are two examples, while the pandemic has rapidly accelerated issues of a much broader scale, such as the ESG agenda and expectations on organisations to take the lead. At IHG, we’ve challenged ourselves to do more to create a more equitable society and tackle climate change, and this year we launched our 10-year responsible business plan, Journey to Tomorrow, to help us do it. During the Summit, we also signed up to the WTTC’s Women’s Initiative Declaration, to help ensure women are given equal opportunities to thrive in the workplace. We’ve made a lot of important progress in these areas in recent years and having the right programmes internally and partnerships externally is key to IHG going further.

Never standing still takes strength and resilience, with the pandemic making me realise that these are perhaps our greatest qualities as an industry. Of course, none of us would have chosen to experience this pandemic, but I do believe there are still opportunities to emerge stronger for it as leaders, organisations and as an industry.

Hospitality is a rich tapestry of businesses, people and places, and its absence or restricted presence in this pandemic has emphasised just what it means to all of us, and how it’s woven into the fabric of our daily lives, jobs, economies and communities. Across the travel and tourism sector, from cruise companies, to hotel groups and airlines, we’re partnering as peers and with governments and trade bodies to safely reopen travel. And it’s vital that we do – demand is increasing with each vaccine dose, and while there are still difficult challenges in some parts of the world, many markets feel much closer to a return of better times.  

Stay well.