International Women's Day: Championing equality

All next week in celebration of International Women’s Day, IHG will be hearing from female colleagues from across the business on the importance of equality, inclusivity and flexibility.

As CEO, I am proud to be a part of a culture where we support one another and where we are honest enough to proactively improve aspects of our business, like diversity among our senior leaders and hotel General Managers, female career development and flexible working arrangements.

Equally, as a father of two young teenage daughters, I am optimistic about the direction modern society is moving towards, for them and for future generations. An aspiration for my girls, for IHG colleagues around the world, and for society as a whole, is to have a level playing field between men and women - academically, professionally, personally.

Right now, my eldest daughter wants to be a vet, my youngest quite likes the idea of working with horses. Those paths may change over time, but what’s most encouraging to me is that I see social and structural obstacles being chipped away at, so that their paths truly can run their own course.

Some inspirational female role models have been instrumental in shaping and supporting me during my career, but nevertheless, I have certainly seen a different set of rules for men versus women over the years; an unhealthy and prohibitive bias that I think society is now outgrowing. I think you can see that growth not just in the workplace, but also in education, sports, social interactions and the language we choose to use today. I see this reflected in my daughters, who are growing into two strong women I am very proud of, empowered by a sense of opportunity that many women of recent generations might not have experienced.

I recognise the responsibility I have in my role at IHG to be clear on what this company stands for and what we expect of each other, our partners and our industry. We aren’t perfect today, but we are ambitious, and we truly value the rich perspectives and cultural benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce that represents the communities in which we operate. 

But I also recognise the role we all have to play. The choices we make, the words we say, our openness to avoid pre-conceptions and challenge stereotypes, these are fundamental elements of equality that we all have the power to influence every single day.

Equality isn’t a women’s issue, it is our issue. #eachforequal