IHG
Harnessing the power of networks

IHG is one of the world’s leading hotel companies and more than 350,000 people work across our hotels and corporate offices. The global nature of our business means that our guests, owners and colleagues are incredibly diverse, and we foster an inclusive culture that reflects this, aligned to our commitment of providing True Hospitality for everyone.

We have made excellent progress in increasing the gender balance of our leadership through local interventions, almost trebling our proportion of senior female leadership in the last five years. Our voluntary colleague-led Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) in the Atlanta-based headquarters of our Americas business, are one of the most impactful examples. Almost half of our ‘entry level’ female ERG members are being promoted into larger roles in the first 18 months following an ERG being established.

Our ERGs have developed a strong network of partner organisations, including ‘Women In Technology’ and ‘Georgia Women in Lodging’, as well as other organisations in the local community, such as Coca-Cola. They have also represented IHG at the Centennial TedEx series. These relationships help inspire career progression through the sharing of ideas and mentoring opportunities, as well as enabling our colleagues to be ambassadors for our brands.

“We believe in executing simple change interventions really well and our Americas Employee Resource Groups are a great example of this. Setting quotas and publicly communicating targets can drive behaviours you may not desire. ERGs are an extremely effective way of helping colleagues to perform at their best, develop and grow.”
Ranjay Radhakrishnan, Chief Human
Resources Officer, IHG