Managing a culturally diverse workforce
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from a wide range of countries and cultures who come to enjoy our country and hospitality. Likewise, the industry itself is becoming more international and culturally diverse. At any given time there are hundreds of people from many overseas countries working in the accommodation sector here.
The Hilton Auckland, for example, currently has more than 24 different nationalities working in the hotel, while the Intercontinental Wellington has staff from over 18 different countries.
The staff mix at the Rendezvous Hotel in Auckland is equally diverse. As director human resources Jade Leung explains: "We have employees from every inhabited continent, with cultural affiliations around the globe."
So, how do our top accommodation facilities manage the diverse cultural needs of their staff in the working environment, the multitude of languages spoken, while at the same time ensuring all their international team members feel comfortable and confident within the New Zealand workplace?
Georgina Noon, human resources manager of the InterContinental Wellington, says that as a global hotel company, the InterContinental has, as one of its 'ways of working' initiative, a goal to 'celebrate difference'.
"This culture is embedded across all hotel departments ensuring an inclusive approach. This attribute has been a long-standing part of all the team so we haven't needed to introduce any specific work practices for our international team and we work with staff to accommodate any special requirements one on one."
The Hilton takes a similar approach. According to Chris Partridge, general manager Hilton Auckland and Hilton Lake Taupo, the Hilton supports diversity in the workplace, and in doing so, is "sensitive to any individual needs as they arise".
The Rendezvous Hotel Auckland believes in attracting and retaining a diverse workforce and supports the principles of equal employment opportunity, Ms Leung says.
"The rationale behind this goes beyond being a good corporate citizen, as we also appreciate that our diversity allows us to reflect and better serve our wide range of customers."
The guest benefits are also noted by Hilton's Mr Partridge who says having many nationalities working in the hotel means it has more than 20 different languages available in the hotel to assist guests.
"The hotel also assists team members who wish to improve their language skills," he says.
A very high domestic and Australian customer base at the InterContinental means the hotel requires its front-of-house team to have strong competency in English, Ms Noon says.
"The back-of-house team, on the other hand, has a high level of diversity; however, with supervisor and management support the team is able to work on a level platform."
AS Ms Leung points out, the Rendezvous also requires strong verbal communication skills from its staff, and provides training that incorporates adult learning techniques.
"This ensures that there is a practical understanding of our expectations and standards. This means service delivery is augmented and integrated with cultural and personal diversity. Once again, this provides benefits from an internal team as well as from a customer perspective."
In addition to interacting with hotel guests, staff, of course, interact with each other every day as they go about their duties. Here again, the hotels spoken to make sure these relationships work well.
Ms Leung: "We rely on our teams to look out for each other and as part of the training and induction process, new team members are paired up with longer-serving colleagues to assist them with any issues in the first few weeks. Our management team is also very hands-on and always available to provide support as and when needed.
"We also have an employee assistance programme available through Lifeline that provides an external, independent and confidential counselling service, which complements our in-house support framework."
Globally, InterContinental has a programme called 'room to be yourself'where the personality and interests of all staff are supported and communicated amongst the teams. Ms Noon explains.
"This philosophy drives a sense of interest and acceptance amongst the team, which is underpinned by professional standards and skills. By having a shared culture we find the team adapts naturally and with a number of staff having been here a long time they are able to support new staff. On the rare occasion that any differences do arise we talk them through and ensure the whole team is aligned moving forwards."
Ms Noon also notes that as part of the induction of all team members, local community knowledge plays a large part in facilitating a smooth introduction to their new environment.
All in all, it is apparent from the hotels spoken to that having a culturally diverse mix of staff has many benefits, both for the business and for everyone concerned. As the Hilton's Mr Partridge puts it: "There are many and varied positive effects – from the great opportunity to assist our international guests in a more personal way to the opportunity for everybody to learn more about different cultures."
At the InterContinental, themed canteen lunches are one example of how team spirit is lifted because of cultural diversity, Ms Noon says.
"A different nation is chosen and members of that community have the opportunity to theme the room while the kitchen team prepares national dishes. This is both educational and supportive, and there is also an increased knowledge and understanding of other cultures.
"Another example is that our housekeeping department has a shared lunch every month where each member of the team brings something they have made at home. We tend to get a large range of international food and the team love it."
