This week, to mark International Women’s Day on March 8, 2023, HM is giving female leaders in the accommodation industry a platform to share their views on ways to support women in hospitality careers.
Here, G’day Group CIO, Amanda Baldwin, reveals the key business initiatives driving employment of women in regional areas.
“What’s a nice girl like you doing in a job like this?”
I’ve had that said to me a lot in my career. It’s an understandable occurrence when you start life as an insolvency accountant. In other instances, it’s been the question asked in the body language of the person sitting across the negotiation table or in the banter over celebration beers after a hard deal.
I’ve learnt from the women that have inspired me in my career, to lean into the point of difference. These women have shown me to have tough conversations with empathy, to negotiate firmly and without compromise, but ensure relationships are maintained at the end. Inevitably, at some point, that initial question turns into a statement, “I can see why you’re here.”
I’m proud of the fact that nearly 60% of G’day’s regional employees are women. With unemployment at an all-time low, significant challenges exist for regional hospitality businesses getting any staff – let alone women.
Initiatives that engage those members of the community that are underrepresented in employment are key to us.
We want to ensure we have laid good foundations to build a supportive culture within our teams. In some of our regional locations where staff live onsite, G’day have staff engagement programs (El Questro staff have twice weekend bootcamp sessions) and have access to generous parental leave benefits to support those growing a family.
Our Balance course for female leaders brings together key leaders from our regional sites to invest into their well-being, leadership and performance management through a series of virtual and face-to-face sessions.
Our Employee Assistance Program, gives regional staff, instant and 24-hour access to safety, medical, mental health and well-being support through the Sonder app. This type of support is key for our staff working and travelling remotely and we know our female staff especially are highly engaged with this.
G’Day parental leave provides 10 weeks top-up pay for the primary carer and two weeks top-up pay for the secondary carer. All employees, including casuals, are entitled to 10 days paid family and domestic leave for every 12 months of service.
Myself and our executive team (50% of which are female) have all been keen drivers of these critical initiatives and are excited to see our female workforce flourish as a result.