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At Atlas Hotels, we recognise that diversity is fundamental to thriving in the hospitality industry. Our organisational EDI goals centre around reflecting the rich, cultural diversity of our guests and fostering a workplace where every team member feels valued and empowered. We operate our ‘Accommodate Programme’, which focuses on making Atlas a great place to work for everyone.
The main objectives of the programme were to:
– Attract Diverse Candidates: We wanted to attract talent from various backgrounds, particularly underrepresented groups in the hospitality sector. Prior to this programme, most of our advertising was focused around Indeed
– Engage and Support the Work of Skilled Third Parties: Partner with organisations that support underrepresented individuals and those experiencing barriers to work
– Recruit Underrepresented Individuals: Guarantee interviews to those who were referred to us by third party agencies, giving them an opportunity that they might not have otherwise had- leading to increased hires from diverse backgrounds
– Upskill Managers: Upskill our recruiting managers on the importance of diversity in their teams and how to support those with barriers to employment, increasing retention
A key initiative of the programme is our partnership with Shaw Trust. Atlas works directly with the National Account Manager at Shaw Trust, and has so far offered 55 interviews/work trials to Shaw Trust participants across its estate. 20% of these participants have received a job offer from Atlas.
We continue to drive forward given the fantastic results we have already seen from this programme, including:
– Workforce Diversity in Hospitality: Through our partnerships and targeted initiatives, we have recruited numerous people into the organisation that would not otherwise have been offered roles. There have been notable gains in particular in the numbers of people employed who identify as disabled as well as prison leavers.
– Through this work and the associated training, Atlas Hotels is recognised as Disability Confident (Committed) and is now working towards Disability Confident status.
– 100% of our Hotel Operations Managers attended Diversity, Equality and Inclusion training.
– The organisation has been listed in the Disability Power 100 (2024) by Shaw Trust
– Whilst gender was not the focus of our EDI programme, our gender pay gap has also reduced in the past year, going from 6.9% in our 2022 report, to 3.2% in our 2023 report.
Increasing the conversation around diversity has also encouraged employees to divulge their sensitive data (sexual orientation, religion, disability) and month on month we are monitoring voluntary disclosure levels to see this increase.
Atlas Hotels is both diverse and inclusive, and our people love working here! Our most recent engagement survey in June 2024, saw us score an Employee Net Promoter Score of 65- for comparison a score of 30 is considered good! We are really proud of our achievements and engagement levels and believe our focus on diversity has really supported us to achieve this.
Atlas Hotels is not yet at the stage where we have targets for diversity of its employees. Our initial targets are to gradually increase the % of our employees that are voluntarily providing us with their sensitive demographic data, as we believe that is a measure of their confidence that they won’t be treated any differently for providing us with this information. We are monitoring declaration rates each month to ensure they are increasing.
We also review our work with our external partners each quarter, to ensure from an appointment perspective, we are filling jobs with candidates via these diverse routes.
Our journey towards being Disability Confident also requires us to be externally validated before achieving this status, as such this ensures our continuous improvement.
From an ESG perspective, DE&I is one of our ‘pillars’ of activity, and progress is reviewed every two months by an independent person not attached to any function. This pillar is headed up by the Finance Director and is supported by a number of members of the Atlas management team.
We are excited to see where this journey takes us next.
We believe we are the changemakers! Attitudes around employment, job adjustments and ‘what makes a great employee’ are really important to us at Atlas Hotels, but we know from our employee’s previous experience that isn’t the case for all employers. We would like to see all those providing jobs in the UK to change their attitudes and focus on what people can achieve, not what they believe they can’t.
I believe employers need more of an education and support around employment of disabled people, which can at first appear overwhelming. Most employers are trying to do the right thing, but may feel intimidated by the perceived needs or adjustments required to employ those who may be disabled. Some education and mentorship for those employers would support a positive step forward.
Disability Power 100 profile information is self-submitted by the profile subject. Shaw Trust understands and respects that disability and impairment descriptors and language use varies from person to person. Shaw Trust assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or discrepancies in the content of this, or any other, profile page.