“The current top management split is 4 to 4”
Equal opportunities, chances for professional advancement and a good work-life balance are all leading priorities on the values agenda at Leonardo Hotels. And the figures show that none of this is mere lip service. Women hold half of all jobs right across the company and in every hierarchical area. To mark International Women’s Day, we spoke to Anke Maas, Director of Human Resources at Leonardo Hotels Central Europe, about the secret behind the successful achievement of a balanced gender ratio at all levels.
Ms. Maas, Leonardo Hotels is a signatory to and a recipient of numerous initiatives and awards, including the “Diversity Charter”, “Top Career Opportunities for Women” and “Best Company for Women”. These indicate that the company is an outstanding employer of women. There would certainly appear to be no need for you to shy away from discussing the female quota.
Anke Maas: Indeed, ever since the company was established over 20 years ago, we have been keen to ensure that we recruit and promote equal proportions of men and women. Personally speaking, I find it really important to have distribution of approximately 50 percent of each gender even with regard to the numbers of trainees and dual students.
But this doesn’t say anything about the proportion of women in senior management roles. Why does Leonardo Hotels also appoint women to executive positions as a matter of course?
Anke Maas: There is a link with our cultural origins here. Leonardo Hotels forms part of the Israeli-owned Fattal Hotel Group, which is of the view that it is only natural for the role of women in the world of work to be equal to that played by men. From the very outset, our founder David Fattal sought to employ as many women as possible in leadership functions, especially as hotel directors. He was and is of the firm belief that women can manage hotels well.
In specific terms, how many Leonardo Hotels are currently being led by women?
Anke Maas: 85 general managers are employed in the ten countries covered by Leonardo Hotels Central Europe. Of these, 42 are men and 43 are women.
And what about the more senior echelons of management?
Anke Maas: Women occupy around 50 percent of positions at all levels. This also applies to the executive team. The current top management split, for example, is 4 to 4.
Many women find it difficult to strike the right balance between their career and family life. What is the secret of the success of Leonardo Hotels?
Anke Maas: We instigated a mentoring programme in 2023 in order to show young women the route into a management position. One of the objectives is to teach them and their male counterparts about gaining a good work-life balance. We use role models to demonstrate that this is possible and how it can be done.
What career progression options do you offer?
Anke Maas: The Leonardo Academy and our Development Dialogue are the main instruments via which we encourage young talent and, of course, foster the progress of women. We achieve a 50 percent to 50 percent representation in these internal development programmes. However, we also now need to make sure that we do not lose sight of the young men. They too have a huge interest in the right work-life balance and wish to fulfil their caring obligations in the same way as women.