Importance of networking and community building for women in hospitality sector

The hospitality sector is highly interactive, dynamic, and vast. It continues to account for about 10% of the global labour market. The unique nature of its people-centric offering creates opportunities for a wide variety of job roles that are continuously evolving. As such, hospitality has always been innately poised to champion diversity in its workforce - this includes diversity across employee demographics as well as skill sets. The sector, thus, poses an important avenue for aspiring women to design upwardly mobile careers that can place them in strategically valued positions across the industry. Networking and community building are an essential part of achieving gender representation and, specifically, placing more women into leadership roles in hospitality. 

In addition to connecting entrepreneurs with investors or talent and potential candidates with employers, networking plays a foundationally important role in boosting confidence and creating a supportive environment of shared experiences. This collaborative space for knowledge sharing and relationship building is a diveboard towards not simply finding the immediate right step forward but choosing one that feeds meaningfully into long term goals. 

When it comes to women seeking employment in hospitality, job openings continue to see a lower ratio of women applicants across roles, this gap is especially high when it comes to top level designations. This is due to a variety of factors, some of which can be mitigated through information sharing. Through networking and community building, it is important for women candidates to actively seek out organisations who prioritise representation and inclusion through a holistic approach. Value-based companies in the sector create human resources policies and recruitment processes to attract and retain diversity in their workforce. These organisations, who are very vocal about their hiring practices, do participate in talent searching through conventional avenues such as recruitment agencies, and professional social media platforms. However, there is an opportunity to connect with both a supportive community and the right employer in a more organic manner by attending conclaves, seminars and even digital gatherings hosted by professional communities or desirable employers themselves. 

Networking, whether it is to seek out investors, mentors, collaborators or employment, is largely about joining the conversation. The benefits of this extend beyond creating opportunities to facilitating measurable change in the status quo. Through alliances - whether affinity groups, grassroot initiatives or formal mentorship programmes - women can contribute to lasting shifts within their existing organisations; shifts that open doors for future generations of women. Therefore, the lesser recognised, though perhaps, more crucial strength in networking is the leverage these communities provide for advocacy of particular interests, common challenges and actionable solutions. 

On the other hand, responsible leaders are called to lower barriers of entry that they may have faced themselves. It is, therefore, equally important for women in leadership to take on roles of mentorship, design forums for community building and activate partnerships that create a symbiotic momentum for equitable, safe, inspiring and inclusive workforces. These initiatives, whether applied within existing organisations or carried out as independent forums, serve to build an ecosystem of collaborative growth that helps to well position more women in the hospitality sector and effect incremental change on common practices across the industry. 

Networking and community building remain, as they always have, immutable pillars of professional development. The benefits of these forums can now be utilised to support and advocate for the interests of women candidates and entrepreneurs. Women in leadership playing a pivotal role in designing and establishing more tailored spaces for partnerships and alliances that seed both opportunity and impact would simultaneously bolster a thoughtful, supportive and lasting shift towards representation in the hospitality sector. 

Author Bio: Shruti Shibulal is CEO & Director, Tamara Leisure Experiences