Celebrating our women on International Women's Day

International Women's Day (March 8th) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. At Radisson Blu, we're working hard to create more opportunities for our incredible women employees by encouraging them to pursue their career goals – the sky is the limit!

A key objective for Radisson Hotel Group is to achieve balanced leadership by increasing the representation of women in senior positions, breaking down the barriers that prevent women from speaking openly about their careers, harnessing the individual strengths of our female leaders. Keep reading to learn about a few of our extraordinary women, currently working at different Blus across the globe, and how their incredible talent and commitment make them role models for us all.

Helene Hallre has been the General Manager of the Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel, Aarhus in Denmark since October, but she has been part of the family since August 2005. One of her favorite hospitality moments was when one of her colleagues in the breakfast team started drawing smileys on the boiled eggs she delivered to guests. This simple little gesture received fantastic feedback from all guests saying that we gave them the perfect start to their day. What an example of how small things can have a great impact our guests' stay, truly making every moment matter.

Virginie Thevenet is the General Manager of the Radisson Blu Hotel, Nantes in France. Virginie is a graduate of the company's STEPS program, which trains high-potential women leaders for senior management positions. She believes that nothing is better than to succeed with a challenge. And no challenge is too big for this dynamic, solutions-oriented woman!

Natalia Tughushi recently became General Manager of the Radisson Residences, Zavidovo in Russia. This is her first position within the Radisson Hotel Group and she chose it because: “I share Radisson Hotel Group's culture and the fact that the company focus is on personal people development - I find the continuous learning inspiring.”

Stephanie started her apprenticeship in 1999 as an accounting clerk at Radisson SAS Resort in Rugen, Germany. After finishing the apprenticeship, Stephanie was presented with a golden opportunity - a transfer to Radisson SAS Cologne's accounting department. Since the hotel was in its opening phase, certain “flexibility” for cross-departmental work was key for success. While working in Cologne, fate intervened in an unexpected way: she was informed that due to the transition of several accounting duties to the newly opened shared service center… her position became obsolete. Luckily, she reached out to the Executive Housekeeper and was able to secure a position that really let her talents shine!

Stephanie needed to start again from scratch: Cleaning rooms, distributing laundry, vacuuming mile-long-corridors… She did so well that in short time she was promoted to Assistant Housekeeping Manager. “Looking back, after 8 years and another promotion, I feel proud and lucky at the same time. Lucky for the opportunity that really came by chance and proud for the successes we could achieve. By building and maintaining a team, we reduced our turnover to beneath zero, we reduced our cost structure by increasing flexibility, and use our own team members to clean and check rooms when time allows. We delivered a brand audit score of 94% with team motivation and incentives for achieving extraordinary results,” Stephanie says. “And most importantly, I still enjoy every day, knowing where I come from…”

& Nadine El Assaad - Executive Assistant Manager at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Muscat

Nadine El Assaad has big dreams. The Executive Assistant Manager at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Muscat in Oman has ambitions to be the first Omani female General Manager in Oman. Thanks to the Mentee Program at The Radisson Hotel Group, her dreams may soon become a reality.

The Radisson Hotel Group Mentee Program is a fast track development program for high-potential future leaders. Nadine is one of many employees in the 2017 program who have been paired with a mentor who helps groom them for a step up the career ladder. “I grew up in hotels,” says Nadeen. “My father was a hotelier, so I always had great interest. I am inspired by other General Managers, and I want to be able to inspire people, too, by interaction and motivating people.” Nadine, a native of Lebanon, started her career as a telephone operator, and moved up to the Rooms Division to Assistant Front Office Manager before changing course to Revenue Management. In 2006, she joined Radisson Hotel Group and was appointed Executive Assistant Manager at the Radisson Blu Hotel Muscat in 2012. Her advice for women who want to follow in her footsteps? “Don't ever give up on yourself,” she says, “and believe in the power of positive thinking!”