Rt Hon Justine Greening, discusses the role the hospitality sector can play in levelling up

few qualifications and little or no work experience, and for those who need to fit their work around their life, not the other way around. We offer opportunities for those who would like to progress to a management role or those who have finished one career but would still like a local job to earn a bit extra. For some people, all these attributes apply and at different times in their life.

JG In our work at the Purpose Coalition, we see employers and businesses as engines of social mobility. That’s always been a core part of what Travelodge does isn’t it - it’s in its DNA?

HT Travelodge is a purpose-led business with an ambition to provide affordable travel for everyone. With almost 600 hotels, it can also provide work and career progression that isn’t just in big city centres, so people don’t have to move away from home to get on. It opens up opportunities for people who can give the hospitality sector a go in their own communities. There are no minimum education qualifications. We can teach people what they need to know and if they’re interested, and it’s the right time, we can work with them to develop the skills they need to progress. They set the pace.

JG Travelodge is one of the UK’s largest budget hotel chains. From a hospitality sector perspective, how does it fit into the levelling up agenda?

HT The industry is really well placed to contribute to the Government’s strategy around levelling up. At Travelodge, that’s a lot to do with its geographical reach. We offer a range of fulltime and part-time jobs, providing opportunities for those with

JG The Purpose Coalition is working with Travelodge to produce a Levelling up Impact Report which will look at the company’s best practice through the Purpose Goals. Where do you feel it is making the biggest difference in improving social mobility?

HT Eighty per cent of the managerial and supervisory roles in our hotels are filled by internal applicants so that generates movement at all levels which means that opportunity is very real. There is huge potential for progression, sometimes quite rapidly, for our staff. A person can join their local hotel or explore opportunities away from home. Our in-house development programme, Aspire, helps hundreds of colleagues each year to move careers and it propels our very capable workforce forward. But progression isn’t just about promotion. For many, it’s about learning new skills or reskilling, sometimes while remaining in their current role. We engage in a lot of multi-skilling and many employees are involved in pilot schemes of new products, new equipment, new processes. Technology helps us to identify where people need help with their learning or how they can learn more quickly and we use digital training tools which can be delivered in the language of their choice audibly, visually or through the written word. We also want to harness the skills they already have and their life experiences so that everyone can be their true selves –that can include mental health, LGBTQ+, race and class issues and, with 75% of our colleagues being female, the menopause.

JG With such a diverse workforce, and with a range of aspirations, you have to think really flexibly about how to support your staff and what good looks like working for Travelodge.

HT We offer decent work with meaningful contractual arrangements. There are no zero-hour contracts – staff want certainty of hours and pay to enable them to plan their lives and their household budgets – but if there’s the chance to work more hours, we like to give them that opportunity. Work needs to fit around their lives and their other responsibilities outside Travelodge so managers work incredibly hard with their team members to achieve that. Post Covid, I think there’s more of a focus on wellbeing than a so-called work-life balance, although that does still seem to be a focus for young people in particular. At Travelodge we have a programme that focuses on physical, emotional, financial and work wellbeing and we’re always open to having conversations about mental health.

JG There has been a change and young people do want different things from a career now. They want to know that there’ll be the potential for them to grow as a person if they take a job with a specific organisation. The Purpose Coalition works with the businesses that can offer that.

HT A learning mindset is important. Career progression isn’t about climbing the ladder anymore, it’s about growth and learning for its own sake. We have a responsibility to help people grow life skills too and we weave these into our development programmes. If you’re going into a supervisory or managerial role you need to be able to look after yourself from a wellbeing point of view to be able to look after others. Building resilience is key and we also have a corporate social responsibility to make sure that when people move on they can take these skills with them. That underpins our Aspire programme in particular.

JG The ability to look after yourself matters in the hospitality sector where your job is looking after people. It also matters more broadly in the context of productivity – healthier people mean a healthier economy. When I started my own career, I was always interested in business but didn’t know much about the different roles and who looks after the people side of it. Had you always planned a role in HR?

HT I actually began my career in retail with the John Lewis Partnership. Although I loved school I hadn’t really engaged academically and it was only later, when I saw friends having careers and well-paid jobs, that I decided to go to university. I did much better there than I would have done if I’d gone earlier and that showed me there’s a time to do things that’s right for us as individuals. I continued working at John Lewis throughout my degree in a number of different roles and spent 17 years in retail, going on to take professional HR qualifications. I moved to Travelodge in 2016.

JG What attracted you to Travelodge and how does it fit with a social mobility culture?

HT Culture can be a difficult thing to define but I understood what Travelodge was trying to achieve as a business. I felt I could contribute to that and make a difference. It’s a business which is big but feels small and friendly, it’s centralised and standard-driven but it’s overflowing with personality, it’s chatty and extrovert but it leans in and listens. It moves at pace, but we always still find the time to share opinions, experiences and knowledge. We get lots done.

JG If you were talking to your younger self, what would you say?

HT I’m not sure if a younger Hannah would have listened but I would say that a to-do list is never done, and the things on it should change with time! That goes for home as well as work. I’d also emphasise that people tend to figure things out in their own time.

JG What is your proudest moment to date?

HT I think it’s Travelodge holding on in the pandemic and avoiding large scale redundancies. Working as an 11,000 strong team, we can look forward to a better future for our staff, customers and investors.