Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the episode two of Leadership series podcast presented by the Alberta Marriott Business Council. Our guest today is Aparva Gandhi, senior Vice President, Multicultural Affairs, Social Impact, and Business Council, Marriott International. Join us while we talk to this fantastic leader.
So welcome, everyone. This is our second Alberta Business Council podcast series. I am Martin Gilbert, chair of the Alberta Business Council and I am joined by Jennifer Vantale, general manager of the Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel as well as Alicia Duquet, HR coordinator at the Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel as well. She's also the co chair of our Junior Business Council in Alberta. And today we have the extreme pleasure to host Aparva. Gandhi, senior vice President, Multicultural Affairs, Social Impact and Business Council. Welcome.
[00:00:59] Speaker B: Thank you so much. I'm so delighted to be here and thank you for inviting me. It's quite an honor to do this, so I'm looking forward to it.
[00:01:07] Speaker C: Awesome. So I was chatting with Martin a little bit about you being the head of Business Council. So I'm new to Business Council, so it's exciting to speak with you. And he tells me that you actually filled in for some pretty big shoes. So can you tell me a little bit about taking over the role? What excites you about it?
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Yeah, great question. Let me again just start off with my gratitude, Martin, Jennifer and Alicia, for all the work that you're doing with our business councils. It is so important to our communities, to Marriott and everything in between, to our associates. It's really something very, very special to us and continues to be, as I'll talk about in a minute what my predecessor called our army of goodness and on other days, our secret weapon. So, to your question, Jennifer. Yeah. I had the great honor of taking on this great role from Debbie Marriott Harrison, who we all know and adore, who led the business councils for many, many years and was just such an amazing leader and took the business councils to next level. Next level greatness. She's just truly an inspiration and I feel very honored to step into her shoes. But it was interesting. Debbie is so beloved and for all the right reasons. She's a great person. But I kind of sat back and thought about it and said, I can't step into her shoes and fill them the way she would. I have to create my own shoes and be inspired by the great work she does, but do it a little bit in the way that fits me and create some new shoes and find some new trails as well, while still honoring all the amazing work that she does. And she and I still keep in close touch. We meet for lunch every now and then. And she's still very involved in her travels. She travels and meets the business councils a lot. Still, it's a passion for her. And we've actually done some great joint events together where we do kind of a fireside chat. She's just a lovely person and an inspiration and the Marriott culture, right? Walking, living, and breathing.
[00:03:06] Speaker D: That's awesome. So you obviously are in this big role now, but I'm kind of curious to hear how you got here. Where did your journey start?
[00:03:15] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:03:15] Speaker B: Great question. So I would say from a professional perspective, I've been with Mary at 18 years. Oh, wow. Yeah. Before then, I worked long time. I know when I started, you all can see me on audio, but when I started, I think I had a full head of hair, and it's all gone now.
I've been with the company 18 years or so. Before that, I worked for Accenture, which is a big global consulting firm, for about 13 years. But then when I was in college at the University of Maryland, I worked at a Marriott as a front desk associate at the Marriott. And, you know, it was a wonderful, wonderful way to learn the business on property. I mean, that's just like at the front desk, right? That's where you get to meet people, give everyone that warm Merritt welcome. I always fell at the front desk. You're kind of like the hub of activities.
You get all the phone calls. You get all the people driving from the airport. It was before Google Maps, right? People, hey, how do I get to the hotel? And I truly loved it. I really loved working there. And yes, my feet still hurt because you're on your feet. As you all know, you're property folks. You're on your feet all day. But when I graduated, I then went to work for Accenture for 13 years, doing telecom, business mergers and acquisitions. However, I learned a lot working there. I really learned a lot, and I stayed in a lot of Marriott hotels. Because you're a traveling consultant. 13 great years there. Loved it, but then decided as my life progressed personally, got married, had kids, I just said I wanted to not be on the road as much as that job demanded. And I came to Marriott. And the first I would say seven of those 18 years I worked in HR in an organization called Organizational Capability. That's a lot of syllables.
So we would be brought in to look at different organizations, study them, and figure out how can we reassemble things so that we can make sure that we're all partnering to deliver the best value we can to the company and do great things. I got to work with amazing leaders. I got to travel the world creating the continental organizational structures, which was just an amazing delight and just really enjoyed it. So I did that for about seven or eight years and then got a phone call and said, hey, look, we got this opportunity to look at something called multicultural affairs. I was like, well, that sounds interesting. What does that mean, multicultural affairs? It's about how do we tell our diversity and inclusion story externally? How do we interact with organizations around people with disabilities, LGBTQ, indigenous peoples, and groups like that? Diverse groups globally? How do we tell our story about how Marriott's a great place where we welcome all? No matter who you are, where you come from, what your abilities are, or who you love, everyone's welcome at Merit. You all know this. It was really a great opportunity. And I'd always done diversity and inclusion work my entire life, always, since I was born. I come from an immigrant family. I grew up in the United States in a very Indian home, and then would go to school in a very American public school, and I would straddle both, never truly feeling like I'd fit in in either one sometimes.
So diversity and inclusion was something that was always just built into me. I grew up as an outsider. I was bullied horrendously as a kid. It's just a tough, tough childhood that way. Yeah, but it's always something you keep with you, right? So I had always felt like an outsider, and I was given this great opportunity, like, how can I work for a hospitality company in this role where our job is to welcome everybody, bring everyone in? I jumped right on that. I jumped right on. I said, that's the role for me. So I did that for a long time, and I still have that role of looking after and telling our great story and interacting, but then also broadening it to say, how can our hotels understand different customer cultures, indian weddings, LGBTQ events? How do we welcome folks from all walks of life with cultural competence? And the Canada team has been huge in that. I've worked with many of your general managers across your great country to do just that and hold programs in Ottawa, and I know in Calgary, Martin, in your great city where all of you are at some of your hotels. We've had GMs who really take this on and say, how can we teach our teams to understand the differences that make a difference? So then continue to do that? And then Debbie called me and said, hey, I'm retiring. I'd love for you to look after our business councils, and took that on. And then a couple of years ago, got another phone call and said, hey, listen, we'd love for you to look after our social impact platform, our Serve 360 work, and how we do great things and serve our world in all directions. So I feel like I'm the luckiest guy. I really adore what I do. We all work hard, and I feel I get to work hard on stuff that fills my soul. That was a long answer to your short question.
[00:08:09] Speaker D: No, I wanted to hear all of it. That's awesome.
[00:08:12] Speaker C: It sounds like business counsel is a real.
It makes sense with the career that you've chosen along the way as well so how do you use business counsel to get franchise involvement? So franchise and managed? Obviously, there's two components to Marriott world. Managed, you might say you have more direct control over and I use that word very just as a word to use and franchise, less perceived control. So how do you get that franchise buy in on the business council for these very important issues know we're facing?
[00:08:42] Speaker B: Yeah, it's really important. It's a huge part of our business, as you all well know. It's growing. The numbers don't lie, right?
And the way I look at it is, look, there's a quote that I heard from Mr. Marriott that was told to me from some time ago and it said, when you fly that Marriott flag up above, it stands for something. And that applies to whether it's the managed hotel or franchise hotel, both are in the know because when you have that flag, the customer doesn't know, frankly, probably doesn't care about. All they know is they booked with Marriott, they get bonvoy points and they booked with us because they know we'll take great care of them and give them an exceptional stay. So how do we use our business councils? Well, the great thing about business councils is everyone is welcome, right? All brands, small, medium, large, managed, franchise, no matter what, you're welcome. And it's a great way because they're very market related, right? Calgary business council ottawa business council new york city business council These hotels, no matter what they are, have many of the same challenges and opportunities. So why not bring everyone together and learn from each other, right? If there are government regulations out there, those apply to managed and franchises. It's not like there's a difference, right, from a governmental perspective. So we should band together and find strength in our numbers, learn from each other, share the learning so we all benefit. But also, as I always say, we need to reach out with to our franchise friends and show them what the value of Marriott is from a perspective of, look, they invest in our brands for a reason. But also, I always say, look, if you don't have a social impact program, you can use ours Thursday. You don't have a dei person or a program, you can call me, I can come and talk and you can leverage a lot of the great work we're doing because in the end, it's all about welcoming our guests. And that's, I think, you know, the business councils are a great outreach and value provider to our franchisees and a great place for them to teach us and for us to show them some stuff that we've learned. I think the business councils are crucial because they're market based, they have those relationships.
[00:10:46] Speaker C: I can only speak for Alberta, but they've done a really great job of that.
[00:10:49] Speaker D: So you've obviously been in a leadership position, you have a wealth of leadership experience. I'm curious to know, what is your leadership philosophy?
[00:10:58] Speaker B: Sure. Great question.
It'd probably be a good question for my team to see kind of the 360 what do you call it? The 360 interview. Like, where our evaluation?
[00:11:10] Speaker C: 360 feedback.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: Yeah. There you go. I'll give you their names later.
I think as a leader, my job is to help my team and by extension, Marriott be successful. Right. And I take great pride in helping my team get their work done. I have my own work done, but that's on me to figure out. I can do that. Right. But I have a team of seven or eight people who are phenomenal. I'm really proud of my team. I feel lucky to work with them. I like to surround myself with folks who are smarter than me, know topics better than me, and have great experiences to bring to the table. And that, to me, is really important, because I ask my team for their guidance. I ask my team for their judgment on things. And I trust them. Right. I trust them. I'm not a micromanager. I try not to be like, what I want to do is, look, in any organization, you're trying to get work done, there are barriers. Sometimes there are people you have to work with, people you have to get over the finish line. I say, Let me know how I can help you. What are the roadblocks that you may have? And let me help remove them for you. How can I be of service to you? Because if I'm service to you, then you're being able to be service to Marriott and by extension, our know people say the word servant leader. I really think of it that way, because if they're successful, I'm successful, and Marriott's successful. And that's my approach to doing it. And also, look, I really believe in putting people first, developing people's careers, giving them opportunities, giving them opportunities, but helping them. Helping them with those opportunities and give guidance. So if they're doing something they've never done before, because we want them to grow and stretch that, I say, hey, look, you're about to give a presentation that you've never done before to a group of leaders you've never met before. How about a week prior? We practice together and let me pretend to be them. Right. And then I pepper them with questions. Right.
[00:13:05] Speaker D: Sorry.
That's one of the things that makes someone a great leader, is making sure that you're there for your employees. You're communicating well.
You're getting their feedback with whatever decision that you have to make.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: Yeah. I think that's so important is to spend that time giving feedback along the way, prepping them so that they can anticipate what might come their way, and then making sure they're prepared. That, to me, is being a good leader, because I'm trying to teach and develop folks. And you know what? A lot of time I learn with them, that's a beautiful thing.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: So I know your team really well, and you've got an amazing team and how hard it is. So we would all agree that Serve 360 and business consulting is very important. And sitting in a room, everybody would agree 100%. But then we go into real life where we're not meeting budget or owners calls and life get busy. Sometimes I feel this is one of the first things that fall off the agenda. And so what would you say to GM? That this is equally as important as everything else on the know.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: This is part of our culture. This is part of how we do business. Right? What does Mr. Marriott say? I think how we do business is just as important as the business we do, and this is how we operate. This is the kind of company we are. Many leaders have something called a balance scorecard, where you have the look, we're a business, right? We have shareholders, we have goals and we have obligations fiduciarily to our owners, to the markets, and to the public. We have to deliver on those. But I would almost say let's just take Serve 360 work, volunteering in our communities. That's actually a business advantage. You know why? Because there are studies out there that show that customers care about this stuff. They care about doing business, especially millennials and Gen Z. Trust me, I live with three Gen Z people. I know they're always lecturing me on things, but it's something where they want to do business with companies that share their values, that are out there in the community, that are diverse and inclusive. I know in Canada, you talked about the beautiful Mosaic, right? That they want to see that representation, but also doing good in communities. Also from a customer perspective. But also there are studies that show that associates want to work for companies that have similar values and have a similar purpose. And that's what keeps people fulfilled at work as well. So I think both of those play into. And if you have happy customers who believe in you and are loyal and happy associates doing great work, what's the byproduct business gets good, gets better, and you can do good business. So I think it's all intertwined.
[00:15:44] Speaker C: So when you're a leader like yourself, or even as general managers, we understand and we are participating, how do you make sure you get that message all the way down to the line level? Ambassador?
[00:15:54] Speaker B: Right? Yeah, absolutely. Because the way it happens is we are all leaders. Every person in this company is a leader. And it's important that we continue as our leadership says. We want to grow great leaders, we want to bring opportunities. But it's important that let's just take Dei, for example. It's everybody's job, not just the poor of his job. It's not just senior leadership's job. It's everybody's job because we all have a role to play as general managers. Like the two of you and an HR leader here in the room with Alyssa. It's really important that as you work with people, that you are inclusive, that you role model this behavior and show it.
I always say, look, if you're managing a team, you're a leader. If you are working with guests, say you're not managing a team, but you interact with a guest, guess what? You're a leader because you're representing the company. So it's important that we take tools and really make them digestible on property, right? We don't have to give people, like, novels to read. We need to give very tactical things to read and then reinforce it. And you know what they say, what gets measured gets done.
[00:16:59] Speaker C: So what do you think, some of the qualities you have personally that have served you well in your career?
[00:17:04] Speaker B: I think a few things. One, like all of us at Merit, we're a roll up your sleeves company, right? We have a lot of smart people, don't get me wrong. We got a lot of smart people come up with strategies, come up with approaches, come up with the big picture stuff, and that's important. But at some point, you got to turn the corner and be like, okay, these are the ten things that need to get done. I always liken it. I remember when I worked on property, being at the front desk. We've all been there. You have those weekends where it's meeting, the hotel is full, lots of big events going on. And I just remember one day, I was just hanging out at the front desk, customers are coming in and out, and the events leader comes by. He goes, all right, whole house, all hands on deck. We got to take this room, take it down and turn it over, and it's going to look like this. And I think she went and grabbed everyone from all the different disciplines that brought everyone together. We got to get this done. But it's that teamwork, right? We all said, yeah, let's go. And you know what? We turned that room, and it looked beautiful, and we were giving each other, like, in the back high fives afterwards. We were like, yeah, we got it done. It was great. But I think it's that teamwork. I think it's the hard work. I would say, for me, what I pride myself in is building good relationships with people. I think that's really important. Not everything can be done on a phone. You can do a lot of things on the phone, but not everything. There's no I would say replacement sometimes for being in a room with someone, having lunch, sitting down in front of someone and just having that good chat and talking through things. That is really important. I also think the idea of, I don't know, it's just meeting skills in a meeting, right, how one conducts themselves. Look, we're in the hospitality business, so we're typically all pretty friendly types and it's okay to disagree, but we can disagree without being disagreeable. Makes sense. And I think that's a really important skill, especially in our business. And I think it's served me well over the years. And then the last thing I would just say is metrics. I think it's really important to quantify things and show people through metrics the value that people bring to the table. That's what I would say. I'm still a work in progress, though.
[00:19:09] Speaker C: We all are. Yes.
[00:19:10] Speaker A: So it's going to shift gear a little bit before we talk about NHL hockey.
[00:19:15] Speaker B: Yes, I was waiting for that.
[00:19:17] Speaker A: We'll get there. But yesterday we had our Business Council meeting and we presented the goal for the goal we have for 2025 to get to 15 million hour volunteer. And I believe we were at 8 million last year.
[00:19:33] Speaker B: If I'm not 8.9 million, we ended 8.9 million.
[00:19:37] Speaker A: So there's still a lot of work to be done. How do you feel we're going to achieve that 15 million hour goal for.
[00:19:43] Speaker B: We'Re going to get there and the way we're going to do it is a few strategies. And let me first off, thank the Canada team. Don Cleary has just been such a supporter. I love the Gimme Five campaign. I think it makes total sense and it just rolls off the tongue. Gimme five.
It's perfect. But I think we will get there. And here's why. I know our teams are volunteering. I know they are. It's part of our culture. We're seeing it all around the globe. But we're really pushing the idea that the world wants to know what we're doing. And we have this great tool called just report it. And we're making it simpler and simpler for folks to get their hands on it. We created a QR code. We have one pagers. We're also promoting the fact that, listen, we had a pandemic. And for a lot of people, it's like life before pandemic and life after. So they may have forgotten some of the great stuff that they've done in the past. Well, you know what you can back report. You can put stuff in back to 2016. We want people to do that. But also, as we said, what gets measured gets done, right? So we are creating scorecards that can by marsha code or by franchise management company so that we're making it kind of the normal crank of the engine. So the same way we would work with a property, I'm sure on the managed side, AVPs and GMs look at Bonvoy sign ups or mobile key, all those key metrics. Well, guess what? One of the other metrics is volunteerism hours. Same thing with our franchise friends. So we're spending a lot of time on that and focusing on it. And I know once we're putting those scorecarding techniques together with technology, you once we have that, I think it's going to really go up because we're doing great things. People just need to be reminded and just say, hey, look, how do I do that again? I'm going to put it in now. And we've seen a great big jump, I'll tell you, since we started really communicating. We were at 6.6 million in the middle of 2022 and we ended at 8.9. So in that span of a few months, we got a lot more reported in. And I know the company believes in this and it's going to be great.
[00:21:39] Speaker A: And I agree, the tool is quite simple already. And I think there's a couple of things for me because we have a large amount of franchise and with the tool is that sometimes they're looking as like, what's in it for me?
And sometimes as working with the managed side to feel like we're asking them to fulfill something that we're looking for. And sometimes we're having the issue to give what's in it for them as a franchise, right?
[00:22:06] Speaker B: It comes down to a couple of things. One, customers care about this and associates care about it, right? But also when we work with the sales team, there are big companies out there that look, rates, dates and space always matter, okay? We know that.
However, we're seeing big consulting companies, big consumer product companies who have added sustainability and social impact to their RFPs. So when the sales team goes and they come to us and say, hey, I need you to query Just Reported, spit out the five hotels in Calgary that have hit good numbers. Give them to us, right? If that stuff's not in there, we have hotels whether managed or franchised, who are missing out on sales opportunities that they don't even know about. Like they even know that they weren't considered because of the lack of reporting. Gosh, if I'm a sales leader or a GM, that makes me scared a little bit because I want that demand in my know. The other interesting thing is, look, we recognize everyone's busy, but it's funny, I always teach people, like, I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on a lot of business council LinkedIn pages and I see a lot of stuff. We did this great thing, we did this volunteers, a bunch of pictures. And I always tell people it takes longer to do a LinkedIn post on this than it does to put it in Just Reported. Absolutely.
[00:23:19] Speaker D: LinkedIn is hard.
[00:23:23] Speaker C: Not a gen z thing.
Yeah, exactly. Do you have a snapchat version of.
[00:23:30] Speaker D: Just reported that'll yes, I'll take even Instagram there.
[00:23:35] Speaker B: We.
[00:23:39] Speaker A: Mean, I like the idea of scorecard, but any chance you just reported.
[00:23:43] Speaker B: As part of, you know, I've thought about that. I want to see how things go before we make it. I know that's a big lift and to get it onto a BSA and to make it go, we're not there yet. I hope we don't have to get to that, but I don't want to lose the joy of volunteerism. Do you know what I mean? I think that's really important because we're doing great things. I know we are.
We just got to get it reported.
[00:24:10] Speaker C: I agree. I think, honestly, if you make it part of BSA, it was funny. I was in a conversation with another GM and he asked me if I was participating in Mesh, and I was like, well, yeah, of course I am. It's on BSA. And he's like, yeah, but a surprising amount of Frenchies just don't and they don't care. They'll lose the points. And I was, like, shocked by that. But ultimately, I think if it's on BSA, they'll either care or they won't care. I don't think it matters. Right.
[00:24:30] Speaker B: We may get there. Let's see. I want to try to inspire people to do it for all the good reasons and do great things in our communities.
[00:24:39] Speaker A: But ultimately, I think you're right. We're all doing great things already, and it's just a matter to actually report them.
[00:24:45] Speaker C: And this new generation is very big on it, so I think they're coming up the ranks and they'll make sure we're doing it.
[00:24:49] Speaker D: Yeah, for sure. I'll try my best.
No, I think that's the future, for sure. You want to support the community and do as much as you can to help. And that's one of the best selling points for Business Council. And that's one of the main things. Why I wanted to join Business Council is because I wanted to make a change in the world and contribute even just for a little bit. Right. And coming from a franchise property, me saying this to other franchisees, from my point of view, would mean a lot. For sure. And would do huge things.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: Absolutely. I think there's great opportunities. And you're right. It's like franchise to franchise Vouching is always a good thing. It's like when a GM says something to another GM, it's like, hey, we're the same. It passes the sniff test.
[00:25:37] Speaker D: So we were talking about the new generation just a little bit ago. I'm kind of curious.
Do you notice any differences between how do you approach or inspire the millennials versus the new generation Z? I mean, I'm right on the cusp.
[00:25:53] Speaker C: We argue all the time, so it depends what studies you read. She's either Gen Z or still part of millennial.
[00:25:58] Speaker D: But I'm a millennial.
[00:26:01] Speaker C: No, that's me.
[00:26:01] Speaker D: No.
[00:26:08] Speaker B: I'm Gen X all the way.
[00:26:11] Speaker C: There's no confusion for you.
[00:26:15] Speaker B: And I have all the baggage that comes.
[00:26:20] Speaker D: You're carrying them.
[00:26:21] Speaker B: Well, yeah, that's a great question. Just how do we look at different generations? Is your question, like, between millennials and Gen Z or just generally amongst different generations?
[00:26:32] Speaker D: Mostly millennials and Gen Z?
[00:26:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I think one this is just my view right. Informed by having three Gen Z kids and working with millennials and others. I think, one, you got to be genuine.
You got to be genuine. I think people can see right through it. You have to. Prove it. I think people can sniff out if you're just kind of not being real in what you are asking. And also I think the use of technology is really important. I think certain generations have just grown up with if you can't do it on this thing, on this phone.
It's like with my kids, I've given up on email because they never answer emails. It's all about text or pretty sure most of the folks on my team are Gen Z or Millennials. I'm using teams all the time because that's how they operate, that's how I get in the queue, you know what I mean? I think it's technology, I think it's being genuine and I think it's also making sure to listen. I think the days of top down, this is how it's going to be, don't always get you the results you might want and may also squash really good ideas because we should listen to other generations because that's what our customer base is becoming made up of. So I would ignore those great ideas at your own peril because as the demographics of the customer base and workforce evolve, so must we. So I think having an open ear is really important. I still might disagree, but at least I'm listening.
[00:28:08] Speaker D: You're open to yeah. That's funny because Jen always makes me print stuff all the time and I'm like it's on the computer.
[00:28:19] Speaker C: You still have to respect my generation.
[00:28:22] Speaker B: Don't put that in mesh. Okay.
[00:28:26] Speaker C: Oh gosh.
[00:28:29] Speaker D: I'm a pretty fresh leader as well, but I would like to get some advice. What would you say I would need to work on moving forward to be an ideal leader, to be in a position that you are now. I mean, everybody who's listening as well would probably want to know, but yeah. What advice would you have for fresh new leaders?
[00:28:48] Speaker B: Yeah, look, like I said before, I'm still a work in progress, I'm still figuring stuff out. Yeah. It's almost like what would I tell the 21 year old version of myself? You ever see those things there's on LinkedIn or Facebook? The although use facebook probably.
[00:29:04] Speaker C: It's on the TikTok. Yeah.
[00:29:06] Speaker B: On TikTok. Yeah. What would you tell the college or schooling version of yourself? I think for me it sounds very cliche, but never be a second rate version of somebody else, be a first rate version of yourself. Right. And I kind of wish someone had told me that when I was younger, just because of my upbringing, I was always focused on fitting in or being part of the group. And sometimes, you know what, it's better to stand out, it's better to be different, it's better to be unique and bring your full self to the table because I feel that's how you're going to be your best self. It's what's natural to you. Right. And I think when people do that, they do their best work. I think it's really important. So I would say that. I think also, like I said before, meeting people, the importance of relationships, getting involved in business councils, my goodness, you have an opportunity to network and meet lots of people and meet, you know, here at HQ, our senior leadership team, Tony and Ty, Grieland and Leene and Tricia Primrose, my boss, when they go travel, they go meet the business councils. That's their first stop of any times is to get in there and meet them and meet folks. What a great opportunity to sit in the front row and hear the great guidance and advice and build that relationship. And it's really powerful. And I fear that some folks just do things on their phone all the time, and I'm not saying phones are very powerful, but my goodness, you have a senior leader in front of you, go up and shake their hand and introduce themselves, tell them what you're doing, meet people. That would be some of the advice I would give. And don't be afraid to take risks. Take good risks.
[00:30:52] Speaker D: Awesome. Thank you. I appreciate that.
[00:30:53] Speaker C: So diversity, inclusion has obviously been an ongoing issue for obviously many years, and some would say we've made a lot of strides, and some would say we have lots of room left to go. Of course. What do you think some of the bigger issues sort of in the upcoming year or two, are that businesses need to focus on when it comes to diversity and inclusion?
[00:31:11] Speaker B: Well, I think, as you talked about before building, that welcome, we welcome. All right. We talked about welcoming all, no matter who you are, where you come from, what your abilities are, who you love, understanding that, but also making sure that people understand that being inclusive is something you do every day of the week. Like you can't say on Monday, oh, I'm feeling really inclusive today. I'm going to be inclusive now. On Tuesday, you're like, not today, you can't do that. It's important. But I always tell folks it's every conversation, every time. Yeah, it really is. Someone told me I remember when I worked at the front desk, my manager at the time, she told me, Listen to Porta, you're working like a shift. It was two to eleven, I think it was. And when you get to 910, o'clock, you're tired, right? Like everybody. But she said, look, remember, for you it might be the 100th check in, but for the guests, it's their first, right? And it's same thing for every conversation you have. You can't just pick and choose when you want to be inclusive. And the other thing is, but it's part of our culture, it's part of who we are. Then the other thing I would say is understanding the business value of being inclusive, right? When an associate feels valued for who they are, that means they may stay longer, or hopefully they'll stay longer because they feel like they can be their true self. And if they leave, think about the cost of that of someone walking out the door.
You lose that talent. You have to recruit somebody. You have to train somebody. You have to go through all those steps. Right. And the other part of it is on the customer side is being inclusive from a dei perspective, helps you win business. Helps you win business. And I always say, I love when doing the right thing helps you do good business. That's a beautiful combo.
[00:32:54] Speaker C: Yeah. And I think for hospitality, we're sort of double edged sword. I suppose we're lucky in that as an industry, we're diverse by nature, right. We sort of draw in a lot of diversity. But I think to some extent, it also makes us a little bit complacent. Right. Because it's like, well, we're very diverse just by the nature of the business. But I think sometimes we get a little bit complacent because we already sort of perceive ourselves as already diverse and inclusive when we're maybe not necessarily where we need to be. Regardless.
[00:33:22] Speaker B: This is a great industry we're in, right. We're welcoming all business, and I'm sure you all feel as well. I feel so lucky to be in this giga.
[00:33:31] Speaker A: From a time point of view, we're getting to the end. Is there something that you wanted us.
[00:33:34] Speaker C: To besides the fact that you cheer for the Oilers, I assume? Correct.
[00:33:38] Speaker B: Oh, God, that Connor McDavid is so.
[00:33:42] Speaker C: I got to tell you, anywhere I travel, obviously, because Edmonton, not Flames like this dude over here, but anywhere I travel, people are like, oh, I watch hockey, and I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm from the McDavid. I'm like, they don't know anything else.
[00:33:56] Speaker B: We're a Washington Capitals team where I am, so obviously we're deep with Alex Obechkin and Nicholas Vaccine. But my son, who's a hockey freak, he's in high school. My daughter played I play in a beer league. We call it old guys League, I guess.
But I tell you, my mean, Obi and Baxterme are his favorites. But, man, Connor McDavid is right up there. He's like the next guy.
[00:34:23] Speaker C: Yeah, I was in New York at a Broadway show, and the guy next.
[00:34:25] Speaker A: To me is like, oh, McDavid.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: I'm like, yeah.
[00:34:28] Speaker C: That's the only thing we're not tolerant of here in Edmonton, is any other players.
[00:34:33] Speaker A: But when I go see the Flames, I do have my Flames jersey, but.
[00:34:38] Speaker B: I do have my Montreal Canadian socks. Yeah, I'm going to be kind of.
[00:34:42] Speaker A: A bit of an undercover just by work.
[00:34:46] Speaker B: Usually during the playoffs, barney and Martin and I have a text group going, oh, do text? Like, oh, did you see know?
[00:34:55] Speaker A: And at Christmas I just got the hat.
[00:35:00] Speaker C: Well, the others will be in the playoffs, so I look forward to joining this.
[00:35:04] Speaker D: How do you know that? I don't even know that. Are they oh, my goodness.
[00:35:09] Speaker B: Quick thing on this. I was cleaning out just old papers, and I stumbled across my father took me when I was very young to the NHL All Star Game in 1982.
It was in Washington, DC. And it was like an old program, like, the old programs you would buy.
[00:35:28] Speaker D: I don't know that.
[00:35:33] Speaker B: But here it was showing. There was a section called New Talent. You know who was in the new talent? Wayne Gretzky.
[00:35:40] Speaker C: Oh, my God.
[00:35:40] Speaker B: Wow. As new talent.
[00:35:42] Speaker C: That's crazy. I read Mark Messiah. He wrote a book a couple years ago now, and it was actually a really great book and so much like, hockey history in, like it made me, like, a huge fan all over again from back in the day. Anyway, really good book, too, on leadership.
[00:35:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I love it. I was recently in Los Angeles, and there was a statue of Wayne Gretzky there. I know that probably doesn't make you feel good.
[00:36:04] Speaker C: You guys needed a hero. You could have him.
[00:36:08] Speaker D: We'll put McDavid up, I guess.
[00:36:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:11] Speaker A: But it was funny because when I first started talking, I sent him a picture of myself in a Standing Cup.
[00:36:16] Speaker B: That Washington, DC.
[00:36:18] Speaker A: At once, and one of the players from Saskatoon, so he brought the cup. They all have the cup, like, a day, a week or but and then it was funny because they came in.
[00:36:28] Speaker B: The back of the hotel.
[00:36:29] Speaker A: They have, like, two handler, and then they left the cup there in the middle of the loading dock, and everybody left. They're never supposed to leave the Standing Cup by themselves.
And I'm like by myself with the standing cup.
[00:36:41] Speaker B: I was like, what do I do?
[00:36:45] Speaker A: And taking selfies with the standing so.
[00:36:48] Speaker B: That'S the one I sent to.
Oh, I love it. Yeah. My son and I went to twice. We went to Toronto. Just kind of father son trip. And we always go to the Hockey Hall of Fame. I think. That is so well done. And it's just a joy to just it sounds weird, but be around people who get hockey.
[00:37:08] Speaker C: We know.
[00:37:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:10] Speaker C: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your.
[00:37:12] Speaker D: I really appreciate it.
[00:37:14] Speaker B: Thank you all so much. If I could just end by just saying how much gratitude I have for the three of you, the Business Council team in Canada, Barney Martin, everyone does such amazing work up there, and just know how grateful I am for everything. You're making a difference. Thank you for serving our world.
[00:37:32] Speaker C: You'll see how much better it is now that Alicia and I joined this year.
[00:37:39] Speaker B: There's a future in the now, and thanks especially for that.
[00:37:42] Speaker A: Anything else you want to say before we close down the program?
[00:37:45] Speaker B: No, I think we're good. And thank you so much for everything you're doing every day of the week.
