Our people

We are proud of the culture we have in place at IHG, which underpins our purpose to provide True Hospitality for Good, and is crucial to who we are, how we work together and how we grow our business. That is why one of our key Journey to Tomorrow commitments is to champion a diverse culture where everyone can thrive.

For more information on talent retention, rewards and employee engagement, see pages 18-22 of our Responsible Business Report

A cornerstone of our culture is our passion and commitment to DE&I. It’s not just crucial to who we are, but also to how we work together and grow our business, and to the sense of belonging colleagues feel at IHG and the freedom to be themselves. We know this is also something increasingly valued by millions of guests staying in our hotels, thousands of owners investing with us, and the talent of tomorrow who choose to join our team.

You can learn more about our approach to DE&I here.

At IHG, inclusion means creating a culture that truly values having colleagues from a wide variety of backgrounds and provides them with a positive and welcoming environment in which they can thrive.

IHG was ranked second out of 850 companies on the Financial Times Europe’s Diversity Leaders 2024 based on an independent ranking that highlights employers who go beyond making statements of commitment on DE&I and have taken action to promote change and create an inclusive environment.

Our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are central to the conversations we have around diversity within the business and are continuing to grow, supporting diverse employees and their allies and driving change.

Our ERGs also played a leading role in bringing our leaders and employees together to deepen their understanding of the value of inclusion at regular touchpoints throughout the year. This included organising activities for our inaugural Room to Belong Week and globally recognised DE&I celebrations.

Doubling under-represented groups across our leadership

We are committed to having leaders who represent the truly diverse global nature of our business and drive our commitment to DE&I in all our markets.

We remain committed to having leaders who represent the diverse global nature of our business. Thanks to the self-disclosure of employees, we know that 22% of our global leaders working at VP level and above are racially or ethnically diverse (vs an ambition of 26% by 2025) and represent 16 nationalities.

We have identified the UK and US – where we have our largest populations of corporate colleagues – as markets in which we want to increase ethnic representation. We have set targets for the percentage of leaders working at VP level and above that are ethnically diverse in each market – 26% by 2025 in the US and 20% by 2027 in the UK.

We have developed action plans, supported by stakeholders including our Americas and Europe DE&I councils, which focus on key issues such as strengthening our approach to talent planning. As part of these plans, we continue to embed diverse talent programmes such as ASCEND, Women in Hospitality and Leisure (WiHTL) Ethnic Future Leaders Programme, developing the next generation of talent.

We have continued to promote myWellbeing – a framework to support employees across their health, lifestyle and workplace. The myWellbeing suite of resources, which include an employee Wellbeing Handbook and guidelines for people managers, has been designed to provide a holistic wellbeing offering.

Each year, we established regular touchpoints to encourage employees to take care of their mental health. Providing opportunities to listen to external and internal speakers who share their personal experiences. We also continue to drive awareness and education on important topics relevant to our people.

An integral part of our global commitment to responsible business is respecting human rights in accordance with internationally recognised standards. We understand the importance of human rights in relation to our colleagues, guests and communities and we encourage those with whom we do business – including our suppliers, owners and franchisees – to prevent, mitigate and address adverse impacts on human rights, including modern slavery.

We seek to advance human rights through our business activities and by working together with others to identify challenges and effective solutions.

Further information is provided in our Policies section, where you can view and download our Human Rights policy and Modern Slavery Statement.