Inclusive work innovations gain Indian hotel a HICAP award

The Lemon Tree Hotel group from India has won the 2015 Sustainable Communities category at the annual HICAP awards.

Lemon Tree Hotel Group uses a Triple Bottom Line Approach (People, Planet, Profit) to stand for more than just profit, focusing on creating a socially inclusive work environment bringing people of different backgrounds, abilities and ethnicities together as a unified team with common goals.

In addition to environmental efforts benefiting local communities, their socially inclusive initiatives involve hiring Employees With Disabilities (EWD), including the Speech & Hearing Impaired, Orthopedically Handicapped and those with Down Syndrome. EWDs comprise 13% of total staff across several departments, with a goal of increasing EWD staffing from 400 to 700 by 2017. Providing skills training to EWDs creates a virtuous cycle of inclusivity for the industry and communities.

Innovative ideas include EWD nametags indicating how best he/she can serve the guest to help set expectations, and numbered menu items to simplify ordering. These engagement efforts help sensitize guests and increase guest and employee satisfaction and loyalty.

In Brief

• The Sustainable Hotel Awards were launched at HICAP in 2007 to recognise hotels in the Asia Pacific region demonstrating exemplary sustainable best practices.
• The 26^th annual HICAP will be held 14-16 October 2015 at the InterContinental Hong Kong.

In Depth

• Read about all the winners here.
• Follow Lemon Tree Hotels on Twitter

In the Future