Radisson Edwardian
What's Radisson Edwardian all about?
There's quite a lot in our name. We are an independent award winning luxury hotel group that owns and operates 12 deluxe hotels (2500 bedrooms) in London and Manchester. In 1991 we became the first European partner of Carlson Hospitality, a division of one of the world's largest hospitality and leisure businesses turning over more than $22 billion each year in more than 140 countries. Radisson has since become one of the fastest growing upscale hotel brands in the UK and throughout Europe.
So we're world scale and an entrepreneurial independent at the same time. It's that combination that lies at the heart of what we can offer.
First of all we're a place that's alive with opportunity.
We are also structured in a different way too. There are no property-based General Mangers within our hotels. Heads of Departments are given the opportunity & freedom to work together to operate each hotel and deliver exceptional customer experiences. Promotion is on merit alone.
Whilst REH operates a formal appraisal and mentoring system, the Chairman and Senior management stay close to the customer and support frontline employees by visiting each hotel daily between 05.30am and 08.30am, as far as possible all outstanding employee requests are actioned by midday.
Finally, our relationship with Carlson means that if you have the drive and the imagination, your career could go almost anywhere.
Opportunity here is real, straightforward and there is no red tape. The routes to the top are clear and they're well trod.
We look after people properly All pay grids within Radisson Edwardian are transparent to all employees. External wage benchmarking against hospitality peers shows that we're in the top quartile of employers for the majority of positions. We have a strong employee benefits package, which includes many lifestyle and tax efficient benefits such as child care vouchers, home based computers and support with bikes for work. Holiday entitlements are good too - offering up to 25 days p.a. dependent on length of service, with employees free to take all their annual holiday in one go.
Employees are acknowledged and rewarded daily on the REH portal by their peers. In addition, each hotel participates in a monthly awards scheme with the Company contributing to the hotel social fund. Annually the "Edwards" dinner recognises exceptional performances from hotels and employees with prizes including an overseas holiday. These features don't make us exceptional, but they do put us in the front rank of employers in the sector
People improve themselves here Training, Education and Personal Development is another area where we score heavily - Where we talk the talk - certainly - and where the practical experience for employees measures up too.
The company invests heavily in these areas. On average each employee benefits from 32 hours training p.a. The focus of training is on personal development, for example Principle Centred Leadership and Seven Habits of Highly Successful People courses have been run for 7 years with over 1000 employees attending them. The company supports employees in external educational programmes all the way to MBA. Each year 8 employees participate on the AMP at Templeton College, Oxford. In 1999 REH partnered Marilyn Nelson, Chairperson Of Carlson Companies to support an emerging hospitality market by founding the Indian School of Hospitality in Delhi. Each year, REH offers places to 30 students. Since the year 2000 REH has supported foundation degree courses in hospitality management at Thames Valley University, with a number of our employees benefiting from the opportunity to achieve a degree after many years in the industry.
The results
The facts tell the story.
Over 81% of Radisson Edwardian employees have completed one year or more, service with us and employee turnover amongst these employees is at a very low 13%.
Sitting around the senior management table, you'll see men and women from every background, many of whom started with us in junior positions. Managers develop and stay here for the long term because the route to the very top is so clear and attainable.
We really are a family business in so many of the good ways that give people comfort and a sense of loyalty.
We are by no means perfect. We operate in an extremely competitive industry and being good business people is central to our way of working. But the basic truth is that we believe in people - at every level.
This isn't a piece of corporate spin saved for powerpoints and seminars - the goal of 100% employee satisfaction has been a reality here for so many years - long before it became fashionable and because we've been independent, we've been able to live by this idea.
There are a lot of great places to work in this industry - that's clear. But our combination of a family spirit in a highly entrepreneurial luxury business, together with the opportunities that come from being part of one of the world's biggest and most successful leisure groups is unique. You can go a long way here, and along the way, you can expect to be treated well. That's why people stay here.
