Hudson Diversity & Inclusion Update

People are at the heart of Hudson’s business. As an organization that strives to create an inclusive and diverse environment that reflects the communities and travelers it serves, and one that sees workforce diversity as one of its greatest strengths, Hudson must continuously evolve and adapt to bring about necessary change.

In 2019, Hudson established its Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee in connection with its newly-formed Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, comprised of team members reflecting the broad diversity of Hudson’s workforce across function, position level, race & ethnicity, gender, and age. After its formation, the D&I Committee set out on a mission to identify, understand, and remove any barriers that may keep Hudson from being a diverse and inclusive workplace.  Notably, this company-wide initiative began prior to the events of 2020 when communities around the world rallied for racial and social justice, reinforcing the importance of this mission and inspiring Hudson to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

Since the formation of the D&I Committee nearly two years ago, Hudson has taken the time to evaluate how the company can continue to embed diversity and inclusion into the framework of its business. Equally as important for charting the course forward for change was understanding and ensuring that Hudson’s initiatives aligned with Dufry’s global goals. As a signatory member of the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative, Dufry actively promotes the adoption of the UN Global Compact Sustainable Development Goals, specifically “UN SDG #5 – Gender Equality.”

After a thorough process that included an internal team member diversity climate survey, ongoing discussions driven by the D&I Committee, and cross-collaboration with Dufry, Hudson identified diversity and inclusion in the dimensions of race & ethnicity, gender, and age as its priorities, with a meaningful impact on these areas through four key avenues: Recruitment, Career & Talent Development, Compensation, and Organizational Culture. The specific commitments, announced in August 2020, are outlined below.

Recruitment

• Hiring Diversified Talent: Develop new partnerships with job boards and recruitment agencies to actively recruit talent from diverse channels.

Career & Talent Development

• Structure Job Descriptions & Competencies: Formalize requirements for the most common positions so that it is clear what qualifications and experience are required for a particular role.
• Talent Development and Career Road Maps: Offer internal and external training and development opportunities to ensure team members have the resources and support needed to further their career growth.
• Retention: Explore ways to increase retention rates and promotion of females and minorities at the management levels and above through the development of focus groups with targeted objectives.

Compensation:

• Compensation: Establish internal compensation structures and market benchmarking based on role and experience. Conduct formal pay equity analysis by race & ethnicity, gender, and age to ensure equal pay for equal jobs.
• Promotion/Merit Increase/Position Change Process: Review key HR processes and establish a more transparent process for employment changes such as promotions, merit increases, and position changes.

Organizational Culture

• Celebration: Develop annual calendar of events to celebrate and embrace diversity and inclusion within the workforce. In October, Hudson launched a Corporate Social Responsibility stream on Beekeeper with monthly themes, messages, and action items for team members around the topics of Poverty Awareness, Black History, Gender Equality, and Mental Health Awareness, among others.
• Education: Work closely with team members and communities, including Hudson’s Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) partners, in order to better understand the issues affecting minorities and determine how to best educate, advocate, and communicate about them.
• Measures: Measure the progress and success of initiatives by tracking the percentage of new hires and the retention of team members based on level in the organization, race & ethnicity, gender, and age.
  
• Tracking the percentage of new hires and the retention of team members based on level in the organization, race & ethnicity, gender, and age, as well as evaluating the percentage of team members moving into management and above roles by race & ethnicity, gender, and age.
  

As Hudson implements these initiatives, it remains committed to fostering an environment where individuals of all backgrounds, capabilities, and opinions have the same opportunities for growth, and an avenue for open dialogue. The development and success of these initiatives would not be possible without the Hudson team members involved, all who have provided valuable feedback and insight that will help shape the transformation of Hudson’s D&I efforts in the coming months and years ahead.