International Women’s Day Q&A with staff from Daish’s Holidays

Maria Green, the reservations and customer service manager, who is based at head office in Bournemouth, has worked for Daish’s Holidays for eight years. What does International Women’s Day mean to you? For me, it’s about women being recognised not only in the workplace, but in the home also. Many employees at Daish’s are working mothers and we have been supported when we have other family commitments, while we complete our tasks on a daily basis. It’s great to feel respected in my position. What is your proudest achievement in your career? Whilst at Daish’s, my proudest achievement has been developing my initial team from one of five to an 18-person department. Over the last eight years, I have implemented a number of processes, procedures and systems, which have benefited the department as a whole. For example, we recently introduced a new system for monitoring customer service matters and have rolled out a new way of logging and reporting on our customer satisfaction surveys, which I was heavily involved with. Our customer experience is hugely important to our reputation and success, and is one of our core values. What influence do you bring to your colleagues and wider team? I believe everyone has the opportunity to grow in their role and achieve new opportunities if they put their mind to it. I think everyone should have the chance to develop and seeing those I manage grow in confidence and ability is what makes my job so worthwhile. What’s your top tip for individuals starting out in their career? Don’t be afraid to put yourself forward; enthusiasm and a willingness to learn goes a long way. I started my career as an admin assistant at 19, which was meant to be a gap year before going to university and my career developed from there. I always took new opportunities that came up so that I could learn more. Lisa Garth, the general manager at Daish’s County Hotel in the Lake District, has achieved numerous promotions during her career with Daish’s Holidays. She started as a waitress and progressed to restaurant supervisor, duty manager and now general manager. How do you inspire your colleagues and the wider team? I encourage my team to help each other whatever the task, whatever their role. I think it’s important that, as their manager, I bring a calm, positive and friendly approach each day, which rubs off on the team and boosts morale. I’m lucky to be surrounded by people who are extremely knowledgeable and have a great work ethic. The personable and friendly atmosphere at Daish’s Holidays has created a genuinely inclusive environment, so everyone is made to feel part of the team and have a voice. What’s your top tip for individuals starting out in their career at Daish’s? If you want to progress your career at Daish’s, never give up! The company 100% supports everyone on their career journey with ongoing training and development. Taking further training at the Daish’s Training Academy was the best decision I ever made and has led me to achieving my goal of becoming a general manager. What do you love about working for Daish’s Holidays? I absolutely love working for Daish’s. It is like having one big family who gave me the opportunity to learn and further my career in management. I would not be where I am today without the support and dedication of the company. Debbie McCarthy and Jo Angel-Moorman, general manager and assistant manager respectively at the Daish’s Hotel on the Isle of Wight, are both long-standing members of staff at Daish’s Holidays. Debbie has worked for the company for 30 years and Jo for 17 years. What does International Women’s Day mean to you? We both feel that International Women’s Day gives everyone the chance to reflect on the progress made over the years to ensure equality in the workplace. We’re thankful that we’ve both been able to have successful and happy careers at Daish’s and that our training needs have been met at every stage to enable us to progress through the ranks and ultimately head up Daish’s flagship hotel. What influence do you bring to your colleagues and wider team? We’d never ask anyone to undertake a task that we’d not do ourselves. We know how important it is to be team players and help all departments as and when needed. What’s your top tip to those starting out in the hotel industry? Value your team members and those that work around you.