The FINANCIAL — Responsible business is one of the main parts of the hotel’s corporate strategy, Ekaterine Lomidze, HR Manager of Radisson Blu Iveria says.
In 2010 the hotel managed to reduce water and electro energy consumption by 10%. Hotel has implemented energy saving devices. Company now is actively promoting Green Business principles among its employees and partners.
According to Lomidze, the hotel’s General Manager is actively involved in responsible business activities.
“Without his help and devotion we would not be able to do many projects. He always sets an example for our employees and motivates us through his own actions. Usually the success of certain activities depends on the involvement and support of the management team. Mr. Turhan has an unwritten rule: if we gather money for charity he contributes at least the same amount which was gathered by all our employees combined,” Lomidze said.
Each Radisson Blu hotel has a Responsible Business Coordinator and Responsible Business Committee. The hotel has a special annual budget allocated for CSR activities.
Radisson Blu Iveria has been involved in many projects in terms of CSR such as: providing the home for the elderly Satnoeba with food and different household products; participating in Earth Hour; participating in World Clean-Up Day and World Animal Day: an action held together with Dog Shelter Georgia; supporting the 2nd Annual C.O.A.T.S community outreach project; a paper recycling project for its employees.
The year 2011 has been quite successful for the Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel. According to Atakan Turhan, General Manager of Radisson Blu Iveria, the hotel has much increased its market share during 2011. Compared to last year demand at the hotel has increased by about 45-46%.
“Social Responsibility is a part of our award winning programme Responsible Business. It is our company philosophy. The Responsible Business programme was designed in 2001 and ultimately guides us on performing business in a more responsible way. Besides respect for social and ethical issues within the company the programme also focuses on the health and safety of guests and employees. It is reducing the hotel’s negative impact on the environment,” Lomidze said.
“Rezidor’s ethical culture and Code of Business Ethics is introduced to each employee through the living Responsible Business training programme. We are proud to have been selected by Ethisphere Institute as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the second year in a row ,” Lomidze said.
“At the beginning of each year we are required to present a Responsible Business action plan which includes activities directed toward Social and Ethical Responsibility as well as Environmental Responsibility. All this benefits the company as well as society,” Lomidze said.
In terms of CSR the hotel’s Gingerbread House project can be considered one of the most innovative projects at the Radisson hotel. The project consists of two parts: the first part is decorating a gigantic gingerbread house located in the lobby of the hotel. Everybody is welcome to participate in this activity. All they need to do is bring a toy for the US Marine Corps Toys for Tots programme.
“These toys are distributed among orphanages. People can also donate money to different charity organizations. This year Radisson helped the Red Cross Georgia Society and corporate charity organization Childhood. The second part of the project is ‘Bake, Make, Decorate’, whereby children of ages 6-9 can visit the hotel and use their imagination to decorate their own mini gingerbread houses with sweets and cookies. Each school brings us products which are sent out to the charity organization Catharsis,” Lomidze said.
“We are well aware of the negative impact we have on the environment and because of that we try our best to reduce it. In general 207 hotels per day are producing the same amount of CO2 as 68,157 households and 80,184 cars. Because of that we try to reduce our usage of electricity, water and our production of waste,” Lomidze stated.
“We have implemented energy saving devices – light bulbs, timers, low-energy mini-bars, keycard controlled electricity. Our meeting rooms have natural daylight; sensor tabs in all public area toilets; dual flush toilets; a Towel Programme for our guests; paper recycling system for our employees. The list goes on,” Lomidze stated.
Responsible Business training is mandatory for every single employee of Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel. This training has to be completed within the first month of employment.
“100% of our staff members as well as our casual employees have undergone this training. We also have mandatory Leading Responsible Business training for Managers and Department heads,” Lomidze said.
“Even though we have not done a joint project yet we cooperate with our competitors. Social responsibility is a sphere where together we can accomplish more and which cannot tolerate competition. Personally I feel huge support from my colleagues from all international hotels in Tbilisi. We have discussed the possibility of a joint project and I really hope that in 2012 we will be able to launch it together,” Lomidze said.
“We are trying to develop an action plan where all aspects of CSR are covered. Part of our actions will be directed toward Social and Ethical Responsibility and part of it will be directed toward Environmental Responsibility,” Lomidze said.
Green Business at the hotel is becoming more and more important as time passes, says Atakan Turhan, General Manager of Radisson.
“One of our main concepts is Responsible Business. Responsible Business includes the training of staff, our customers and shareholders in order to make them understand responsibility towards the community, nature and environment around us. We measure our consumption of water, electricity and waste production. We have targets to decrease them which we hope to achieve by consuming less and using energy more efficiently,” Turhan said.
Due to increased demand, Radisson officials have started discussing plans for opening a second hotel in the city. There are projects being discussed within both brands of the network, Park Inn by Radisson and Radisson itself. Mr. Turhan told The FINANCIAL that hotel officials will soon have interesting news for guests.
The Responsible Business Practices of the hotel: We respect the law; We show respect for all persons in all situations; We think ethically; We act fairly; We do not discriminate against anyone for any reason; We are honest and transparent; We are loyal to our employer, We do not exploit the company’s resources; We think of safety at all times; We take care of the Earth.
The Social and Ethical Responsibility of the hotel includes: a big choice of healthy food; fitness and wellness centre; secure environment; ten rooms for disabled guests with access to all our F&B outlets; non smoking floors.
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