Building a Sustainable Company Culture in Tourism

As part of our ongoing engagement in the Sustainability Navigator project by Thüringer Tourismus GmbH, recently we co-hosted an online session on building positive company cultures and engaging employees. 

Together with our partner reCET, we guided tourism industry stakeholders through steps to identify and understand lived corporate values, and to enhance staff engagement and satisfaction through various phases of the employee journey, from recruiting to retention.

Based on these discussions, here are some key insights and important lessons for tourism and hospitality businesses.

More Than Just a Paycheck

Today’s workers value purpose and culture as much as pay.

Randstad Workmonitor report, based on a global study of talent around the world, highlights: "Work today is about more than just a paycheck. Talent globally are looking for workplaces that align with their personal values, aspirations and circumstances."

While terms like well-being and work-life-balance are often thrown around as buzzwords, crucially, these are NOT just trendy concepts, not are they quick-fixes to jump on the bandwagon.

Developing a robust company culture centered around sustainability, corporate responsibility and shared values is crucial for tourism businesses aiming to thrive in today's dynamic and competitive labour market. A strong identity that concretely embeds sustainability into the company’s core values will help enable employees to more actively engage in the company mission, feel empowered to lead with purpose in their own work, and - importantly - be happy at work.

In tourism and hospitality, we are in the business of creating positive memories and offering amazing experiences. It goes without saying that a key ingredient in business success is happy workers, who make it possible to ensure customers are happy.  

So, how can tourism businesses remain competitive and future-ready by investing in strong company cultures?

Start with Your Core Values

A key step in ensuring your employees can relate to and appreciate your company culture is ensuring that there is a shared understanding of your core values, which need to be embedded into the lived experiences of what it means to work at your business everyday.

Beyond sustainability trends and buzzwords, consider the following questions on how your values are lived in your company. In what concrete ways do your business goals represent and align with sustainability principles? In what tangible ways can your employees feel and experience your sustainability and ESG commitments within their day-to-day work? How well can your workers and customers identify with your company's values in their own experiences?

These internal reflection steps will be helpful as a foundation to support your ongoing work on strengthening and enhancing how you embody your company culture. These questions are of course best addressed through collaborative processes working together with your employees. 

However, as a starting point, borrowing help from technology (e.g. AI software) to scan and analyse your existing internal and external communication materials may be an easy and useful way to get started. This can help you better understand how your brand and company identity is perceived by your key stakeholders, which can be a basis for evaluating gaps and identifying opportunities for improvement.   

Make Your Values Shine from the Start: Attracting and Integrating Employees

A well-defined and authentic company mission fosters employee loyalty and satisfaction. If your company, through actions not just words, has a strong identity built on such a mission, it can also become the main reason why prospective employees consider working for you.

Having employees who believe in and support your mission, on the other hand, is a fail-proof way to ensure that you are successful in executing your commitment. As such, it's imperative that your company values are clearly and effectively communicated throughout the recruitment process.

For that, consider creative ways of reaching and connecting with your "target audience". Are you using job posting platforms that are accessible by and relatable to the professionals you want to attract? Are you connecting with talent at the right events and fairs, e.g. those attended by younger professionals? And what other options do you have to actively create opportunities for increasing visibility and engagement?

Your current employees can also play a key part of your recruitment efforts. Those who support and are aligned with your company values will likely to be an excellent source of referrals. Be sure to show that their feedback and input are valued, and encourage staff engagement in your recruitment efforts through internal incentive programs.

Continue to Engage with Purpose: Supporting Employee Growth and Retention

Beyond earning an income (which, of course, is important to everyone), people want to be in a workplace that prioritises their well-being and professional growth. Providing opportunities for continuous learning and skill enhancement, therefore, is an important way to help employees feel more engaged. 

Beyond job-specific skills, companies can also support personal development opportunities for employees, for example, by providing mentorship programs, promoting networking opportunities within and outside the industry, and encouraging engagement in social causes and community initiatives through employee volunteering.

Further, your employees are more likely to be engaged in your business and want to stay with the company when they see their personal values reflected in the company’s sustainability and social responsibility commitments, and feel a strong sense of purpose through their concrete contributions to the positive impact the company is creating. Celebrating milestones, recognising and rewarding team efforts, and showing appreciation for staff contributions are all important ways of fostering a sense of belonging and purpose among your employees.

And Where to Get Started? Small, Consistent Steps

We are facing tough challenges in our industry. High turnover rates, especially in seasonal tourism roles. Competition from other industries. And the general image issue we have that work in tourism and hospitality can be "long hours and low pay." 

Building a positive image, establishing an authentic identity, and being recognised for your values ... these are long-term goals that require deep reflection and ongoing effort.

But, getting started does not need to be complicated or expensive. Simple solutions do exist, and they need to be consistently applied and practiced. For example, start building an easy way to gather and monitor employee feedback. It needs to be easy to implement and easy to use, so that it becomes a regular part of your business operations. Find concrete ways of making learning and development a part of your work processes and daily schedule, for example through internal "match-making" lunch sessions or simple sustainability tips and ideas shared as part of regular staff briefing. 

A sustainable corporate culture in tourism is more than a trend—it’s a necessity. By implementing thoughtful employee engagement and retention strategies, businesses can foster a resilient and motivated workforce. The insights from our session highlight that investing in people is just as crucial as investing in sustainability practices. In doing so, companies can remain competitive and future-ready, investing in key business assets to thrive in the shifting landscape of labour market development