LONG BEFORE joining Hilton’s team focused on diversity, equity and inclusion and engagement, DeShaun Wise Porter was dedicated to bringing different voices and points of view into hospitality leadership ranks.
Today, DeShaun is vice president, strategic pathways and recognition at Hilton and she still considers diversity to be a key to success for any company. It’s important to seek the perspectives of those "that are different from us" and it educates us beyond “what a classroom can teach,” she says.
At Hilton she drives the resource groups that help to increase awareness, inclusion and engagement. They also create a safe space for team members to share thoughts, ideas and challenges.
She feels that engaging with different types of people creates cohesion among team members and it is crucial for an organisation like Hilton that has a presence in more than 100 countries and caters to a diverse range of guests.
DeShaun believes that to be a be a good team member one should be able to collaborate and innovate with all, and not just those “who look like you.” For a good leader, it is essential to be a leader of all people and not follow a one-size-fits-all approach, she advises.
"We need to heighten our level of cultural dexterity to soar to greater heights – that’s why diversity is important," she said in an interview with Stories From Hilton.
She feels diversity, equity and inclusion, and recognition are often spoken about separately, but they are interconnected.
In a column in Hotel News Now, she writes that to be truly inclusive, companies should have a close look at their hiring process and how they pen the job descriptions of vacant posts.
"The humble job description doesn’t always get the due it deserves. It’s much more than a recruiting tool. It’s essentially the way your company introduces its culture to prospective employees and the words, tone and verbal shortcuts you choose to use makes an immediate impression on potential colleagues, both for better and for worse," she writes.
She advocates a close watch on words and adjectives that may suggest a gender bias or be disadvantageous to people from certain social or economic sections of a society.
She also wants the interview process to demonstrate an inclusive environment for job seekers. She clarifies that inclusivity need not be confined to race, but companies should bring into the interview panel people from different educational backgrounds, nationalities and ability levels.
Inclusivity is an evolving process and the smartest companies keep striving to ensure greater inclusivity, she says.
DeShaun graduated from Florida State University, where she studied multinational business operations and finance.
She began her career in the financial banking industry and worked in as a financial adviser. She then moved on to business development and corporate training. In all these roles she was trying to help customers and colleagues develop financially, personally or professionally.
"This is what led me to talent management, as it was a perfect pairing of business acumen and helping others," she told Stories From Hilton.
DeShaun then served as a global talent management consultant with a keen focus on learning and development for international business. This role involved extensive travel across the world.
"This experience sparked in me not only a love for travel, but a passion for corporations’ international communities," she observes.
DeShaun relocated to Washington, D.C., in 2014 to be closer to family and was later recruited to Hilton. "I started as a director of HR consulting and have been loving #TeamHilton ever since. In my role, I’ve supported commercial services and brands, the engine of our company, and I am now driving the talent initiatives for our corporate functions," she says.
In addition, DeShaun is on the board of directors for the Pink Wish Foundation and an active member of the Society for Human Resources Management, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, and The Links Inc.
She was a key architect in designing the learning organization at Kimberly-Clark, which included the first global learning management system and language-learning program. She has led short-term assignments in Seoul, Istanbul, and Medellin, Colombia.
DeShaun is on the board of directors for FAIR Girls Inc., which provides intervention and holistic care to female survivors of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children.
