IWD2023: “Social Innovation is more than just a good thing to do,” - Trip.com Group CEO
“Social innovation is more than just a good thing to do. It is key to creating both social impact and business value and benefits the company, employees and society.”
As part of its overall corporate culture, Trip.com Group is recognised for its efforts to advance female representation, gender diversity, female empowerment, and the showcasing of female achievement. The Group won the UN Women’s Empowerment (WEPs) Award in 2021 in the area of Gender-Inclusive Workplace.
By hiring and elevating female employees, Trip.com Group has demonstrated its dedication to promoting female leadership and providing equal opportunities for men and women. Women now make up more than half of the workforce at Trip.com Group, which is significantly higher than the industry average for tech firms. Women hold 43% of mid-level management jobs and almost one-third of management positions at the VP level and above.
Under Jane Sun’s leadership, Trip.com Group has put in place a number of policies to support women in realising their potential and achieving a better balance between starting a family and a profession. To show its support for working families, the company provides a monetary maternity gift and a maternity allowance to female employees who become pregnant. During maternity, women can also earn a travel allowance during the workday, in which the group invests more than RMB 1 million every year.
In an interview set for this year's International Women's Day, Jane Sun provides her insights and the company’s approaches to gender equity on the topic of ‘social innovation’.
1. What can an ideal environment for social innovation look like and why should tourism companies engage in it?
Social innovation refers to the development and application of impactful and effective approaches towards issues and challenges society faces. An ideal environment is where management, employees and key stakeholders engage openly on social issues. All parties are aligned on, and committed to, innovative practices for social causes, but can also inspire others to do so. This would require the parties to collaborate and co-create solutions.
In this regard, Travel and Tourism – which accounted for 1 in 10 jobs and over 10% of the global GDP prior to the pandemic – have the potential to contribute significantly to the implementation of impactful solutions to social issues and build a fairer, inclusive and resilient society. These include gender equality and the empowerment of women, especially in view of the fact that women make up the majority of the workforce in the tourism sector globally.
2. What is Trip.com, as one of the world's leading online travel booking companies, currently doing to increase gender equity in the tourism industry?
Trip.com Group is committed to driving change toward gender equality, women empowerment, diversity and inclusive progress. We adopt fair employment practices, and our recruitment, training and development, and promotion-related decisions are fair, merit-based and non-discriminatory.
Fair Employment
The success of the Group’s hiring policy is evident from its demographics. Today, women make up more than half of Trip.com Group employees, far exceeding the industry average for tech companies, with women making up 43% of employees holding middle and senior-level positions, and 30% of management positions at VP-level and above. In addition, 33% of our technological development and innovation-related positions are currently held by women. Their presence helps to drive gender awareness and equality which will, in turn, empower our female employees to recognise the significant value of their roles in the tourism industry.
Education and training programs
Our training platform “Trip Growth Academy” provides over 2,800 classes and other educational resources to our employees, covering corporate strategies, professional skills and team management practices.
Support for Working Mothers and Pregnant Employees
We recognise the challenges working mothers and pregnant employees face, so we have introduced various initiatives to support them. For example, pregnant employees will receive taxi reimbursements when they commute to work.
We support working families by providing financial maternity gifts and maternity allowances to female employees entering pregnancy. Following maternity leave, the new mothers can adopt a flexible working schedule via the Group’s global hybrid work model. We have also purchased and placed pregnancy recliners in the office, with equipped areas with a mother-and-baby nursing room for breastfeeding.
Work-Life Balance
Recruiting and retaining talents is a key priority for us, and we believe that a healthy work-life balance is key to our employees' physical, emotional and mental wellness. Hence, “live for more than work" and "to truly lead a full life in and out of the office" are concepts included in our Group’s Employee Value Proposition.
Our Group officially launched a global hybrid work model in March 2022, and employees can work remotely two days a week. We are the first internet company in mainland China to implement a comprehensive hybrid work model. Thus far, the feedback from managers and employees has been positive, with the policy contributing to improved wellness and work-life balance. Over 78% of employees felt that a hybrid work model is conducive to an improved work-life balance. While over 75% felt that their wellness levels improved and were more creative during work.
Trip.com Group continues to promote female representation, gender diversity, and empowerment, highlighting female success as part of its company-wide corporate culture. In 2021, Trip.com Group was awarded a UN Women’s Empowerment (WEPs) Award in the Gender-Inclusive Workplace category.
3. How can a company like Trip.com serve as a leading example for social innovation?
Social innovation is more than just a good thing to do. It is key to creating both social impact and business value and benefits the company, employees and society.
Take, for instance, Trip.com Group’s hybrid work model. Not only does it improve employee satisfaction without compromising efficiency, but it also helps to reduce traffic congestion which, in turn, enhances environmental protection. In addition, the policy will improve work-life balance while also supporting working mothers and fathers in their parenting roles. An improved work-life balance could also result in higher rates of volunteerism, and enrollment in skills upgrading programmes, among others, which will all benefit society.
Since the launch of this policy, we have observed that the turnover rate has declined by about one-third, and there is no significant impact on performance. Participant survey data from the 2021 trial shows that 93% of employees shared that they have managed their time more efficiently, and over 75% improved their wellness.
It is evident that the impact of social innovation practices goes beyond the company and its employees, and we will continue to engage with our stakeholders and share our experience on the various programmes and initiatives.
4. To what extent does gender equity in an organisation contribute to a firm’s competitiveness?
Wider Talent Pool
Adopting fair, merit-based and inclusive hiring practices is not only the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do. Gender diversity and equity enable companies to tap into a wider talent pool with different types of skill sets and perspectives, which are key to enhancing their overall performance and competitiveness.
Retention of Talents
Gender equity is key to the retention of capable and committed female employees. With proper career development plans and fair practices in place, women are more likely to stay in companies and seek career advancement opportunities internally. Apart from retaining talents, this will also, in turn, lead to cost and time savings for the companies instead of having to recruit and train new employees.
Positivity and Productivity
A diverse and inclusive workplace will strengthen the employees’ sense of fairness, empowerment and happiness, leading to higher positivity and productivity.
About Trip.com Group
Trip.com Group is a leading global travel service provider comprising of Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and Qunar. Across its platforms, Trip.com Group helps travellers around the world make informed and cost-effective bookings for travel products and services, and enables partners to connect their offerings with users through the aggregation of comprehensive travel-related content and resources, and an advanced transaction platform consisting of apps, websites and 24/7 customer service centers. Founded in 1999 and listed on NASDAQ in 2003 and HKEX in 2021, Trip.com Group has become one of the best-known travel groups in the world, with the mission "to pursue the perfect trip for a better world".
