InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced the appointment of Deborah Woollard as Vice President (VP) of Human Resources for the Asia, Middle East & Africa (AMEA) region. She is a member of the AMEA Regional Operating Committee and based at IHG’s regional head office in Singapore.
Deborah is responsible for shaping and delivering human resources strategies to support the company’s business plans and objectives in the region. In her role, she will lead the company’s talent management programme to identify, recruit and retain key talent. She will also drive the training and development strategy for the company’s leadership team to ensure IHG continues to have the right talent to deliver its strategy in AMEA.
Deborah joins IHG with more than 15 years in human resources. Prior to this, she was with Abbott Laboratories, overseeing regions spanning Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and looking after key emerging markets such as Russia, India and China. Deborah began her career with Unilever where she spent more than ten years building her career in talent development and HR. She has lived and worked in London, Australia and Singapore, where she has now resided for nearly seven years.
Jan Smits, Chief Executive, Asia, Middle East & Africa, IHG said: “We operate in a very competitive environment today, and being in the service industry it is absolutely critical to our growth that we hire the right people, and retain them. With Deborah’s strong background in HR and her experience working across our markets, we believe she will bring a fresh perspective to our team and help us stand out as the preferred employer in the industry.”
Commenting on her appointment, Deborah said, “As one of the largest hotel companies in the world, IHG’s strong leadership team and high level of employee engagement are well recognised amongst the industry. With its ambitious plans to grow its talent pool by over 50 percent by next year, there is immense growth potential for talent development and I look forward to working with the dynamic team at IHG to grow its reputation as the preferred company to work for.”
Deborah succeeds Zareena Brown, who has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Talent and Leadership Development, IHG.
IHG has 246 properties open across five brands in Asia, Middle East and Africa: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites, with another 137 properties in its development pipeline. The company currently hires more than 39,000 people in the region and are looking to fill another 20,000 positions by 2015.
