One of the policies of NH Hoteles is to ensure equality of treatment and opportunities for the group’s personnel, regardless of their gender, colour, age, religion, political or religious affiliation, sexual orientation, race, culture, education, marital status or nationality, for contracting, in training, career opportunities, salary levels or any other work related aspect, declaration included in the Code of Conduct. Of the total number of 18.000 workers, 13.6% work in countries different from those of their nationality. 50.1% of the total workforce are women and 48.2% of them occupy management positions.

In 2008 NH Hoteles reached, in Spain, a quota of 3.99% of disabled persons in the workforce, as suppliers of various services. The Special Employment Centres have had a turnover of 4,533,116,67 €, FLISA and Icaria standing out among the suppliers for their social commitment. .

For NH Hoteles, communication, dialogue, and the participation of its employees is a fundamental part of an overall relationship that endeavors to be an inspiration for each one of our workers, and at the same time listens to their needs, ideas and concerns. In 2008, internal training and awareness actions were defined for the employees on Corporate Responsibility for NH Hoteles, as well as multiple communication actions through communication channels with the workers.

In 2008, a high level of participation has been recorded with the contribution by the employees of a total of 1,496 responses to different initiatives launched by the Company: Idea NH Programme, Employee Mailbox…

Likewise, from the results of the Satisfaction Survey conducted in 2007, that had a high level of participation, areas of improvement were identified, and in 2008, all the hotels, Business Units and Corporate Managers have an Improvement Plan of Action to increase the satisfaction of the employees.

NH Hoteles continues to commit itself to the professional development of its employees in order to promote continuous improvement in the service we offer, and implement a culture of homogenous service in the more than 345 hotels in the chain. Since 1996 NH University has run training courses for employees at its eight campuses. In 2008 training hours increased by more the 13% over 2007, 44% of which were imparted by NH Hoteles’ 450 instructors.

The launch of the new Certification Programme means a new way of training for all of the employees that describes, in personalised training itineraries, the different training courses that everyone should complete. NH University has also launched a new on-line training platform and knowledge management: the NH University Learning Lounge, where the employees can find numerous courses and other information of interest that will help them continue training in an efficient way. Among the innovations of this project is the NH University Passport which allows any employee to find out about and register for any necessary training in order to be certified for their job, as well as the positions and functions performed by each NH Hoteles employee.

In order to be certified, the employees must complete the training program defined per job and by stage, which includes a simple and practical course on Corporative Responsibility, compulsory for all jobs. A specific e-learning module has been designed about what it means, how to progress and what each employee can do in his job to implement the Corporate Responsibility of the Company. With direct access from the intranet.

Internal promotion is one of the pillars of the management of talent strategy at NH Hoteles. In 2008, a new edition of the Internal Development Programs (PDI) for Senior Managers and Middle Managers in all the Business Units, and the methodology for “Development Centres” was implemented in order to identify and develop a pool of professionals with the potential to cover senior management and head of department positions in the hotels.

NH Hoteles is committed to the performance management process as one of the main tools for people management, with increasingly more employees participating in this process. In 2008, more than 13,000 assessments were carried out, which was a 40% increase over 2007.

The variable salary management system – Management by Objectives (MBO) monitors the performance of the employees and arranges individual, departmental and Business Unit objectives, at the same time allowing the measurement of the contribution of each employee on the securing of these objectives.

Among the social benefits that NH Hoteles’ employees have are the following:  “Voucher Amigo” and “Employee Rate”, special offers for employees at any NH destination in the world, Recognition Programs, designed to publicly reward by credits, exchangeable for nights in a hotel, exceptional acts or attitudes that reflect the values of the Company and Transfer and International Assignment Program.