Hotel Group Recognized as Industry Leader by City of Orlando and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Miami District Office
ORLANDO (Dec. 3, 2008) – Rosen Hotels & Resorts was recently honored by the City of Orlando and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Miami District Office, at a public forum entitled E-RACE: Eradicating Racism and Colorism from Employment, for its dedication to a diverse workplace.
The E-RACE initiative is a five-year national outreach, education and enforcement campaign implemented to advance the legal right to a workplace free of race and color discrimination. The initiative was introduced to human resources professionals in the Orlando hotel industry at the recently held public forum.
According to Manuel Zurita, Acting Director of the EEOC Miami District Office, “Over the years, the City of Orlando Human Relations Office and the EEOC Miami District Office have been impressed with the diversity practices of Rosen Hotels & Resorts. As we prepared for the program, we identified Rosen Hotels as a leader to be recognized and emulated by the hotel industry for (its) best practices in diversity management and employment.”
The winner of numerous awards for its outstanding convention and leisure hotels, Rosen Hotels & Resorts’ President and COO Harris Rosen was particularly proud to be named a leader in diversity employment practices. “We are proud to be recognized by the City of Orlando and the EEOC and to play a role in introducing this very important education and outreach program,” said Rosen. “We will gladly support the initiative in any way possible to help ensure that all employees across Central Florida enjoy a workplace free from discrimination.”
The program that first drew the attention of the City of Orlando and the EEOC was Rosen’s Shares of Success (SOS) program, which created an open door policy so that all associates can voice concerns without following a chain of command. The program also requires that managers meet regularly with all employees, a tradition that was started by Harris Rosen in 1992 and continues to this day. Each month, Rosen holds meetings with hotel associates to discuss their job satisfaction, benefits and other associate issues.
Among other awards, earlier this year, Rosen Hotels & Resorts received the prestigious 2008 Apex Award from hub magazine, the official publication of UnitedHealth Group, for its innovative and forward-thinking in-house medical care and insurance program for its associates.
Through his philanthropic organization, The Rosen Foundation, Harris Rosen has widely impacted the Central Florida community. Foundation donations to the University of Central Florida funded the building of the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, which opened in 2004. Rosen’s 14-year commitment to the Tangelo Park Project has transformed the area from a neighborhood riddled with drugs, crime and poverty into a place where children thrive and hope prevails. The Foundation’s generous donations are currently at work with a $3.5 million donation to help build the Jack and Lee Rosen Southwest Orlando Jewish Community Campus, named in honor of Rosen’s parents.
Over the last 34 years, Rosen Hotels & Resorts has grown from 256 to more than 6,300 rooms, approximately six percent of the total guest rooms in Central Florida. Today, the Rosen family of hotels, which includes the award-winning convention properties Rosen Plaza, Rosen Centre and Rosen Shingle Creek, and four leisure properties in the Orlando tourist corridor, including the Quality Inn International, Quality Inn Plaza and Rodeway Inn International and Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista, remain committed to providing outstanding value for all guests.
For more information, contact:
Mary Deatrick
(407) 332-5212 | mary@deatrickpr.com
Or visit www.rosencentre.com or call (800) 800-9840.