Influential Woman · Hospitality

Tanya Morsberger

Director of Human Resources, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts

Bellevue, WA

4Awards received

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Portland State University Degree Graduated 2008 Cert SHRM Certification (in progress) Member SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Member Washington Hospitality Association

Her Story

About Tanya

I've been in HR since 2008, and my career has taken me through several industries including recruiting for a bank, property management, and working for the City of Portland on their benefits team when they rolled out SAP software. But once I got into hospitality, everything clicked. I started my career in Portland and now I'm in Seattle, and hospitality has really molded who I am. It's become a part of my everyday life. I love the constant hustle and bustle of tourism and being part of the back of house, supplying my internal guests with everything they need so they're ready for the front of house. I was the fifth employee hired at the Intercontinental in Bellevue and have been part of the opening team, handpicking and hiring every single one of our 140+ employees. I feel like they're all my family. My biggest passion within HR is employee relations - I love being able to help develop employees and put them in positions they maybe never would have known they had talent for. I can see things in people that they don't see in themselves, and being able to help people develop and grow is the biggest thing for me. The days are so different and fast-paced, and while there are days I don't leave until very late at night and come in very early in the morning, I still enjoy it. It's not made for everyone, but I really thrive in the chaos.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Tanya

01What do you attribute your success to?

I definitely attribute my success to my mentors along the way - they encouraged me and saw things in me that I didn't know I had. But also, I have 3 boys that I raised as a single mom, and they constantly would praise me on how I was a role model for them. To this day, they make sure they're always a little early to work, and they have values that I instilled in them without even realizing it - whether it be hard work or always doing the right thing when no one's looking, or just the HR-type things that people don't normally instill in others. They're always praising me, and it just kind of fed me, you know, it's kind of what kept me going. So I think that's a lot of it as well, to be honest.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

One of my mentors fairly early on told me to be more honest. I know it sounds silly, but she was very honest with me, even when the answer was no, or even if she told me something I didn't want to hear. I would often tell people what they wanted to hear - friends, family, candidates, and employees. She told me I was doing it all wrong and that I really need to just be honest and rip off the band-aid. I've really taken that to heart - being honest from the get-go rather than telling people what they want to hear. The other piece of advice was to go with your gut. If your gut's telling you that it's not right, it's definitely not right. That took me a long time to figure out as well, but once my mentor told me that, it definitely made sense. I go with my gut on everything now, and I give that piece of advice to many people to this day because I think it's huge. If it seems amiss or not right, whether you're a candidate or a manager or an employee, then it probably isn't.

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