How Hyatt Creates a Culture of Belonging Through Their Talent Strategy

Talent management has always been a core focus area for Hyatt with their philosophy centered around caring for people. Hyatt believes that by enabling their employees to be their best, they can deliver exceptional care and experiences to their guests. Their global talent strategy is aligned with their larger vision of being the world's most hospitable company.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation is a global hospitality company founded in 1957 with a presence in more than 68 countries. Over the years, Hyatt has grown tremendously both in scale as well as global presence. With more than 125,000 employees working across various hotels, Hyatt realized the need for a centralized and consistent talent management strategy to cater to the needs of a diverse and global workforce.

Hyatt have gone through a significant transformation of their talent strategy with the help of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). They conducted extensive research involving interviews with employees across the globe to understand pain points and design a framework aligned with business goals. With PwC's guidance, Hyatt created a unified talent philosophy and a detailed talent playbook to bring consistency and standardization to people processes.

This article discusses Hyatt's approach towards talent management, and key aspects of their talent strategy including employee engagement initiatives, learning & development programs, and focus on diversity and inclusion. It also highlights some of their employee retention best practices.

Employee Engagement - The Cornerstone of Hyatt's Strategy

For Hyatt, employee engagement has always been a business imperative directly linked to guest satisfaction and retention. They believe engaged employees can deliver superior guest experiences leading to positive business outcomes. Some of their key employee engagement initiatives include:

• Empowerment: Hyatt empowers employees at all levels to solve problems, make decisions and provide caring service. This fosters a sense of ownership and involvement.
• Learning & Development: Hyatt encourages skills enhancement through extensive training programs and tuition reimbursement. This aids career progression and engagement.
• Diversity & Inclusion: Hyatt's commitment to a diverse and inclusive culture ensures a sense of belonging for all employees.
• Recognition & Rewards: Hyatt acknowledges employee efforts through various recognition programs and competitive rewards structures.
• Open Communication: Hyatt promotes two-way communication through regular forums that help understand employee perspectives.
• Community Building: Hyatt builds a strong work community through various networking and social events for employees.

A core aspect of Hyatt's engagement strategy is to provide empowerment to employees. They trust employees to act on opportunities or problems arising from day-to-day operations. This approach not only leads to faster resolution but also enhances employee engagement as they feel their work contributes in a meaningful way.

Hyatt has achieved higher employee retention scores compared to competitors due to a robust engagement strategy focusing on the whole employee journey right from onboarding. Engaged employees then deliver exceptional experiences for valued guests leading to enhanced loyalty and returns.

Promoting Learning and Development

Hyatt considers learning and development of utmost importance to foster employee growth and career progression. Some of their key learning and development programs include:

• Hyatt learner app: A one-stop learning platform providing 24/7 access to online courses, manuals and resources.
• Leadership conferences: Sessions focused on leadership skills, best practices and strategy alignment conducted across properties.
• Tuition reimbursement: Hyatt partners with top schools and reimburses education costs to encourage continual learning.
• Mentorship programs: Formal and informal mentor-mentee relationships are encouraged across levels.
• On-the-job training: Hyatt strongly believes in learning through hands-on experience and coaching in real work situations.
• Micro-learning modules: Bite-sized learning modules for skills like conflict management, delegation, time management etc.
• Talent conferences: Conferences to identify and groom future leaders through training and networking opportunities.

Hyatt also develops in-house training programs focusing on soft skills, emotional intelligence, communication and customer service excellence. Their collaboration with external partners further diversifies learning resources. This extensive investment in learning helps employees advance their careers within Hyatt.

Focus on Inclusion and Diversity

With a presence across the globe, diversity and inclusion are critical facets of Hyatt's talent strategy and culture. Some notable aspects include:

• Diversity business resource groups: Employee-led groups focused on cultural integration and advancing diverse communities within Hyatt.
• Inclusive leadership training: Mandatory training programs to mitigate biases and promote inclusive behaviors among people managers.
• Targeted recruiting: Hyatt partners with diverse institutions and communities to expand its talent pools.
• Support networks: Hyatt fosters support systems and communities for diverse groups like women, veterans, and LGBTQ+ to promote a sense of belonging.
• Data-driven decisions: Hyatt analyzes demographic data to strengthen diversity outcomes through policies, programs and processes.
• Buddy programs: Buddy support programs help new joiners from diverse backgrounds integrate smoothly.

Hyatt's efforts in this area have earned them several prestigious awards and recognition as a top employer for diversity. Their inclusive culture is a key driver to attracting, retaining and advancing diverse talent leading to business growth.

Employee Retention through Strategic Programs

Retaining top talent requires strategic and sustained efforts. Some of Hyatt's programs focused on enhanced employee retention include:

• Recognition programs: Hyatt acknowledges employee efforts through various rewards, bonus structures and recognition platforms.
• Flexible policies: Family-friendly policies like remote working, and paid leaves encourage work-life integration.
• Competitive benefits: Hyatt provides benefits like medical insurance, retirement plans, and paid time-off which are attractive and competitive in the industry.
• Career growth opportunities: Focused internal talent mobility and succession planning aids long-term career progression within Hyatt.
• Learning support: Tuition reimbursement and various training programs help employees stay relevant and learn new skills.
• Engaging culture: A culture of care, empowerment, diversity and rewards impacts employee motivation and retention positively.
• Performance feedback: Regular performance discussions and counseling help address concerns proactively before they impact retention.
• Exit interviews: Analyzing feedback from exit interviews helps Hyatt understand attrition drivers and take corrective actions.

This multi-pronged retention approach has helped Hyatt report lower attrition rates compared to competitors in the highly volatile hospitality industry. Retention of talent also ensures business continuity and quality service standards.

Leveraging Technology for Efficiency

To drive consistency and scalability across global operations, Hyatt is investing in technology leveraging tools like:

• Talent management system: A single source platform for all recruiting, performance, learning and talent processes.
• Applicant tracking: An intuitive ATS improves the candidate experience with features like automated status updates.
• Learning management system: A digital learning platform providing engaging, personalized and social learning experiences.
• Performance management tool: Online performance reviews with customizable templates and goal-setting features.
• Collaboration portal: An internal social platform encouraging knowledge sharing through forums, files, and profiles.
• Analytics dashboard: Data-driven reports and insights on diversity metrics, retention rates, and engagement scores.
• Mobile apps: Talent apps supporting all functions on the go for stakeholders.

The integration of these tools has streamlined processes, facilitated quicker decisions and enhanced user experience for both employees and managers. Advanced analytics further help Hyatt customize programs basis demographic and business insights.

Summing it Up

In conclusion, Hyatt has transformed their talent strategy into a competitive differentiator over the years. Their human-centric approach focusing on the four pillars of engagement, learning, diversity and retention has created a highly motivated, skilled and inclusive workforce. This holistic talent focus on nurturing a culture of care and empowerment positively impacts business outcomes through excellent guest services and satisfaction. Hyatt's journey illustrates how strategic talent management can deliver extraordinary hospitality experiences consistently on a global scale.