“ You can ’ t define the culture and push it out . You need to have emploYees engage and be part of the definition of what theY want it to be .”
For exclusive videos of our panelists sharing their insights on company culture , visit hotelsm . ag / culturevideos
Special RepoRt : Company Culture
What are the best ways you have found to strengthen your company culture ?
LEOndakiS : What I ’ ve learned is you can ’ t define the culture and push it out . You need to have employees engage and be part of the definition of what they want it to be . Then once they help you define what it is , what they want it to be , you can begin to implement it and push it out , because they created it .
UEbErrOTH : You can ’ t put posters on the wall and tell people , “ This is our culture .” I think that those days have sort of changed .
Your associates spend so much time at work . It ’ s really a reflection upon who they are as an individual . They want to be proud about where they work . I always like to ask people , “ Would you want your best friend to come work for this company ?” I think that ’ s a good way to measure whether or not you ’ re doing something right .
COLLiaT : It ’ s difficult in a big company when you are talking about culture . I mean , you don ’ t create the culture in a couple of years . It takes a lot of time .
WEbb : I joined [ Hyatt ] eight years ago , and when I came in , it was clear to me that the culture of Hyatt and the personality of Hyatt is the personality of the Pritzker family — very humble , very achievement-oriented , quirky sense of humor — a lot of great things .
It makes me crazy when I ’ ll see a goal that says , “ Change the culture by December 31st .” You can ’ t do that even if you try . Culture isn ’ t something that you do to somebody . Culture happens every time two people come together ,
“ You can ’ t define the culture and push it out . You need to have emploYees engage and be part of the definition of what theY want it to be .”
– Niki LeoNdakis
and it ’ s the way they interact . It ’ s what ’ s valued . It ’ s what ’ s not valued . It ’ s a form of guardrails in an organization . I think our culture evolves . We set out to evolve it in a way that reflects the interests of the colleagues that work at Hyatt , the guests that stay there , the business partners and so forth .
PETrUS : When you talk about creating culture , a lot of this is seeing is believing . It ’ s not the seven pages of cultural stuff that you have to do . It ’ s making sure that people see real-life examples of how it comes to life . And then it ’ s from the heart .
For exclusive videos of our panelists sharing their insights on company culture , visit hotelsm . ag / culturevideos
dEFOrrEST : It ’ s about getting out there and really getting in front of people and saying , “ Why is it that you choose to be with us to begin with ? What do you like ? And then , what don ’ t you like ?” You have to treat that part of your responsibility the same way you deal with your customer relationships . If you don ’ t , you ’ re never going to be successful .
knOWLES : Our belief statement starts with we love what we do , and what we do is important . And I spent a lot of time talking to our new hires about that .
Raul [ Leal , CEO of Virgin Hotels ] and I can talk about culture all day long , but if the team ’ s not living it and making it their own , it ’ s never going to be successful . So we started a cultural champions committee , which we had huge interest in from the teammates here on the ground , because it ’ s really got to be theirs . It has to evolve with their vision for it .
MOUbayEd : I think the most important piece of it is that we all have the responsibility to get to know our employees really well . On the operations side , I have found that to be the most powerful piece of what I do . I know that they might ’ ve just had a baby , or they might support this soccer team . It resonates with them . That then gives them license to also do that with our guests .
34 HOTELS September 2015 www . hotelsmag . com