When I looked through the 2025 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For<\/strong>, three organizations really stood out to me: Hilton<\/strong>, American Express<\/strong>, and Panda Restaurant Group<\/strong>. What I found most interesting was how each company uses HR practices to create a positive culture, support their people, and help employees do their best work. It connects closely to what we\u2019ve been learning in class about how good HR design, training, and motivation make all the difference.<\/p>\n Hilton<\/strong>, ranked #1 this year, focuses on inclusion and empowerment. Ninety-five percent of employees say it\u2019s a great place to work, and almost everyone feels welcomed from day one. Hilton\u2019s HR team puts a lot of effort into leadership training and career development, making sure every employee feels valued and prepared to grow. This shows how strong HR systems and clear job design can make people feel capable and connected to the company\u2019s bigger mission.<\/p>\n American Express<\/strong>, ranked #4, builds its culture around balance and trust. Employees talk about flexible schedules, supportive leaders, and pride in how the company gives back to communities. It\u2019s a great example of HR helping people find motivation through purpose and well-being<\/strong>, not just performance metrics.<\/p>\n Panda Restaurant Group<\/strong>, ranked #51, shows that even in fast-paced food service, you can build a strong, family-like culture. Eighty-three percent of employees say it\u2019s a great place to work. Panda invests in training and development, which helps team members grow personally and professionally.<\/p>\n As a future manager, I want to lead the way these companies do: by creating trust, encouraging growth, and recognizing people\u2019s efforts. I think the hardest part will be balancing autonomy with accountability, but the examples of Hilton, Amex, and Panda remind me that with good HR support, that balance is possible.<\/p>\n Source: Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For 2025, Great Place to Work Institute<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How Great Companies Treat Their People \u2014 and the Kind of Manager I Want to Be When I looked through the 2025 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, three organizations really stood out to me: Hilton, American Express, and Panda Restaurant Group. What I found most interesting was how each company uses HR practices […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14984,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/2021004mgmt453\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/2021004mgmt453\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/2021004mgmt453\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/2021004mgmt453\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14984"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/2021004mgmt453\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/2021004mgmt453\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/2021004mgmt453\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/2021004mgmt453\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/2021004mgmt453\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/2021004mgmt453\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}