What makes a company a good company to work for? When I ask myself that question the first thing that comes to mind is good benefits. I as an employee want to work for a company that values me and I expect that that’s reflected monetarily. But according to First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, benefits are just a small piece of the puzzle. They are a tool to attract candidates, but don’t necessarily increase retention. So again, what makes a company a good company to work for? To examine this question, I decided to look at the HR practices being used by three companies from Fortune’s 2025 Best Companies to Work For, Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott. 

According to our lecture, companies are shaped by the values that company holds. Hilton’s mission is to “fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality”; Hyatt’s is “to care for people so they can be their best”; and Marriott’s is to “put people first”. Each company’s overarching mission is in some way related to people, not just the customer, but the employee. This people-focus is evident in the HR practices of the management in each company. 

Michael, a manager interviewed in First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, stated that one key to being a successful manager is to hire the right people and trust them. Marriott champions this by empowering their employees to apply their knowledge based on their own unique experiences to their customer interactions. In one example, an employee working the check-in desk noticed a child having a meltdown in the lobby. She immediately recognized the child had autism based on her experience with her own grandson, she then left her post to offer the child’s mother sensory toys for her child. The employee was not required to stay behind the desk, she was not locked into a robotic job function that left no room for individuality, instead she was able to step out of the box to deliver amazing hospitality and “put people first”.

Hilton seeks to not only give its customers a welcoming experience, they also want their company culture to shed the “light and warmth of hospitality” to its employees. One way they seek to do this is through their inclusive hiring practices. In one example, an employee named Jordan spoke of how Hilton not only sought to hire veterans, but to create a community for veterans within the company for the purpose of assisting veterans in transitioning to civilian life.

In a world where “youth unemployment” is on the rise, Hyatt seeks to hire young people with little to no experience or qualifications in an effort to provide entry level jobs, job experience, and career advancement opportunities to individuals that may be having difficulty in finding employment. 

The common thread between these three companies is that are prioritizing their people. They see their employees as individuals who are unique and add value to the team through their differences. They are leveraging their HR practices to further enforce their mission statements and values.

Investigating how these companies’ practice HR makes me reflect on the kind of manager I am and the kind of manager I want to be. The thing that has resonated with me most from the readings thus far is the “willingness to individualize”. I at times have fallen into the trap of “conventional wisdom” in thinking that the best way to help an employee is to fix their weaknesses. I want to be the kind of manager that seeks to find ways to capitalize on the strengths of the individual without trying to force everyone to try to be good at everything.

When it comes to challenges I face as a manager, my primary one is trusting my employees. I can be a bit of a perfectionist so it can be hard for me to delegate to someone and trust that they will meet my expectations. As Michael said, “if you expect the best of people, they’ll give you the best”. I would like to exercise that concept more and give my employee the opportunity to showcase what they can do.

Sources:

Buckingham, M., & Coffman, C. (2016). First, break all the rules: What the world’s greatest managers do differently(2016 ed.).

Hyatt Hotels Corporation. About Hyatt. https://about.hyatt.com/en.html

Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Careers at Hyatt. https://careers.hyatt.com/en-US/careers/

Hilton. Creating community for veterans at Hilton Austin. https://jobs.hilton.com/us/en/blogarticle/creating-community-for-veterans-at-hilton-austin

Marriott International. Autism certified hotel. https://life.marriott.com/blog/autism-certified-hotel/

Marriott International. Core values & heritage. https://www.marriott.com/culture-and-values/core-values.mi

Matrix BCG. Mission, vision & values of Hilton. https://matrixbcg.com/blogs/mission/hilton

Oregon State University. Week 1 learning materials. https://canvas.oregonstate.edu/courses/2055828/pages/week-1-learning-materials?module_item_id=26642121