Marriott International has announced its Asia Pacific (APAC) operation has won a series of prestigious workplace awards within the first four months in 2015, including being named 2015 China Top Employer by Top Employers Institute, one of the Best Workplaces in Asia by Great Place to Work and the two Regional Best Employer Awards by Aon Hewitt for Marriott International and The Ritz-Carlton Hotels and Resorts, Asia Pacific respectively.
These four major accolades combined with 15 Aon Hewitt workplace excellence awards for Marriott International in nine Asia Pacific markets – China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, recognize the company’s efforts to encourage, train and retain its 46,700 strong workforce, known as ‘associates’, across the region.
President and managing director for Asia Pacific Marriott International Simon Cooper said, “Right from the time of our founder, J Willard Marriott, our motto has been, ‘Take care of our associates and they’ll take care of our customers’. The recognition we’ve received in the past four months across APAC shows that Marriott still takes this to heart. It’s an impressive list that makes me immensely proud of our company.”
Anand Shankar, Regional Leader for Performance, Rewards and Talent with Aon Hewitt in Asia Pacific, said, “The Best Employers recognition means that the organization inspires strong commitment and superior performance from its people, and drives business results through effective people practices. He added: “For Marriott International and The Ritz-Carlton Hotels and Resorts, to be recognized as Best Employers in so many countries across Asia Pacific this year is by no means an easy achievement given the caliber of organizations that participates. To sustain quality and high-standard practices of HR programs and initiatives, year after year, is a true reflection of the group’s commitment to long-term success and sustainability through its people.”
Dedicated to professional development
The company’s focus on hiring locally, developing local talent and providing career opportunities is reflected in the Marriott International and The Ritz-Carlton Hotels and Resorts 2014 employee satisfaction survey for the Asia Pacific region which showed a 93 and 95 percent approval rating, respectively.
Regan Taikitsadaporn, Chief Human Resources Officer, Asia Pacific for Marriott International said the company is dedicated to its associates’ professional development and personal wellbeing.
“Making associates our focal point is not only good for customers but also makes good business sense and we will continue enhancing our suite of talent programs so as to attract, develop and retain the best caliber of associates,” Mr. Taikitsadaporn said.
Associates each take part in average 34 hours of training and 78 hours of professional development for managers in 2014 and all associates in the APAC region attend a daily pre-shift meeting to discuss one aspect of the company or service values, followed by a brief 15 minute training session to reinforce a skill or area of knowledge. The meeting is also used for recognition of successful service or career stories. Hotels host a variety of town hall meetings, or “rap” sessions with the general managers and participate in community service activities to create a sense of pride and engagement with the company.
The company is committed to identifying, training and supporting associates and it sets up clear career paths to help develop future Marriott leaders. Other initiatives include its Voyage Program for university graduates to fast track into a supervisory or entry management positions, and Core Management Leadership Programs consisting of over 10 facilitator lead courses, online curriculum and self-paced programs. As of December 2014, 64 percent of management positions in the APAC region were filled internally.
In addition, Marriott International is aware of the powerful roles that women play. Since its inception in 1999, The Women’s Leadership Development Initiative is set to formalize a comprehensive women’s agenda at Marriott. Its objectives include increasing the presence of women in the highest level of management and in other key decision-making positions, improving the career development process at Marriott, developing a role for senior management to play in ensuring that women progress, and capitalizing on the supply of women leaders currently available to drive the success of the organization. At the 2014 “Women in Leadership” Asia Pacific Conference, more than 75 Marriott female executives from across Asia Pacific met in Shanghai to network, share their career success insights and learn about growth and development opportunities throughout the region. To date, twelve percent of the General Managers in Asia are female.
Social media plays its part
The company uses social media to seek out potential new associates using eight different languages. It attracted more than 1.2 million global fans on the Marriott career Facebook site with about one-third are from the Asia Pacific region. Those interested in becoming associates can also access job information on the recently launched MarriottCareers on Twitter, which attracted 50,000 followers in its first month. They can also use a mobile app, LinkedIn and in China, Weibo and WeChat to stay connected with Marriott International and learn about career opportunities.
Developing talent is crucial to present and future success as Marriott International expands across the region. Marriott International expects to create approximately 37,000 new jobs in Asia through its continued growth and development in the APAC region in the next three years and it plans to increase its workforce to more than 40,300 in China alone by 2017.
Awards list in full
In these four months, Aon Hewitt recognized Marriott International across Asia:
Under Marriott International
- Regional Best Employer Award
- Best Employer for Generation Y for Indonesia
- Best of Best Employer Korea
- Best Employer in China
- Best Employer for Thailand
- Best Employer for India
- Best Employer for Hong Kong
- Best commitment to engagement for Hong Kong
- Best Employer Malaysia
- Best Commitment to engagement for Malaysia
Under The Ritz-Carlton Hotels and Resorts
- Regional Best Employer Award
- Best Employer for China
- Best of Best Employer Hong Kong
- Best Employer for Generation Y for Hong Kong
- Best Employer for Indonesia
- Best Employer for Japan
- Best Employer for Singapore
In January, for the fourth consecutive year, Marriott International was acknowledged as China Top Employer by Top Employers Institute and also named as one of the Best Workplaces in Asia by Great Place to Work.
