Why is Hilton the World’s Best Place to Work and Stay?

Named the No.1 World’s Best Workplace by Fortune and Great Place to Work, Hilton says it is committed to focusing on providing a strong workplace culture centred on enabling career growth for team members.

According to internal company data, 93% of Hilton's team members say it is a great place to work because of how it supports individuals with their long-term growth potential and wellbeing.

The data shows that nine out of 10 team members believe they can continue to learn and grow, 87% believe they can achieve their career goals in the company and 85% of US team members say they feel balanced and healthy at work.

From a succession planning point of view, nearly two-thirds of recent hotel and corporate leadership roles have been filled by internal candidates, with first-time managers in the US earning their promotions to management roles in four years on average.

Discussing the company’s ranking on the World’s Best Workplace list for a decade, President and CEO Chris Nassetta says: “This milestone goes beyond rankings, it’s a reflection of who we are and what we’ve always believed: when we take great care of our people, they take great care of our guests.

“Our 500,000 team members around the world are united by a common purpose that our founder, Conrad Hilton, envisioned over a century ago: to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality.”

What makes the best place to work the best place to stay?

Hilton released on the 13 November findings from a newly commissioned study linking the role of employee experience to consumer purchasing decisions and service experiences.

The survey conducted by Morning Consult for Hilton finds that 78% of companies that take good care of their employees provide better products and services, with 88% saying that taking care of employees is especially important for travel and hospitality brands.

Supporting this, 75% of respondents said that they are more likely to recommend doing business with a company that is known to treat its employees well.

Chris says that the “passion and dedication of our team members” is what “has made Hilton the best place to work and the best place to stay in the world”.

Enabling growth at Hilton

Since 2022, Hilton says that it has created more than 2.5 million learning and career growth opportunities for its employees, led by Chief Human Resources Officer Laura Fuentes. These include:

• LAUNCH: an early-career rotational programme that offers a 24-month rotation through on-property roles
• Guild: a tuition-free and barrier-free platform with educational opportunities for US team members from certificates and bootcamps to a variety of degrees
• People Leader Essentials & General Manager Academy: supporting current, new and future people leaders through a self-paced curriculum offering content on key leadership topics

Laura says: “We have always believed that an investment in our people is an investment in our business. As the No.1 Best Workplace once again, we know that a culture begins on growth and opportunity doesn’t just create great careers but also creates great guest experiences.

“By building a culture where team members feel seen, welcomed and a part of something greater than themselves, we’re empowering our team members to deliver exceptional service and drive our business forward.”

Building the Hilton culture 

In an interview with Fortune’s Diane Brady on 13 November, Chris admitted that it took a long time for Hilton Worldwide to become a great place to work.

He said: “We had this really unique culture, and we had sort of lost touch with it.”

During his time as CEO, he has increased the number of properties to over 9,000 and has reduced staff turnover to almost half the industry rate, according to Fortune.

Discussing how he has turned things around, Chris said: “We were telling stories of all the things they were doing to help people understand why they matter and how that work aggregates into something that’s really powerful.”

He added that with half a million employees he never really knows what’s going on “so you’ve got to create the right infrastructure and listening posts” to make sure he’s acting on the right data.