Last year, socialite and reality TV star Paris Hilton strutted into a Conrad Hotels and Resorts room and shared the following travel tip: “Book confirmed connecting rooms for an extra-large closet. Or, you know, for your family.” She held a fluffy white dog while a flurry of hotel staff filed into the room with her pink and tan luggage.
The advertisement, which attracted over 10 million views on YouTube, was part of a campaign to promote the hotel chain founded by Paris’s great-grandfather, Conrad Hilton.
“We create that feeling of a family,” said Simon Vincent, executive vice president and president of Hilton EMEA, during a virtual conversation hosted by Fortune earlier this week. “We were a family business. Paris Hilton is our leading ambassador right now. And we’ve retained that family culture within our business.”
A singular vision, Vincent explained, has helped Hilton retain its purpose as “a business of people that serves people.” Today, Hilton operates 22 brands comprising nearly 7,400 properties in 124 countries and territories. Hilton is ranked atop the 2023 World’s 25 Best Workplaces list, which is compiled by Fortune research partner Great Place to Work.
Founded in the U.S., with a historically dominant presence in the Americas, the hotel chain has since had to navigate the challenges of retaining a family-centered culture even as it expanded into new markets across Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. One area of focus has been on job promotions, giving rank-and-file employees the opportunity to build their careers at Hilton. And not every region or brand needs to adhere to the same stringent culture.
“It is still important to give your team members from different geographies and different cultures the latitude to bring that vision to life in a way that is appropriate to the brand they work for and the brand and culture they are working in,” said Vincent.
Great Place to Work’s research—based on 6.2 million survey responses representing the experiences of 18 million workers globally—demonstrates that a great workplace focuses on a strong relationship with leaders, the work employees do, and the people they work with. In recent years, there’s also been more attention dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“We are integrating the ESG conversation in everything we do,” said Tony Bond, executive vice president and chief diversity and innovation officer at Great Place to Work. “That shows up a little bit differently in the U.S. than abroad. Abroad, they are much more advanced than we are. It is a little bit challenging to have a political conversation today around some of these topics that are ESG-related.”
Employee resource groups, or ERGs, have become a particularly useful tool for employers.
“Those groups have evolved from being just community groups to now … where they’re driving innovation in organizations,” Bond said. “They are driving corporate strategy. It’s much more than just a group … to make people feel like they belong and feel good.”
Pharmaceuticals giant AbbVie has more than 100 ERGs. And not every region has the same mix of ERGs. In Europe, there is an ERG focused on energy savings and sustainability, a vexing issue on a continent where a recent energy crisis forced companies and households to cut energy use.
“It was really important for them to create that group to discuss increased rate of engagement and also define action that we could be taking to enhance our energy savings and sustainability,” said Véronique Molinari, head of business human resources for AbbVie’s European division.
AbbVie ranked fourth on the World’s 25 Best Workplaces list in 2023.
Singing can also strike a chord with employees. Ken Allen, former CEO of German logistics company DHL Express, was known not only for breaking into song but also for implementing a “focus” strategy in 2008 that centered on simplicity. “Simplicity, it’s good for me,” sang Mike Parra, incoming CEO of DHL Express Europe, during Fortune’s event.
DHL has used simple songs to help reinforce a four-tier strategy: motivate people to deliver a great level of service, leading to loyal customers and, ultimately, a profitable network.
“Customers would ask us, ‘Do you guys really have a singing CEO?’” said Parra. “We’re like, ‘Yes, we do.’”
A new chorus is at the center of a program DHL launched last year: “Are you okay? Are you really okay?” These two questions aim to elevate conversations between employees. Mental health issues have percolated as a concern, and many employers are aiming to address it by offering new benefits.
Training is also key to success. DHL Express, which ranked second on the 2023 World’s Best Workplaces list, worked with the company’s HR team to help employees develop the soft skills that would be needed to address the wide variety of responses that might be shared when employees were asked if they were okay.
“We had to work with our leaders, to really start to understand that the moment we go down that path, and you start asking that question, you have to be prepared for what’s going to come back to you,” said Parra.
