Leadership in Communication series
Leadership, management and communication skills
Bill Marriott’s leadership spans more than 30 years. His vision for the company is for it to be the No. 1 lodging company in the world. This vision is grounded in his intense focus on taking care of the guest, extensive operational knowledge, the development of a highly skilled and diverse workforce and offering the best portfolio of lodging brands in the industry. Under his leadership, Marriott International continues to enjoy strong customer, owner and franchise satisfaction, steady growth, and profitability.
Known throughout the industry for his hands-on management style and open communication, Bill Marriott has built a highly regarded culture that emphasizes the importance of Marriott’s people and recognizes the value they bring to the organization. Marriott International’s “spirit to serve” culture is based on a business philosophy adopted 80 years ago by Marriott’s parents, J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott: “Take care of the employee, and they’ll take care of the customer, and the customer will come back.”
Today, approximately 151,000 Marriott associates are serving guests in 68 countries and territories around the world. Marriott International is also well known as a great place to work and for its commitment to diversity and community service. It has consistently been named to Fortune’s lists of most admired companies, best places to work and top companies for minorities.
Crisis communication
When trouble strikes, Bill Marriott is often there as the face of Marriott. For example, when terrorists flew planes into New York City’s World Trade Center on 11 September 2001, the Marriott hotel there was reduced to dust. Because crisis communication and evacuation plans were in place, no guests were lost. Unfortunately, two associates were killed as they helped evacuate people. Within a few days, Marriott visited Ground Zero and sent a personal message to all associates, established the Marriott Associate Assistance Fund and expanded the company’s leave-sharing program. He also arranged for associates to be kept on the payroll even in the face of severe loss of hotel revenue.
Leadership and the bottom line
Because of his long tenure as chairman and chief executive officer, there is a clearly demonstrated link between Bill Marriott’s leadership and the company’s bottom line growth and success. Here are a few highlights and key indicators of Marriott’s growth from 1972, when Bill Marriott became CEO, and 2006, when the most recent financial results were available:
Stock performance
If a shareholder purchased 100 shares at the company’s initial public offering in 1953 and reinvested dividends, the original US$1,025 investment would be worth US$2.9 million as of 1 June 2004, yielding a 16.5 percent annual return over 52 years.
Associate opinion surveys
Each year, Marriott conducts a companywide Associate Opinion Survey (AOS), which is an opportunity to gauge the health of each individual property through the eyes of associates. Survey topics include the quality of the managers, development opportunities, work/life balance, fairness and diversity. Here are some findings from the recent survey conducted in 2006:
- Close to 80 percent of Marriott associates are very satisfied with their employment experience.
- Some 81 percent of associates agree with the statement “I have the information I need to do my job well.”
- Nearly 75 percent of Marriott associates are “moderately engaged” with the company, compared to 59 percent, the Hewitt Associates benchmark, of the consumer services sector of the economy.
- More than 70 percent of hourly associates responded favorably to questions regarding the effectiveness of their leaders and their relationships with their fellow associates.
- Nearly 90 percent of management associates expressed favorable attitudes toward their leaders and colleagues.
Customer satisfaction
- The Guest Satisfaction Survey (GSS) process is the system used to measure guest satisfaction with each Marriott hotel. The GSS:
- Provides both statistical results as well as specific guest comments.
- Allows guests to tell Marriott what they like and dislike about individual hotels and each brand as a whole.
- Provides valuable information for improving guest satisfaction and eliminating problems.
Each day, a random sample of guests who have recently stayed at a hotel are sent a survey by e-mail. Surveys returned from guests are processed and tabulated. Results are then posted on the company’s Lodging Quality Assurance web site each week, which allows general managers, franchisees, management, companies, owners and corporate associates to access information to correct deficiencies, monitor ongoing progress and celebrate improvement.
For all Marriott brands, overall guest satisfaction has increased from 78.4 percent in 2002 to 80.7 percent in 2007.
- The JD Power & Associates 2007 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study measured overall guest hotel satisfaction across six hotel segments. The Ritz-Carlton brand came in No. 1 in the luxury segment. The JW Marriott brand came in No. 2.
- The American Customer Satisfaction Index is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States. The index is produced by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business in partnership with the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and CFI Group:
“The highest scoring company in the hotel business [Marriott International] is up 5 percent to 79—its best score since 1994. Marriott has invested in many improvements to its properties, including renovations to its Courtyard and Residence Inn locations. The hotel has begun adding LCD televisions to many of its rooms, and has spent almost $200 million on better sheets and tops for its beds. These improvements show up in Marriott’s ACSI data, and are major contributors to the gain in satisfaction.”
Other industry recognition
- “Best Hotel Chain in the World for 2006”—Business Traveler
- “Best Hotel Chain”—Executive Travel
- “Best Customer Experience”—2007 Luxury Hotels & Resorts Luxury Customer Index
- TripAdvisor’s No. 1 brand among business travelers
- “World Savers Award”—Condé Nast Traveler
IABC International Conference 2008 WebCast: EXCEL Winner J.W. Marriott Jr. (registration required)
“Leadership in Communication” series – Table of Contents
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