Global research firm Great Place To Work Australia, which assesses workplace culture and ranks businesses on employee development and happiness, has again ranked Hilton in 4th place out of Australia’s 50 best companies to work for in 2018.
The result came following a study into over a dozen employee-focused initiatives run by the brand in Australia designed to build a strong team culture and promote a healthy work/life balance.
One such initiative includes flexible working arrangements to help team members reach the needs of their lifestyle, location and role including work-from-home, flexible scheduling, job sharing and even a compressed work-week, where employees can work extra hours on some days to meet their weekly minimums and potentially enjoy an extra day off in return.
Gender diversity is also actively celebrated and encouraged at Hilton hotels, with the company’s ‘Women in Leadership’ program helping to springboard nearly 150 female employees to senior roles within the company since its launch in 2015. So far, nearly one third of program participants have been promoted or transferred to more senior roles at other hotels within the group. Each year, one in five team members are transferred to similar or higher roles at other Hilton group hotels in Australia. This creates more than 1,300 employment opportunities across 12 hotels and corporate offices.
In addition, the ‘Thrive@Hilton’ scheme encourages workers to enrich their body, mind and spirit by creating more time to improve their health and happiness and therefore be at their best every day.
Employees also have access to a concept known as ‘Thrive Sabbatical’ in which they can apply for paid time off work of up to a month in order to ‘Live a Dream’ or ‘Give a Dream’. These involve embarking on a personal goal, a meaningful exercise or to engage in a charitable endeavour of their choice. Team members are celebrated for their achievements and external professional activities, with more than 100 events organised during ‘Team Member Appreciation Week’ in 2018.
At a corporate level in Australia, Hilton has formed partnerships with The Smith Family to offer work experience to 150 disadvantaged young people in one of eight participating hotels in 2018. A tie-up with the City of Sydney Council and the World Wildlife Fund has seen the hotel improve its food waste program by up to 15%, thereby saving $30,000 in 2017.
Guests at Hilton Brisbane now enjoy honey curated from two rooftop hives managed in conjunction with Bee One Third, which educates inner-city Brisbane residents on the importance of bees in the global food system.