Marriott: A modern example of a dignified culture, and how to replicate it
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 - Dignify
A Korn Ferry study dives into what makes the company’s culture so effective, with insights from Marriott’s Chief Human Resources Officer, David Rodriguez. Rodriguez summarizes the company’s approach to culture by asserting their belief that everyone wants community, belief and purpose.
The company provides community through a wellbeing program backed up by a custom app to create a sense of community among all of Marriott’s employees across the world. The program provides a plethora of activities and resources that support Mariott employees, including:
– Stress management exercises
– Physical and mental health programs
– Financial advisement
– Career building
– Team building initiatives
Marriott seeks to build a sense of purpose into every employee who works in their properties. They reward, recognize, and celebrate associates who go the extra mile to accommodate their guests and serve the communities they operate in. Marriott operates a platform, Serve 360, which helps employees take an active role in addressing some of the most pressing social, environmental, and economic issues. They take corporate social responsibility to a new level by providing opportunities for their people to get involved in supporting the company’s values.
As far as opportunity is concerned, the company offers a large amount of advancement opportunities to employees. They show their people through action that there is a path to career growth as long as you wear the Marriott badge. Examples of this include the Emerging Leader Program, which identifies high-performing associates and enrolls them in a year-long leadership development program, and the Women’s Leadership Development Initiative, which has led to a nearly equivalent gender split in leadership roles, a rare outcome even in the modern environment.
Marriott provides a clear example of what it means to put your people first in a workplace culture. By creating a sense of purpose, community, and opportunity, Marriott has built a culture that works, and it shows in the performance.
As a leader, no matter where you are in your career or what business you are in, you have an opportunity to replicate the value that Marriott gains out of their culture. Be intentional about it! Ask yourself what more you can do to build purpose, community, and opportunity in your team.
Better yet? Ask your employees. With a system like Dignify in place, you can establish a regular cadence of surveys, which you can use to glean feedback (optionally anonymous) and assess what your employees need from you. By involving your people in the process of building the culture, you are sure to get valuable information that you can use to create an action plan to address their needs.