3. Prepare to cope with cultural challenges.
In creating a corporate culture, companies must consider that the needs and desires of employees in underserved markets often differ from those in mainstream markets.
Marriott’s work-life initiatives were introduced in 1990, making Marriott one of the first companies to use official resources to help its associates (Marriott’s term for its employees) to balance the competing demands of work and life. The company has funded social programs specifically designed for low-income employees, such as family-care spending accounts. It has also allowed associates flexible work schedules and supported more traditional family-care programs.
In 1993, Marriott examined the effectiveness of the company’s work-life programs. Officials were concerned to find that these programs were not adequately meeting employee needs and that these unmet needs were having an adverse effect on job performance and customer service. Many employees were beset by complex, acute, and urgent life issues—car and transportation issues, language and immigration issues, abusive spouses, crime, drugs and alcohol, school problems of children, financial and legal problems, evictions and other housing issues, and on and on. Moreover, employees tended to have two or more of these problems at a time, resulting in high yet potentially reducible rates of absenteeism, tardiness, and turnover among associates. Managers and direct line supervisors reported that they were diverting up to 50 percent of their time to “social work,” helping associates with such problems rather than spending it on their other managerial duties.
To address these cultural challenges, Marriott developed the Associate Resource Line, which provides confidential counseling through a one-stop resource that can address a wide range of personal issues. It is available via an 800 number to all covered Marriott managers and hourly employees, who may call an unlimited number of times from home or from a telephone set aside for this purpose on the Marriott property. The service is available 24/7 and is completely confidential. All calls are handled by a staff of trained social workers.
Follow-up surveys indicated that 96 percent of the employees who used the service were satisfied with the help they received. As many as 63 percent reported reduced stress, 60 percent reported having more positive feelings about Marriott, and 23 percent reported lower absenteeism. Supervisors also reported that they were spending less time on “social work” and more time on managerial aspects of their jobs.
Marriott piloted this program in Florida because of the large number of Marriott properties there and the representative nature of the state’s hourly Marriott workforce. A year later, the company expanded the test sites to Atlanta, Chicago, and Denver. As of 2005, the toll-free Associate Resource Line is available in more than 100 languages to all Marriott associates.
[Sources: Whiting, 1997; Bison.com, 2005.]
For its efforts, Marriott has been recognized as one of Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For”; as one of Washingtonian’s “Great Places to Work”; and earns strong marks on the National Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP’s) annual lodging-industry report card.
