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Many businesses fall prey to the cobbler’s children syndrome, a commonplace occurrence that leaves employees short of the very benefits and experience their company provides to customers.
For many organizations, customer experience is a top priority, delivering top-notch tools, service and convenience to end users. And modern technologies have made this more achievable than ever. But why does that white glove service too often fall short when it comes to the employee experience? After all, happy employees lead to happy customers.
Global hospitality provider Hilton is leading the charge in this changing narrative by prioritizing consumer-grade tools, technology and experiences for its employees – just the same as it does for its guests.
I recently had the opportunity to connect with Kellie Romack, VP of digital HR and strategic planning at Hilton, to discuss Hilton’s back-office transition, innovation strategy and approach to digital HR. It was fascinating to see how an organization with such a significant technology legacy continues to innovate for its workforce.
Here are some of the things we discussed:
100 Years of Innovation: Hilton’s Tech Legacy
Now celebrating its 100 year anniversary, Hilton has long parlayed technology to improve guest experiences.
“Innovation is in our DNA,” said Romack. And she’s right. In the early days of its history, Hilton played a pioneering role in the industry, introducing new features like the concept of room service, televisions inside guest rooms and globalizing the in-room mini bar. These are all key staples that we’ve come to expect and enjoy in any hotel experience.
Since then, the company has continued to introduce new features for its guests like the Digital Key, which lets Hilton Honors members use their smartphones to choose and unlock rooms upon arrival, and the Connected Room, where saved preferences like favorite TV channels, streaming apps, light settings and room temperatures await them.
Innovation is clearly a key pillar for Hilton, leveraging new technologies to create a unique experience for its guests. But it doesn’t stop there.
Bringing Consumer-Grade Tech to the Employee Experience
One of the most fascinating things I found from my conversation with Kellie was how Hilton has realized that employee experience is just as important as customer experience. It’s refreshing to see, since so many organizations focus on the customer experience first, and the “back office” tends to get left behind.
Romack originally came from the product and guest experience side of the Hilton business, and when asked to help take HR into the digital age, she jumped at the opportunity. Her first challenge was creating a unique employee experience that matched Hilton’s white glove guest service.
“I came over with the mindset, why would it be different for our team members who are doing all of this great service for our guests?” said Romack. “Our team members should have access to technology that is as good as what we’re providing to our guests.”
We live in an era where the relationship between machines and humans is being redefined. Employees are using emerging technologies in their day-to-day lives, like Siri or Alexa. And when they come to the workplace, they want the same experience.
Hilton is meeting these employee expectations through several digital technologies:
- Mobile: The first step to delivering a positive employee experience is adapting to the way they work. For the Hilton workforce, that means going mobile. Over 95% of Hilton employees don't sit at a desk all day long – they’re constantly moving and need to be able to access any HR or workforce application seamlessly. “We had to make things simple and easy. So we are on a journey to be mobile first,” Romack said.
- Chatbots: The company also uses digital chatbots to answer common questions. This comes in handy, since employees ask the same questions as each other about 60% of the time – things like, what’s my paycheck or how do I check my vacation balance? These repetitive tasks are well-suited for automation and chatbots, providing more free time for the HR team to spend on high-value tasks that require white glove human service.
- Virtual Reality: As Millennials know well, learning is easier if you can watch someone do it on video and repeat what they do. Hilton has taken that a step further, deploying virtual reality for training to give corporate team members “tours” of properties to keep top of mind what it’s like to work there. Whether it’s making beds with proper hospital corners, checking in a guest or learning management skills, all of these tasks are ripe for technological innovation.
Continuing Another Century of Innovation
Hilton’s innovation legacy for both guest services and employee experiences has clearly paid off, with the organization being recognized by Fortune magazine as #1 on the 100 Best Companies to Work For in the U.S. list. And according to Romack, Hilton’s path to innovation is only continuing to grow.
When asked what’s in store for the company’s next 100 years, Romack noted she sees huge technology opportunities in recruiting and voice: “At some point, we think our team members should be able to operate HR services with voice.” I couldn’t agree more and am excited to see how Hilton continues to drive innovation in HR.
