FROM ONLINE COMMUNITIES
TO LOCAL ONES
THE LINK BETWEEN
CULTURE AND PERFORMANCE
The mobile app provides a global online
community but the individual hotel properties also
get involved in their local communities through
their CARE committees. These committees
are composed of representatives from every
department in the hotel and are supported by
brand-to-field webinars, learning sessions and
other resources. They act as informal brand
ambassadors to their team members. But perhaps
their most visible function is to fulfill the brand’s
intent of giving back to the community.
The culture also carries through to performance.
DoubleTree by Hilton has found that hotel
properties with high engagement in the CARE
culture also tend to have higher scores on guest
satisfaction. “When team members are actively
engaged in creating a rewarding experience for
guests, team members and our communities, we
found a direct link to higher SALT scores,” said
Thompson. (SALT stands for Satisfaction and
Loyalty Tracker and is Hilton’s key metric for guest
satisfaction.)
“We ask our hotels to look at their local communities
and find needs we can fill,” Thompson said. “We
don’t prescribe what that should be. We want
them to decide what’s best for their communities.”
Most hotels seem to find a need that has to do
with children, partly because the corporate cause
is Teaching Kids to Care. But they also have team
members who’ve converted their garage into a
community center offering food, clothing, shoes
and household items for those who need them.
Notice that Thompson refers to team members
applying the CARE culture not just to guests
and the community, but also to those they work
alongside. “In fact, we believe that it starts with
team members caring for each other,” she said.
“We think we elevate the guest experience when
team members care for each other and help
each other. The team members are the heart of
our brand.”
TRIBETAKEAWAY
If companies expect desk employees to read internal communications on their computers at work, it
makes sense to provide opportunities for non-desk employees to do the same on their phones. (Tribe
does not recommend using mobile devices while operating heavy machinery or on the manufacturing
line. We’re talking about on-the-clock time in a breakroom or some other safe setting.)
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