What Guides Decisions During Difficult Times?

The Talent Economy Podcast

The past two years have been the most challenging in recent memory for the hospitality and travel industries. Hyatt Hotels Corporation has met these challenges by prioritizing employee well-being and focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion. In this episode, we speak with CHRO Malaika Myers about how Hyatt’s mission to care for guests starts with caring for employees, and how the company is looking to an untapped talent pool both to fill its ranks and provide opportunities for young people.

Malaika Myers has been Hyatt’s CHRO since 2017. In this role, she sets and implements the hospitality company’s global HR enterprise strategy. She previously served as SVP of Human Resources for consumer products company Jarden Corporation and CHRO for Arysta LifeScience. She has also held various senior management roles at consumer products company Diageo. Prior to that, Myers spent more than 10 years at PepsiCo Inc., which she joined after serving in several HR roles at FMC Corporation, an agricultural sciences company.

Myers shares what attracted her to the HR field and reflects on the differences between working in the consumer products industry and the hospitality sector. She discusses the difficult decisions the company made as the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to cancel travel, and how Hyatt created a Care Fund to help employees struggling amid the furloughs and layoffs of 2020. Myers also discusses Hyatt’s diversity initiative, Change Starts Here, and how it has been met with enthusiasm by employees across the company.

Some Questions Asked:

• What first drew you to the field of HR?
• Have you been concerned about the Great Resignation?
• What are the steps you’ve taken to become one of the Fortune Top 100 greatest companies to work for, particularly when it comes to diversity?

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• How a shared purpose as a corporation has helped see Hyatt through the tumultuous past few years.
• How Hyatt is expanding its talent pool to include “opportunity youth,” people between the ages of 16 and 24 who aren’t in school or working.
• About the wellness checks that Hyatt has implemented for its employees and how caring for its employees’ well-being helps Hyatt take better care of its guests.

Links:

• Malaika Myers - Hyatt
• Malaika Myers - LinkedIn

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