1. Hyatt Hotels Mentorship Program
Hyatt Hotels Mentorship Program
Brett Busscher, Jenny Horne, Tiffany Jackson, Clay Knapp, Molly Smith,
Mia Sullivan, Yuer Xing, Madison Zyer

2. 2
Table of Contents
Hyatt Hotels Mentorship Program
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Program Objective…………………………………………………………………………………………….….…..1
1. Turnover Stats and Costs
2. Millennial Turnover
3. Program Purpose
4. Program Overview
Program Qualifications……………………..…………………………………………………………....…...............3
1. Mentor Qualifications
2. Mentee Qualifications
Program Structure…………………………………………………………………………………………….……...4
1. The Pairing Process
2. What to Expect
3. Session Suggestions
Program Incentives & Rewards…………………………………….………………………………………..……....5
1. Hyatt Sponsored Outings
2. Lunch and Learn Series
3. Reward Points
Code of Conduct……………………………………………………………………………………………………....6
1. Mentors and Mentees
Program Evaluation …………………………………………………………………………..………………….…..7
1. Biannual Survey
Business Proposal …………………………………………………………………………..………………….……..8
1. Program Implementation
2. Stakeholders
3. Expenses
4. Expected Benefit

3. 1
Objective
0%
15%
4%
8%
9%
5%
9%
20%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Silent Generation Baby Boom Generation X Millennial
Turnover for YTD 2016
TurnOver Corporate
TurnOver USA Hotels
Linear (TurnOver Corporate)
Linear (TurnOver USA Hotels)
Program Objective
1. Turnover Stats and Costs
As highlighted by the chart above, millennial turnover rate at Hyatt hotel properties is noticeably higher
than all other generational hotel turnover as well as millennial turnover at corporate Hyatt. This high turnover
inevitably leads to inefficiency in wasted time and money for Hyatt as a company.
2. Millennial Turnover
Much research and speculation has been done about the reasons behind high turnover rates for millennials,
particularly within the hospitality industry. Below is a summary of the most common motivators driving high
millennial turnover:
 Lack of engagement in the workplace
 Work does not feel purposeful or fulfilling
 Lack of variety, challenges, or opportunities for exploration/growth in the workplace
 Emotional exhaustion (“burnout”) - often leave if their job does not make them feel they are
reaching their full potential
 Sense that personal values/aspirations are not aligned with goals of the company

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2
Objective
Program Objective
These findings were gathered and summarized from a large number of scholarly articles, including:
 “Generation effects on work engagement among U.S. hotel employees”, International Journal of
Hospitality Management, (Gursoy and Park, 2012)
 “Qualitative examination of employee turnover and retention strategies in international tourist hotels
in Taiwan”, International Journal of Hospitality Management, (Fu, Wan, and Yang, 2012)
 “Impact of Job Burnout on Satisfaction and Turnover Intention: Do Generational Differences
Matter?”, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, (Gursoy and Park, 2013)
3. Purpose of the Program
Hyatt’s purpose is “We care for people so they can be their best”. Of course, this applies not only to guests and
customers of Hyatt, but also to employees. This mentorship program aims to ensure that young new hires are being
cared for so that they can be their best in the workplace. In doing so, we aim to reduce high turnover rates of
millennial employees experienced at many hotel properties.
 Addressing the top reasons Millennials leave jobs:
 Lack of engagement in the workplace
 Work does not feel purposeful or fulfilling
 Lack of variety, challenges, or opportunities for exploration/growth in the workplace
 Emotional exhaustion (“burnout”) - Millennials often leave if their job does not make them
feel they are reaching their full potential
 Sense that personal values/aspirations are not aligned with goals of the company
 The purpose of the mentorship program is to support the engagement and growth of new or recently
hired employees, foster meaningful and worthwhile relationships with experienced colleagues, and
encourage a sense of fulfillment and potential with their career at Hyatt.
 In meeting these criteria, we aim to retain employees who are loyal and dedicated to the
company and reduce turnover for millennial employees at the hotel level
2. Program Overview
 Pair a new hire or recently hired individual with a mentor (qualifications for mentor/mentee
provided on next page).
 Pairs will meet casually on a monthly basis with flexibility in amount of meetings, location, duration,
etc.
 Intention is for mentor to serve as a personal connection for new employees, not a ‘manager’
relationship. Someone who will provide support, advice, and connections to help further their
mentee’s career path, and ensure that mentee employees are feeling engaged, challenged, and
fulfilled by their employment. Mentees should see potential for growth within the comp

5. 3
Qualifications
Program Qualifications
1. Qualifications for Becoming a Mentor
A qualified mentor should meet the following criteria:
 Three or more years in the hospitality industry or currently working at the manager level or higher
 A knowledgeable background in the hospitality industry that reasonably exceeds that of the
mentee’s
 The availability to meet with their mentee a minimum of once per month
 An understanding of the organization, its structure, and career paths within Hyatt
 Ability to model the Hyatt standard through professional behavior and sharing professional and
industry insights
2. Qualifications for Becoming a Mentee
A qualified mentee should meet the following criteria:
 Be a new hire or an employee that has been with Hyatt for two years or less
 Currently working at one of the Hyatt hotel locations
 Be able to meet with their mentor a minimum of once per month
 Have a personal interest in the hospitality industry
 Have a desire for self-development and knowledge

6. 4
Program Structure
Program Structure
1. The Mentor/Mentee Pairing Process
Upon joining the mentorship program, mentors will be asked to complete a short questionnaire concerning
career goals and interests. For mentees, part of the onboarding process (or upon joining the program if currently
employed) will include completing the same questionnaire. After the questionnaire is completed a program
coordinator will work to match mentors and mentees based on their responses. Example questions could include:
 What are you work/career goals?
 What are your personal interests?
 What are you looking to get from the mentorship program?
 What’s your preferred method of communication?
 What’s your preferred frequency of communication outside of monthly sessions?
 What are your areas of professional interest? Professional expertise?
 For mentors: What is your desired role of mentoring? (Career planning, motivator, resume building,
and so forth)
It is encouraged that mentors are paired with mentees within a relatable line of professional interests so that
mentors can share career related knowledge in order to motivate mentees to excel in their desired field. However, it
is preferred that mentors are not paired with someone that they have direct control over to avoid conflict of interest
between working and mentoring relationships.
2. What to Expect
Once a pairing is made, the mentor can then reach out to the mentee to discuss when their initial and future
mentoring sessions will be. The mentoring sessions themselves do not have to be formal or time-intensive, but
should occur a minimum of once per month either in person or through some communication medium. The
recommended length of each session is around an hour, although the quality of the session should be prioritized over
the duration.
During the initial sessions, the mentor should work with the mentee to determine of the structure of the
mentorship based on what their priorities and professional aspirations are. Additionally, the pair should discuss what
goals they want to work towards during the mentorship. The ultimate goal of each session should be a positive and
rewarding experience for the mentee that inspires them to pursue personal growth through learning, making
meaningful connections, and feeling valued as a Hyatt employee.
3. Ideas for Sessions
 Lunch at a nearby restaurant or coffee house
 An outing to a Hyatt property
 Participating in a Hyatt-sponsored activity such as volunteering or fundraising
 Inviting mentee to lunch with colleagues or aiding in networking
 Inviting mentee to “Lunch and Learn” sessions and presentation

7. 5
Incentives and Rewards
Program Incentives and Rewards
The following are possible incentives or rewards to be included in the program to both encourage
participation on the mentor side as well as entice interviewees with the potential for involvement upon joining the
Hyatt team. The hope is that these incentives will encourage mentor/mentee pairs to stay involved with the program
and to grow in their relationship with each other as well as their relationship with the company.
 Hyatt Sponsored Outings: All mentor/mentee pairs take a trip somewhere unique and exciting, such
boat rides, day trips to the beach or museums, traveling to a nearby city, or even a summer ‘Field
Day’ in which pairs play games, hold competitions, and do team building activities during a day-long
trip out to a local park or recreational space. Pairs would be encouraged to attend these outings
together to help foster the development of meaningful and lasting bonds between mentors and
mentees while having the chance to escape from routine and to travel off property for a day.
 Suggested Frequency: Twice a year
 Lunch and Learn Series: Mentees are requested to provide a list of skills/interests that they would
like the opportunity to learn or develop. Based on requests made by the mentees, hotels organize
Lunch and Learn sessions that are each focused around a particular skill, and recruit various mentors
on the property to speak about developing/perfecting a given skill or interest. For example, many
mentees may request to learn more about boosting their resume; the property would then assign a
mentor with the task of giving a small presentation on resume creation and improvement. Both
mentors and mentees would be encouraged to attend these Lunch and Learn sessions together as an
opportunity to connect while acquiring/improving useful skills.
 Suggested Frequency: Once a month
 Hyatt Points: Mentor/Mentee pairs earn ‘Hyatt Points’ for attending outings, Lunch and Learn
sessions, as well as on major anniversaries of their involvement with the program (i.e. 6 month or
one year anniversary of joining the mentorship program as a pair). These points can then be used in a
variety of different ways: a raffle at the end of the year where points function essentially as raffle
tickets, an auction in which mentors and mentees can bid on unique items with their points, or points
could simply be spent intermittently throughout the year on fun small rewards such as the
opportunity to park in the front lot of the property. There is plenty of flexibility in how this incentive
is used and each hotel property could work it into their Mentorship Program however they felt it
would fit best. The main purpose is to keep mentor/mentee pairs involved in the program and all of
its beneficial opportunities, while providing employees with fun and unique ways to stay engaged
and maintain a sense of variety at the workplace.
 Suggested Frequency: Unique to each hotel property

8. 6
Code of Conduct
Code of Conduct
A Code of Conduct has been established to ensure that this program is a positive and rewarding experience
for all of those involved, regardless of how it is implemented in an individual Hyatt property.
 Mentoring is a confidential activity, in which both parties have a duty to care for and respect one another.
 Both Mentor and Mentee should be volunteers; either may dissolve the relationship if they feel it is not
working.
 The Mentor’s role is to respond to the Mentee’s developmental needs and agenda; it is not to impose his or
her own agenda.
 Mentor and Mentee should respect each other’s time and other responsibilities, ensuring they do not impose
beyond what is reasonable.
 Mentors and Mentees are expected to conduct themselves in a positive, professional manner, and refrain
from judgment of co-workers.

9. 7
Evaluation
Program Evaluation
The Mentorship Program will be evaluated on a biannual basis to ensure that both mentors and mentees are
getting the most that they can out of the program, that relationships are forming in a healthy and beneficial way for
all involved, and to receive feedback regarding the structure of the program and the activities/outings held by the
individual property.
 Evaluations will take place twice a year in the form of an online survey.
 Both Mentor and Mentee will have the chance to rank the success of their partnership on a 1 to 10 scale, with
1 representing failure and 10 representing success.
 The survey will also include a text box in which each mentor or mentee can write comments or suggestions
regarding the partnership, or the program in general. This is also where mentors or mentees can voice
concerns they may have about their partnership.
 Individuals will be encouraged to share both positive and negative feedback, to ensure that
individuals not comfortable with voicing thoughts or concerns in person have a venue to discuss a
wide range of feedback they may have.
 Evaluations will be collected and reviewed by designated HR staff in order to gain insight into and improve
individual mentor/mentee relations as well as to monitor the success of the mentorship program as a whole.

10. 8
Business Proposal
Business Proposal
1. How is this implemented in hotels?
 After the program is developed in full, it will be implemented first within properties located
throughout the United States of America, and then expanded to a global implementation
 Can be tested at hotels in the Chicago area (Hyatt Regency Chicago, Hyatt Regency McCormick
Place, Hyatt Regency O’Hare)
 Through our research, it was determined that the program should be tested at “big-box”
hotels due to the higher turnover rates associated with these properties
 The program is designed to be as flexible as possible. This will allow individual properties /
brands to tailor and tweak the program to best fit their specific needs
 Ex: Change scope of program depending on size of hotel-smaller property can modify or
adjust plans and suggestions
 Program is easily implemented, simply requires giving a set of guidelines/principles to hotels
which they can then alter as necessary to best suit their property.
 Important to note that the ability to “roll out” the program will also depend on the size of
property and the size of the HR staff
2. Which stakeholders benefit?
 Hyatt Corporation:
 Engages employees and raises company profile; ‘corporate cares about us’
 Reduces turnover, which equates to more money reaching the bottom line
 Directly in line with Hyatt’s Purpose Statement
o “We care for people so they can be their best. We continuously listen, learn
and evolve to both meet and anticipate the needs of our colleagues. We believe
that being your best is about being your true self – engaged, fulfilled and ready
to take on the world”
 Increased loyalty to the company at the hotel property level
 Hotel Owners:
 Increased profits at hotel properties lead to reduced ‘cost of sale’ for hotel owners
 Employee turnover will be reduced, and employees will be more engaged with their
work.
o Also results in increased customer satisfaction
 Increased retention equates to less time and money spent on training new employees
 Ability to identify and retain employees with management level potential
o By pairing with a good mentor, can be groomed more quickly and efficiently to
move them into a more interesting position.
o Will result in retention of high-quality employees
 Flexibility of the program allows for both wide-spread implementation and the ability to
tailor and tweak as the property see fit

11. 9
Business Proposal
Business Proposal
 Employees:
 Facilitates clear potential career paths and opportunities for advancement within the
company
 Work will become more engaging, allowing for better performance
 Opportunity to form meaningful relationships with mentors, mentees, and other
colleagues
o Learn more about their “extended Hyatt family members”
 Improved networking and cross-department training. This will allow for employees to
better find the jobs within Hyatt that interest them
o Property wide improvement in employee camaraderie
o Learn more from colleagues and how fun/difficult their jobs are
 Provides access to a wide range of experiences and activities that are fun and unique to
Hyatt hotel properties
o Mentor/Mentee outings
o Increased personal connection for employees
o Make the work environment more fun
 Shareholders:
 Increased value to the company through improved retention leads to increased stock
value
3. What are the expenses?
The actual dollar costs for this program are likely low, with expenses coming largely in the form of payment
for incentives/rewards of the program. The more prominent expense is additional time and work needed from
hotel employees for program implementation and execution.
 Hotel HR have to set up program and enroll new hires
 Find mentors to participate
 Produce surveys for matching, analyze evaluations, plan outings/activities
 Cost for these individuals comes in the form of additional time/work needed
 Hotel Properties
 Incentive system will likely incur costs to properties (funds for outings, activities, as
well as raffle/auction or other incentive for Hyatt Points system)
 Time spent getting mentors/mentees involved in the program, as well as time spent at
outings/activities, and additional work and time needed from HR employees

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Business Proposal
Business Proposal
4. What is the expected benefit and is it impactful?
The main expected benefit is reduction in employee turnover or an increase in retention rates, depending on
how the issue is framed. The program itself was designed to reduce employee turnover within the millennial
demographic at Hyatt hotels, which currently sits at 20% - 7% higher than the turnover average company-wide.
Having such a high turnover rate for this demographic translates to dramatically increased costs, both time and
money, in training and hiring. This leads to widespread inefficiency across properties as excessive time and money is
spent to accommodate a high millennial turnover rate.
Consider an example from a study done at Cornell University School of Hotel Administration by Tony Simons
and Timothy Hinkin: “The Effect of Employee Turnover on Hotel Profits: A Test Across Multiple Hotels” (2001).
Authors Hinkin and Simons argue that the cost of rising turnover for a hotel increases with ADR. Additionally, they
calculate that, for a hotel with an ADR of $125, every percentage point increase in turnover results in additional
yearly costs of $32,750. We argue that, through implementation of our Mentorship Program, millennial turnover at
hotel properties will fall 7 percentage points, from 20% down to 13% (the average turnover rate for Hyatt as a
company). A fall of 7 percentage points in turnover multiplied by yearly cost of an additional percentage point rise in
turnover of $32,750 results in overall yearly savings of $229,250 / year at the property level for a hotel with an
ADR of $125. When we consider all Hyatt properties, whose ADR on average is ~$188, it is clear that average
savings for a Hyatt property will likely be even larger than the example given above. Thus, successfully reducing
turnover rate by even a small percentage will result in significant efficiency improvements in terms of time
allocation and money use across Hyatt hotel properties.
A secondary impact of implementing the mentorship program will be an increase in the positive attention that
is paid to both Hyatt Corporate and the individual Hyatt properties. The mentorship program highlights the
importance of the need to care for our colleagues, which is directly in line with the company purpose statement, and
works to ensure that colleagues do feel cared for at every level. As the mentorship program begins to take shape, it
can only help to make employees feel as if they are better connected to their peers, their extended Hyatt family, and
in turn will result in happier employees. Increased loyalty to the company is another benefit that can be expected
by instituting this program, as the meaningful relations that are developed through the program will make employees
more motivated to remain with the company. For example, if a mentor has made an impact on his or her mentee, that
mentee will be less likely to leave their employment with Hyatt because they will have to leave behind the
relationships they spent time fostering. Other world renowned companies have created mentorship programs and
subsequently had success with them in the past; companies such as Google, GE, and Intel are all examples of such
companies.
By examining what members of the millennial demographic want most from their job and in their lives, it
can be seen that many of these desires can be achieved through participating in a mentorship program. The
opportunity to have new experiences, create meaningful relations, and see and experience potential career paths can
all be provided through a mentorship program. In return, Hyatt will see a reduction in millennial turnover that will
save them significant time and money, and will retain more loyal and dedicated employees - an opportunity for
both increased efficiency and employee satisfaction that cannot be overlooked.