YHS Hotel Employer

Ranking 2015

March 2015

Ji Min Lee & Laura Walter

www.yhsglobal.com

1

Table of Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 2

Young Hoteliers Summit ............................................................................................................................. 2

Company Specific Report ........................................................................................................................... 2

Methodology .................................................................................................................................................. 2

The Survey .......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Sample ............................................................................................................................................................. 3

Employment in the Hospitality Industry .................................................................................................. 6

Part 1 – Employment criteria ......................................................................................................................... 7

Importance of criteria .................................................................................................................................. 7

Part 2 – Employer Ranking .............................................................................................................................. 8

Employment criteria ..................................................................................................................................... 8

Global employer ranking ............................................................................................................................. 8

1st Place ......................................................................................................................................................... 10

2nd Place......................................................................................................................................................... 11

3rd Place ......................................................................................................................................................... 12

Best in Class ................................................................................................................................................. 13

Advice to employers of the hospitality industry .................................................................................. 14

End of report .................................................................................................................................................... 16

Limitations .................................................................................................................................................... 16

Contact ......................................................................................................................................................... 16

2

Introduction

Young Hoteliers Summit

Young Hoteliers Summit (YHS) acts towards improving professional opportunities for young

talent in hospitality by fostering a dialogue on employment between hospitality companies,

educational institutions and the future leaders in the hospitality industry. It ultimately develops

actionable proposals, aligning its three main stakeholders regarding their mutual expectations,

capacities and aspirations.

This report has been generated with the aim of putting global hotel companies in the spotlight

by showing the perception of young talents worldwide. This project was conducted in order to

approach employment challenges and employer preferences of hospitality students. Inevitably,

offering employers and educational institutions an insight into the views and priorities of the

future generation.

Company Specific Report

This is the generic hotel company employer report and as such features information that is

relevant to any hotel company trying to understand the perception of young talents regarding

career goals and employment.

For companies that were ranked, YHS can provide a more in depth analysis upon request,

provided that the company received sufficient responses for the creation of such an analysis.

Please contact rankings@yhsglobal.com for further information.

Methodology

This report is structured in two parts. The first part evaluates the importance of the

employment criteria with the objective of identifying what factors influence the decision of

future employees of the hospitality industry when choosing a company to work with. The

second part contains the YHS Hotel Employer Ranking which presents the most desirable

employers in the global hotel industry based on the employment criteria.

3

The Survey

Sample

The survey was circulated amongst top hotel management schools worldwide for 1.5 months

and was successfully completed by students and alumni originating from 99 countries and 47

different institutions.

After analyzing the feedback of the survey of previous years, it was decided to create a shorter

survey with the aim of improving the completion rate. In total, 1’137 respondents responded to

the survey with a completion rate of 64% which is an increase of 25%-points compared to the

survey conducted in 2014.

Below the geographical origin of the respondents is presented (respondents originated from the

countries highlighted in blue).

4

Students and alumni of the following hotel management schools took part in the survey

97% of all respondents 3% of all respondents

Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne Institut de tourisme et d'hotellerie du Quebec (ITHQ)

Glion Institute of Higher Education University La Sagesse

Haaga - Helia University of Guelph

Stenden University University of Houston - Conrad N. Hilton College of

Hotel and Restaurant Management

NHTV - Academy of Hotel Management Oxford Brookes University

Les Roches (Switzerland) Maastricht Hotel Management School

Shannon College of Hotel Management Bahrain Institute of Hospitality and Retail WLL

Swiss School Tourism Hospitality (SSTH) International University of Applied Sciences - Bad

Honnef

Washington State University Griffith School of Tourism and Hotel Management

Florida International University Asociacion Hotelera de Colombia (COTELCO)

Hotelfachschule Heidelberg University of Birmingham

Beijing Hospitality Institute International Hotel School (South Africa)

University of West London Escola de Hotelaria Universidade Estacio de Sá

The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management University of North Texas

MODUL University Vienna IMI International Hotel Management Institute

Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hotel School Vatel (Lyon)

Cornell University School of Hotel Management (IHTTI)

Ecole hôtelière de Genève Academie Internationale de Management (AIM)

Hotel School The Hague San Diego State University

Cesar Ritz Hotel School University of Surrey

New York University Niagara University

Ecole Hoteliere Lavasa University of Delaware

Dusit Thani College Hotel Institute Montreux

Swiss Hotel Management School

Students vs Alumni

Over 90% of all respondents are currently

studying in a hotel management school.

91.4%

8.6%

Students

Alumni

5

Respondents by region

Institutions by region

61% of all respondents come from Europe and 87% of all respondents are students or alumni of

an European hotel management school.

Respondents by year of birth

Since most respondents are students, the average age of the participants is 22.9 years.

61% 21%

8%

6% 4% 1% 0%

Europe

Asia

North America

Africa

CSA

Australia & Oceania

Middle East87%

7%

4% 2% 0% 0% 0%

Europe

North America

Asia

Middle East

CSA

Australia & Oceania

Africa

0

50

100

150

200

250

2000 1995 1990 1985 1980 1975 1970 1965 1960 1955 1950

Year of birth

6

Employment in the Hospitality Industry

70% of all alumni graduated between 2012 and 2014. Currently, 68% of all alumni are working in

the hospitality industry with the graduation year being a non-significant factor.

Current positions held by alumni

Reasons why alumni do not work in the hospitality industry

Currently, 32% of all alumni are working outside the industry and have indicated the salary as

the most important reason for doing so. Further, 48% of all alumni mentioned the work-life

balance as reason why they have left the hospitality industry.

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Full-time employee

Management

Other

Intern

Supervisor

Part-time employee

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Salary

Work-life balance

Working hours

No interest

Slow career development

Other

7

Part 1 – Employment criteria

Importance of criteria

To objectively rank global hotel companies for the Employer Ranking, the participants were

asked to first rate the following 10 employment criteria according to their importance when

looking for a job on a scale from 1 to 5.

Rank Criterion Average grade (1-5)

Standard Deviation

1 Career/Advancement opportunities 4.71 0.57

2 Learning opportunities 4.52 0.71

3 Empowerment/Responsibility 4.34 0.76

4 Work-life balance 4.02 0.99

5 Salary 3.84 0.81

6 Brand image of company 3.73 1.06

7 Travel opportunities 3.67 1.12

8 Job location 3.65 1.06

9 Non-monetary benefits 3.52 0.99

10 CSR activities of company 3.21 1.09

The results show that respondents value career and advancement opportunities as most

important factors when looking for a job with an average grade of 4.71/5. Learning opportunities

have been ranked as second important factor where a significant negative relationship between

the importance of this factor and the age of the respondent has been identified. Furthermore,

participants ranked the CSR activities of a company as the least important factor.

8

Gender had no significant influence on the ranking of the criteria. Also, alumni and students

ranked the criteria the same way, except that alumni value location and non-monetary benefits

as more important, while students consider travel opportunities as a more significant factor

when looking for a job.

Compared to the survey conducted in 2014, salary has moved up one rank, the brand image of

the company however lost one rank. Furthermore, travel opportunities have been valued as

more important; however the job location seems to be of less importance than last year.

Part 2 – Employer Ranking

Employment criteria

Respondents were asked to choose 2-4 companies for which they have sufficient knowledge in

and/or have worked for to give an objective rating. These companies were then rated based on

the following 10 employment criteria:

Global employer ranking

The following table shows the ranking of the hotel companies across the entire set of

respondents. The individual grade of each criterion (#1-#10) is shown next to the hotel

company’s name. In the last column, the overall grade of the company is presented taking into

account the weight of each of the employment criteria.

The average number of companies rated per respondent is 2.77.

9

Rank Hotel Company #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 Grade

1 Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts 3.8 3.8 4.3 4.3 3.9 4.3 3.8 3.4 4.7 3.8 3.99

2 Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces 3.7 3.6 4.2 4.0 3.8 4.1 3.8 3.6 4.4 3.9 3.90

3 FRHI Hotels & Resorts 3.6 3.7 4.2 4.2 3.9 4.1 3.6 3.6 4.4 3.6 3.88

4 The Peninsula Hotels 3.6 3.8 4.0 4.3 3.9 4.0 3.5 3.6 4.6 3.4 3.87

5 Hyatt Hotels Corporation 3.5 3.7 4.2 4.1 3.8 4.1 3.6 3.3 4.4 3.8 3.84

6 Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group 3.6 3.5 4.2 4.1 3.6 4.2 3.6 3.4 4.5 3.6 3.83

7 Dorchester Collection 3.7 3.8 4.3 4.2 3.7 4.1 3.4 3.1 4.5 3.4 3.81

8 Tsogo Sun Hotels & Accommodation 3.6 3.5 3.8 4.0 3.9 3.8 3.4 3.8 4.2 4.0 3.80

9 Protea Hotels 3.5 3.3 3.9 4.1 4.1 3.9 3.7 4.1 3.8 3.6 3.79

10 Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts 3.5 3.6 3.8 3.6 3.8 3.9 3.4 3.8 4.4 4.1 3.79

11 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. 3.4 3.5 4.0 4.0 3.8 4.0 3.6 3.5 4.4 3.6 3.77

12 Hilton Hotels & Resorts 3.5 3.4 4.1 4.1 3.8 4.0 3.4 3.5 4.2 3.5 3.74

13 Marriott Hotels & Resorts 3.4 3.6 4.1 4.1 3.9 3.9 3.4 3.3 4.3 3.6 3.74

14 Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas 3.5 3.8 4.1 4.0 4.1 3.4 3.3 3.6 3.9 3.6 3.73

15 InterContinental Hotels Group Plc. 3.4 3.5 3.9 4.0 3.8 4.0 3.5 3.5 4.1 3.6 3.72

16 Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts 3.5 3.6 3.9 4.0 3.6 3.9 3.5 3.1 4.2 3.7 3.70

17 Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group 3.4 3.5 4.1 3.7 4.0 4.1 3.1 3.4 4.0 3.6 3.67

18 Kempinski Hotels S.A. 3.4 3.4 3.8 3.9 3.7 3.7 3.2 3.2 4.4 3.4 3.62

19 Jumeirah Group 3.3 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.4 4.2 3.4 2.9 4.0 3.3 3.58

20 Accor S.A. 3.2 3.1 3.9 4.0 3.5 3.9 3.4 3.3 3.9 3.4 3.56

21 CitizenM Hotels 3.2 3.4 3.9 3.5 3.8 4.0 2.7 3.5 3.9 3.2 3.51

22 Belmond Ltd. (Orient-Express Hotels Ltd.) 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.7 3.5 3.2 3.5 3.2 3.49

23 Club Méditerranée 2.6 3.5 3.3 3.1 3.5 4.1 4.2 3.1 3.3 3.5 3.43

24 Sokos Hotels 3.2 3.5 3.7 3.5 3.4 3.8 2.7 3.5 3.4 3.2 3.40

25 NH Hotel Group 2.9 2.9 3.6 3.7 3.8 4.0 3.3 3.2 3.4 3.0 3.35

26 Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts 3.5 3.1 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.2 3.1 3.3 3.5 3.2 3.31

27 Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Plc 3.4 2.8 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.7 3.0 3.0 3.6 3.3 3.28

28 Best Western International, Inc. 3.2 2.9 3.4 3.3 3.3 3.4 2.9 3.4 3.2 3.1 3.21

29 Shaza Hotels 2.8 2.8 3.3 3.4 3.5 2.8 2.8 2.8 3.0 3.0 3.03

30 Occidental Hotels & Resorts 3.0 2.7 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.8 2.99

Legend:

#1 Salary #2 Non-Monetary Benefits

#3 Learning Opportunities

#4 Career / Advancement Opportunities

#5 Empowerment / Responsibility

#6 Job Location

#7 Travel Opportunities

#8 Work-life Balance

#9 Brand image of Company

#10 CSR Activities of Company

10

1st Place

YHS is proud to congratulate Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts on their 1st rank in the YHS

Global Employer Ranking 2015. Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts also ranked best in the

categories salary, job location and brand image (see page 13).

The graph above illustrates the performance of Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts in more detail.

In order to maintain or improve the ranking, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts could focus on

areas related to work-life balance.

22.5

33.5

44.5

5Salary

Non-monetary benefits

Learning opportunities

Career opportunitites

Empowerment

Job location

Travel opportunities

Work-life balance

Brand image of company

CSR activities

11

2nd Place

YHS is proud to congratulate Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces on their 2nd rank in the YHS

Global Employer Ranking 2015. Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces improved its ranking significantly

(the company was ranked 16th in the survey conducted in 2014).

The graph above illustrates the performance of Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces in more detail.

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces ranked high on brand image, job location and learning

opportunities. In order to maintain or improve the ranking, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces

could focus on areas related to non-monetary benefits and work-life balance.

22.5

33.5

44.5

5Salary

Non-monetary benefits

Learning opportunities

Career opportunitites

Empowerment

Job location

Travel opportunities

Work-life balance

Brand image of company

CSR activities

12

3rd Place

YHS is proud to congratulate FRHI Hotels & Resorts on their 3rd rank in the YHS Global

Employer Ranking 2015. FRHI Hotels & Resorts, challenge provider of YHS 2014, was able to

further improve its ranking (the company was ranked 8th in the survey conducted in 2014.

The graph above illustrates the performance of FRHI Hotels & Resorts in more detail. FRHI

Hotels & Resorts ranked high on brand image, learning and career opportunities. In order to

maintain or improve the ranking, FRHI Hotels & Resorts could focus on areas related to CSR

activities and work-life balance.

22.5

33.5

44.5

5Salary

Non-monetary benefits

Learning opportunities

Career opportunitites

Empowerment

Job location

Travel opportunities

Work-life balance

Brand image of company

CSR activities

13

Best in Class

The following table shows what company has been ranked best according to each criterion.

Nr Criterion Winner Grade

#1 Salary Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts 3.75

#2 Non-monetary benefits Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas 3.81

#3 Learning opportunities Dorchester Collection 4.29

#4 Career/Advancement opportunities The Peninsula Hotels 4.26

#5 Empowerment/Responsibility Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas 4.14

#6 Job location Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts 4.31

#7 Travel opportunities Club Méditerranée 4.24

#8 Work-life balance Protea Hotels 4.07

#9 Brand image of company Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts 4.73

#10 CSR activities of company Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts 4.09

Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts was able to win 3 out 10 categories (salary, job location and

brand image). Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas was ranked best in the categories non-monetary

benefits and empowerment/responsibility. Further, Dorchester collection was the winner of the

category learning opportunities. The Peninsula Hotels was ranked no 1 in career opportunities.

Club Méditerranée won the category travel opportunities. Protea Hotels ranked best in work-

life balance and Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts had the highest rating in CSR activities.

14

Advice to employers of the hospitality industry

Respondents were asked what advice they can give to companies to become a more desirable

employer. Participants seem to value personal contact more than contact through social media.

Employers are therefore advised to increase their presence at career fairs in schools and any

other events that allow a personal contact with students. Further advice mentioned under

“Other” includes:

Assist with visas, accommodation etc.

Have a transparent career development structure

Organize workshop sessions with interviews after

Offer more personalized training programs

Interact with alumni network of schools

Up-to-date job vacancies on company website and several other job websites

Set up a feedback system in order to improve job tasks continuously

Be different and unique

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Be present at career fairs etc. in schools

Contact students personally

Post vacancies on job platforms

Offer special non-monetary benefits to employees

Be active on social media

Be present on LinkedIn

Other

15

Furthermore, respondents were asked to think of an innovative idea that a hotel company could

implement in order to increase the company’s perception as a desirable employer. Most

respondents would like to work in a vivid company culture where leisure and team activities

play an important role.

Some of the ideas are depicted below:

Implement more leisure activities in order to get members of the team to know each

other and to ease communication in the office

Allow experiencing of other departments in the hotel other than the original position

Emphasize on non-monetary benefits and work-life balance

Offer the opportunity to work in the various properties from different location within a

chain

Implement an accessible platform where employees can post the highlights of their

professional experiences with the company

Offer summer internships for students in order to provide them with the opportunity to

work in a company

Show employees what is unique about the company and how they can create a

difference by joining the team

At last, respondents were asked to come up with a word to describe their motivation to work

in the hospitality industry. The size of the word represents its relative frequency.

16

End of report

Limitations

The generalizability of the results presented in this report is limited by several shortcomings.

The sample of 1’137 respondents is relatively small and geographically biased as the largest

sample comes from Europe. In addition, the size of the company was not taken into

consideration which might put larger and more internationally well-known companies in an

advantageous position.

Contact

Ji Min Lee

Ji Min is a student in her final year at the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne where she specialized in

Digital Marketing, Marketing Intelligence and Performance. Her industry-related work

experience involves different departments in several luxury properties in Hong Kong and South

Korea. During her recent internship at Marriott International, Inc., she participated in the

development of new F&B outlets in both Hong Kong and Mainland China.

She can be reached on JiMin.Lee@ehl.ch.

Laura Walter

Laura is a student in her final year at the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne where she specialized in

Market, Corporate and Real Estate Finance. She has gained operational work experience in

different departments of several luxury properties in Switzerland and Germany. Most recently

she completed an internship at Ernst & Young Real Estate GmbH with a focus on feasibility

studies and valuations of hotel and leisure properties.

She can be reached on Laura.Walter@ehl.ch.