CHICAGO—Hyatt Hotels Corporation unveiled World of Care, a global environmental, social, governance (ESG) platform designed to address the challenges faced by Hyatt’s colleagues, guests, owners, and communities and enact meaningful change within the hospitality industry.
World of Care builds on Hyatt’s more than 60 years of efforts to care for the planet, people, and responsible business, and the launch of this platform provides an opportunity to support key milestones and initiatives for Hyatt, including:
- Sharing, for the first time, detailed workforce diversity data;
- Rolling out a new global human trafficking training;
- And elevating wellbeing for global colleagues through a dedicated week of programming and new wellness assessment.
“Hyatt’s purpose—to care for people so they can be their best—guides every aspect of our business,” said Mark Hoplamazian, president and CEO, Hyatt. “The events of the past year have underscored the urgency for the private sector to address societal issues with empathy, clarity, and accountability. World of Care deepens Hyatt’s commitment to caring for our people, planet, and communities.”
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Disclosures
Building on Hyatt’s Change Starts Here commitments announced in June 2020 to accelerate DE&I across its business, the company released its 2020 diversity data, disclosing global gender and U.S. racial and ethnic workforce representation across levels. Recognizing the impact of transparency and accountability on DE&I progress, Hyatt will report its diversity data annually moving forward. In addition, Hyatt has built on its existing practice of tying annual incentive planning to diversity, equity, and inclusion progress and has linked executive stock compensation via its performance share unit plan to progress on the topic. Hyatt’s performance share unit plan is a key component of the executive team and group president’s compensation.
“At Hyatt, we know that we achieve our greatest success when all colleagues feel confident bringing their whole selves to work each day. These diverse backgrounds and points of view fuel innovation and connect us more closely to all who are in our care,” said Malaika Myers, chief human resources officer, Hyatt. “We recognize there is much progress to be made—for our company, our industry, and our global society. Sharing our diversity data publicly and tying executive compensation to progress will ensure DE&I is further prioritized and embedded throughout the company so that Hyatt can truly reflect the diverse communities it serves and contribute to a more just world.”
Human Trafficking, Wellbeing, and Opportunity Youth
As a leader in the effort to combat human trafficking, Hyatt rolled out a comprehensive human trafficking training program and ensured that it is mandatory for all global colleagues. The training empowers members at all levels and functions of Hyatt’s global workforce to be vigilant for signs of human trafficking and take swift action to report and abate it.
Aligned with its purpose of caring for people so they can be their best, in June, Hyatt hosted its first-ever global wellbeing week to inspire and advance wellbeing among global colleagues. Collaborating with wellness leaders Headspace, Well + Good, and The Energy Project, Hyatt’s global wellbeing week provided engaging activities focused on emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing to help colleagues understand and prioritize self-care. This month, Hyatt’s annual Global Month of Service will provide volunteer opportunities for colleagues to rally and strengthen communities.
Finally, as a business providing meaningful career paths for people with diverse backgrounds and skillsets, Hyatt will continue to prioritize creating career pathways for opportunity youth through its RiseHY program, building upon the millions of dollars already donated to continue supporting young adults to help them identify and reach their full potential.
Advance Environmental Action
Under its 2020 environmental framework, Hyatt achieved its 25 percent per square meter greenhouse gas reduction goals early across its three regions, sourced seafood more responsibly by setting sustainability goals with World Wildlife Fund, and initiated the transition to large format bathroom amenities.
Hyatt’s new environmental framework is focused on climate change and water conservation, waste and circularity, responsible sourcing, and thriving destinations. By focusing on these impact areas, the new framework is designed to foster collective action across departments, business vendors, suppliers, and beyond so that destinations around the world are vibrant for guests, colleagues, and communities.
As part of this framework, Hyatt is in the process of setting a 2030 science-based target to significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from Hyatt hotels. Hyatt is working with 3Degrees, a B Corp that helps organizations around the world achieve renewable energy and decarbonization goals. Additionally, Hyatt and its hotels are contributing toward the 12.3 target of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by working toward a 50 percent global reduction per square meter in food waste sent to landfills or incineration by 2030 compared to a 2019 baseline.
Hyatt’s ESG committee sets the strategy across the organization to advance World of Care. The committee is comprised of senior executives and subject experts across ESG functional areas. In addition, the ESG steering committee is chaired by the executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, and includes the chief financial officer, the chief human resources officer, and the senior vice president of global operations with direct responsibility for the alignment of Hyatt’s principles across Hyatt’s regional structure. The committee is overseen by Hyatt’s CEO as well as the board’s nominating and corporate governance committee.
Through World of Care, Hyatt’s activities are aligned with key aspects of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) in pursuit of a better and more sustainable future for all.
