Benchmarking is important.
This is not news to you, dear reader. You most likely ended up in this spot at least tangentially because you've long realized the importance of being able to compare performance across the hotel industry specifically.
But this isn't just true for business leaders. It's true for anyone who lives and works in our society.
The problem is, though, the idea of benchmarking in the workplace is seemingly under attack.
A recent Wall Street Journal story highlighting how many major companies have moved away from specifically providing data to the LGBTQ-focused Human Rights Campaign noted that in doing so they've also taken a step back from providing data to broader surveys that rank workplaces.
Now obviously here at CoStar, we understand the inherent value of benchmarking through data, and I'll say I'm dismayed somewhat that this push is taking that tool out of the hands of American workers.
These surveys have been a big deal in the hotel industry in recent years, especially as the industry tries to rebuild its bruised and battered reputation following the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic and the mass layoffs it caused.
Hilton, in particular, has been making major pushes to get high placements on various workplace rankings, becoming the first hotel company to earn the top spot as Best Place To Work in the World in Fortune magazine and Great Place To Work's rankings released in late 2023.
I'm sure for some these rankings seem silly or unimportant, but when you're a potential employee looking at the broad landscape of your options in your career, these types of things are important data points in making your decision. I don't need to tell hoteliers how important it is to be able to look across the landscape of performance and compare with your peers to know how you're doing. That's been the foundation of the modern hotel industry, so much so that revenue management and commercial teams exist to sort through and react to that vital information.
Any sort of political push to get rid of employee-focused benchmarking across businesses is going to, in the end, be a huge detriment to employees and to the best employers. In fact, the only ones poised to benefit from the push are the worst actors and the least caring employers, who now will no longer look as bad in comparison.
Almost to a person, all of the historic luminaries in this industry have quotes attributed to them that indicate just how important it is to take care of employees. So if that's a key for success among hoteliers, we should be measuring that and comparing it to show who is doing that work the best among their peers. Like I've said: Benchmarking is important.
Let me know what you think on X, LinkedIn or via email.
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