As part of its World of Care initiative, Hyatt Hotels Foundation announced Thursday an increase in representation among people of color over the past year, a $500,000 donation to the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s “No Room for Trafficking Survivors Fund” — a foundation to support human trafficking prevention and survivors — and acceleration of its efforts to reduce the impact of operations on climate change.
The three-pronged World of Care initiative — caring for the planet, caring for people and caring for responsible business — initially launched in July 2021 with the intention of improving environmental, social and governance commitments and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts by setting goals throughout the remainder of the decade.
“World of Care is especially meaningful for us because we’re a purpose-led organization, and our purpose is to care for people so they can be their best,” Margaret Egan, executive vice president and general counsel for Hyatt Hotels Corp., said. “We get notes of support and gratitude from colleagues all the time that we’re telling their stories. … It’s been really gratifying.”
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Progress
When the World of Care initiative was announced last year, one of Hyatt’s main goals was to double its representation for women and people of color in key leadership roles by 2025. The company’s 2021 data shows the percentage of women in leadership roles and the representation among Hispanic/Latinx, Asian/Pacific Islander and Black/African American leaders has grown over the past year.
In October 2021, Hyatt President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian said in accordance with World of Care that the company was committed to specifically doubling its Black representation over the next five years. One year after the initial data was released, the percentage of Black leaders at Hyatt has grown from 4.4% to 5.8%.
Egan said the numbers will be released in full in 2025, but the initial progress after a year shows promising signs.
“We’ve done a lot of cross-cultural, cross-functional learning programs and we have partnered with some outside groups to help us take a look at our policies and our procedures and what we’re doing in terms of hiring and making sure that we have diverse slates from which we’re hiring,” she said. “There’s a lot of activity — really meaningful, substantive activity — and those numbers are moving.”
Just as Hyatt’s World of Care initiative is three-pronged, its Change Starts Here commitment — the company’s guiding principles against institutional racism, systemic injustice, racial inequality and police brutality against the Black community following the murder of George Floyd in June 2020 — has three key areas: "Who We Employ, Develop & Advance; Who We Support; and Who We Buy From & Work With."
In an effort to cover any blindspots, Egan said Hyatt launched over the past year a listening campaign to hear from colleagues about any shortcomings from the company on the diversity front and a “see yourself” program to highlight minority leaders for employees of color hoping to work their way up to a leadership position in the future.
“We’re very much focused on training and leadership opportunities,” she said. “We’ve been really focused on making sure that people understand that we see them, we know representation matters. … We’re really encouraged by what we’re seeing so far in terms of how it’s resonating with our colleagues.”
Along with increasing workforce representation among people of color, Hyatt is committing financial contributions via the Hyatt Hotels Foundation toward helping opportunity youth and organizations that support diverse-owned businesses in the company’s home city of Chicago. Egan said the company surpassed its 2025 goal of pledging 1,000 hours of pro bono volunteer work in Black communities in one year alone.
“We’re now ready to kill that goal and want that to be a giant number by the time we’re done,” she said.
In addition, Hyatt has committed to increasing the representation of minority-owned businesses in its supply chain. The company added 220 new Black suppliers in 2021, including Black Acres Roastery, a local Baltimore Black-owned business that now supplies coffee to Hyatt’s Revival Baltimore.
Environmental, Social and Governance Goals and Methodology
While Hyatt, like every other large company, has a duty to help in the fight against climate change, Egan said it’s ultimately on each individual person to do their part.
“It’s a human responsibility. We all have the responsibility to protect the planet and ensure that we have viable communities for our colleagues, for our families, for future generations,” she said. “There’s a business imperative, but there’s also ultimately heart and soul behind it.”
Hyatt’s goal is to reduce its scope 1 — direct greenhouse emissions that occur from sources that are controlled or owned by an organization — and scope 2 — indirect greenhouse emissions associated with the purchase of electricity, steam, heat or cooling — emissions by 27.5% by 2030. The company has also committed to reducing scope 3 emissions — the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization, but that the organization indirectly impacts in its value chain — from fuel and energy-related activities, waste generated in operations, business travel and franchised hotels by 53% per square meter by 2030.
The company hopes to achieve these goals through water conservation, reducing overall waste and increasing responsible sourcing, Egan said. Hyatt expects to reduce its food waste by 50% per square meter by 2030 and responsibly source key products globally, including 100% cage-free egg products by 2025.
When Hyatt put together World of Care, it wanted its efforts to be unique so its employees could recognize the purpose of the work they’re doing, she said. But in order for everyone to buy in, the efforts have to be done in good faith.
“We are truly a purpose-led organization and these aren’t words on paper, they matter to us,” she said. “I don’t think that you can care for people so they can be their best and pay lip service to all of these efforts. It has to matter to you.”
Egan referenced Hyatt’s Alila Villas Uluwatu in Bali, Indonesia, as an example of the success of the initiative. The property has an on-site sustainability lab where travelers and colleagues can learn and engage with composting, organic gardening and upcycling.
It can be difficult setting goals so far in advance, but staying flexible and listening to advice from workers, stakeholders and experts keeps Hyatt focused on achieving its sought after results, Egan said.
“It really does take strategic and deliberate planning, and building in agility along the way. Agility where you’re testing and learning different processes and different ways of doing things and different ideas and constantly evolving what you’re doing, but keeping it along a pathway toward ultimately getting to those goals,” she said.