Leaders from the hotel chain shared insights from their work at the For All Summit™ in 2024.
Training and development are top of mind for many leaders heading into 2025. The World Economic Forum’s estimate that nearly half of workers (44%) need to be upskilled to do their jobs is accelerating as AI tools begin to transform the workplace.
Whether or not employees receive regular training and development opportunities impacts how willing they are to adopt AI technology. Great Place To Work research found that when employees feel they are offered training and development, they are 20% more likely to be engaged AI adopters.
Yet, some roles have a harder time accessing training and development than others within an organization. Frontline and hourly workers are often having a worse experience in the workplace compared to their salaried counterparts.
When asked what would improve their experience, many hourly employees mention training opportunities in employee surveys: “If I could change anything, it would be allowing employees to receive the proper training and support from [their] direct manager to be considered for advancement within the company,” wrote one employee.
Learning and development opportunities are a key differentiator between a typical workplace and companies that make the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® List.
At the For All Summit™ in 2024, Marriott International, a perennial honoree on the 100 Best list, shared six tips based on its efforts to engage frontline workers with training and development opportunities.
“When we’re looking at our frontline workforce, some of the challenges they have are going to be different,” shared Jessica Lee, vice president of global talent development. Here’s how Marriott is solving some of those challenges:
1. Honor time constraints with relevant material
Frontline workers often face severe time constraints, particularly when working hourly roles. Maggie Klein, content manager for Marriott’s global leadership team and a collaborator with Lee on the training program, shared her experience as a leader who started in hourly roles before progressing into leadership.
“The biggest thing to remember is the importance of time and how many demands are on your frontline associates, “Klein said. “They have a lot of work to do and things to get done.”
Learning programs targeted at frontline workers should be fit-to-purpose, targeting relevant topics with actionable tips and lessons. They should also be short and digestible. “Make sure there are things that are bite-size, so if they have five minutes they can sit down for five minutes and go through a small course,” Klein advised.
It’s crucial to make sure hourly and frontline employees also have the time and space to work on their skills. If every second of every workday is filled with tasks, learning and growth goals can fall off the radar.
“We can come up with all the greatest of programs in the world, but are we giving people the room and space?” Lee said. When employees feel they have time to focus on learning, that’s when they make a leap forward.
2. Don’t overlook basic skills
When considering what training to offer frontline employees, don’t forget to offer foundational skills. Even training on basic workplace software like Microsoft Office tools can help.
“When I was on properties, I could get a thousand emails in three days,” Klein gave as an example. Training on how to manage your Outlook calendar or sort through your inbox can make a profound difference for new frontline managers.
3. Build listening channels to meet employees where they are
How do you know what basic, foundational training will make an impact on your workforce? Ask your employees.
“When any of you are building these programs, get back to the basics and really talk to the learners,” Lee says. Even if you once worked a frontline role in past years, those experiences will have changed. Make sure you get real-time feedback, through focus groups and employee surveys.
4. Challenge assumptions about who can offer an important lesson to others
Important lessons can come from surprising places, Klein shared. “Our inclination sometimes is to put a perfect leader in a box. They all have the same background. They come from consulting. They come from a college.”
However, one of the most important lessons Klein got in her working career came from a co-worker who didn’t come from a prestigious university but instead had experience in the housekeeping department. “She taught me a skill that I used in every single job I’ve had,” Klein said. “She one day pulled me aside, and said, ‘Maggie, you’re taking too long to clean. … You need to do your task, finish that task, and then move on. Stop bouncing back and forth.’”
This simple lesson on how to sequence tasks and organize work has followed Klein throughout her career. For training managers, the story is a reminder that great teachers come from all backgrounds.
5. Lean into digital tools to meet employees where they are
For organizations that struggle to take frontline employees off the floor for training and learning programs, digital tools are crucial.
“We’ve had to be very intentional and focused the past few years on getting smart around digitization of some of our learning,” Lee shared. “Being able to do [training] on the fly, either digitally or virtually, has been, I think, a big part of how we overcome one of those hurdles and obstacles.”
For Marriott, with its large international footprint, digital tools are also crucial for providing an experience that reaches employees where they are in a language that they understand.
“Getting things bite-size and mobile-friendly is a big part of it,” Lee said. Technology can be a crucial aid, whether using artificial intelligence to translate content into a local language or making learning content more accessible for busy workers.
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Register for the next For All Summit™, April 8-10, to connect with leaders and experts from great workplaces around the world.
