万豪酒店在中国怎么招人

    阿恩•索伦森是有史以来第一位出任万豪这个全球连锁酒店掌门人的非万豪族裔。2012年3月，他正式升任万豪酒店（Marriott，在今年“美国最适宜工作的100家公司”排行榜上排名第64位）首席执行官，不过此前他从1996年春开始就一直效力于这家公司。加入万豪前，他曾是一家律师事务所的合伙人。

    对于这样一家成功的家族企业来说，索伦森必须加倍努力证明自己。但这位54岁的高管表示，他已经做好准备迎接未来的挑战了，部分原因在于万豪已在困难时期努力留住了忠诚员工。在接受《财富》杂志（Fortune）专访时，他谈到了公司在中国的扩张、如何吸引年轻的旅行者、以及被评为“最佳雇主公司”的商业意义。

    万豪酒店的文化据说与众不同。你第一次切身感受到这一点是什么时候？

    我加入万豪后的第一个夏天，公司举办了“万豪卓越奖”（J.W. Marriott Awards of Excellence）的颁奖活动。这个一年一度的奖项表彰了十几位来自全球的基层员工。

    这是最让我有所触动的事。获奖员工主要是行李员、客房部经理和预订人员，他们多数都在万豪效力了几十年，而且绝大多数在来华盛顿领奖前从来没坐过飞机。其他公司往往会表彰成功的高层，但在万豪，我们更关注那些直接为客人提供服务的员工。

    经济形势大好的时候，要做到对员工好不难。但是碰到不景气的时候你们会怎么办呢？

    可以拿我们最近经历的经济衰退为例。2009年显然是谷底了。当时情况糟糕透顶，全球绝大多数市场的同店入住率都降低了20%。这可真是一次大幅下降。要说它对我们没有影响肯定是假话。实际上，那次经济衰退对我们所有人都影响很大，从公司最高层到众多底层员工，概莫能外。

    但是，只要我们力所能及，就会着眼于长远来做决策。比如，一般来说，员工必须达到一定的工作年限才能享受雇主购买的医疗保险。但2009年经济不振时，我们宣布，一旦符合条件的员工因为经济衰退工时遭到压缩，我们会一如既往地把他们视为享受这一政策的合格对象。

    这可真了不起。

    这么做确实代价不菲。但是回顾一下大萧条时期，就会觉得这种做法不算什么。当时老比尔•马里奥特专门为员工配备了一位医生，因为他明白，大萧条使这些员工饱受压力之苦——那可是在80年前啊。

    在主要看重短期收益的业界，你们这么做是为了什么呢？

    Arne Sorenson is the first person of non-Marriott lineage to lead this global hotel franchise. He became CEO of Marriott (No. 64 on this year's Best Companies to Work For list) in March 2012, but had been working for the company since the spring of 1996. Before joining Marriott, he was a partner at a law firm.

    Sorenson has some big, family-owned shoes to fill. But the 54-year-old executive says he's ready to take on future challenges for the company, in part, because Marriott (MAR) has worked hard to hold on to loyal employees through tough times. He spoke with Fortune about expanding in China, appealing to young travelers, and the business case for being a Best Company to Work For.

    The culture at your hotels is supposed to be special. When was the first moment you saw it in action?

    The first summer I was here, there was an announcement that came around for the J.W. Marriott Awards of Excellence, which is an annual event where we recognize about a dozen line-level associates from around the globe.

    That was the thing that was the most powerful. The people who came in ranged from bellmen to housekeepers to reservation agents, most of whom had worked for Marriott for decades, and most of whom had never been in an airplane before flying to Washington for that event. Other places, I think, tend to celebrate the success of the senior people, but here, we put much more focus on the people who are delivering the services to the guest.

    It's easy to take care of employees when times are good. But what about when you're going through a recession?

    Look at the last recession we had; 2009 would have been the nadir, obviously. Brutal times, with same-store sales down in the lodging business by 20% in most markets around the globe. That is a massive decline. It would be wrong to say that didn't have an impact on our people. It had an impact on people throughout, from the very top of the company all the way through many associates.

    But we tried to make decisions for the long term, if we could. One example is that, typically, you would have to have a certain number of hours required to qualify for employer-paid health insurance. When we hit 2009, we basically said we're going to grandfather in those who have already qualified so that if their hours get cut because of the recession, we'll continue to treat them as if they qualified.

    That is a big deal.

    It is a big deal. But you go back to the Great Depression and Bill Marriott Sr. put a doctor on staff because he knew that his people were under severe pressure because of that depression -- that's 80 years ago.

    How do you justify choices like that in a business world that primarily rewards short-term gains?