40,000 Employees Thank Marriott CEO For Defending DEI Amid Political Pressure

During the Great Place To Work Summit, Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano shared his sentiments regarding how the company he captains responded to the attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion unleashed by the Trump administration. Although he privately wondered if he had made the right call, he soon received confirmation from thousands of employees that he had, indeed, chosen the right path.

According to HR Grapevine, Capuano told the stakeholders present at the summit, held April 8-10 in Las Vegas, that Marriott would not waver on its promise to create opportunity for everyone who walked through the company’s doors, regardless of political pressure from the White House.

“The winds blow, but there are some fundamental truths for those 98 years,” Capuano told the audience. “We welcome all to our hotels and we create opportunities for all—and fundamentally those will never change. The words might change, but that’s who we are as a company.”

Within 24 hours of his remarks, he received a litany of emails from the company’s most important resource: its employees; and what’s more, the 40,000-plus messages thanked him for standing up for diversity, equity, and inclusion because those were values that they too believed in.

Marriott, which employs over 800,000 people globally, has consistently been ranked on Forbes’ Best Companies to Work For list, this year, the hotel chain took the eighth spot on the list and because of their strong commitment to their employees, carries a 90% employee retention rate in an industry that averages a 57% retention rate.

According to Forbes, Capuano’s remarks represent the position that diversity, equity, and inclusion is not a social program, the framing that the White House and other Republican states have championed for several years, instead, it is part of a company’s operational infrastructure and consistency between what a company says and does creates a culture of coherence.

Indeed, according to Great Place To Work, workplaces that have a high degree of trust from their employees typically outperform their competition by nearly four times. The companies on their 100 Best Companies list also more than triple their performance in the stock market, that is to say that employee trust, like that engendered by Marriott, translates directly to profitability.

According to Michael C. Bush, the CEO of Great Place To Work, “The 100 Best Companies have built a foundation of employee trust that fuels performance in all areas of their business — not just some areas, and not just for some people. They are more profitable and productive because they’ve created consistently positive work experiences, lower burnout rates, and higher levels of psychological and emotional health compared to typical workplaces.”

He continued, “These leaders ensure all employees have opportunities for special recognition and make sure they believe that what they do matters; that they matter as human beings first and workers second. They’ve built organizations where transparency, well-being, and high levels of cooperation are cornerstones. That is how business is done: with people, not to people. When that happens, the business benefits all stakeholders — from frontline workers to executives, shareholders to local communities.”

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