Leadership Immersion at Hilton Hotels

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending (and presenting at) the Towers Watson HR Leadership Forum in Falls Church, Virginia.  Prior to my talk, one of the Towers consultants moderated a wonderful panel discussion of HR experts from a variety of different organizations.   During that discussion, I learned about a terrific program at Hilton Hotels.  At Hilton, the top 72 executives in the company take part in an "immersion" experience once per year.    In that immersion, they spend one week per year actually working in one of the company's hotels.   They don't go there just to hold a town hall meeting or "inspect" the work.  They actually work alongside their front-line associates for one week, performing a variety of roles from the front desk to maintenance.   The immersion provides a powerful learning experience for top executives, and it insures that they understand the challenges that front-line employees face.