Marriott on the Move

I recently blogged about our new program with Rosetta Stone that will allow us to train our people in more languages. And in the past I've blogged about our Sed de Saber - "Thirst for Knowledge" - program that has been so successful in teaching English to our Spanish-speaking associates.

Our customers and associates speak countless different languages, and we love the fact that we are able to help our associates communicate better with our guests, with each other, as well, and in their personal lives.

That's why we support the bipartisan bill now in the U.S. Congress called "Strengthening Communities through Education and Integration Act of 2008." This bill . . .

I've found in all these years that the most important thing in success in life and in business is communication. Marriott is a very diverse company and our employees speak a lot of languages. Having hotels in almost 70 countries means our guests speak many languages too.

We're trying to bridge that gap, so we're rolling out several new tools to make sure nothing is lost in translation. Last year I blogged about Sed de Saber when it was originally rolled out. It's a computer program that helps our associates in the United States who speak Spanish learn how to speak English. It was such a success we now have a new version which will teach English-speaking associates how to speak Spanish. Maybe I ought to sign on and do it myself.

Now we're launching the Global Language Learning tool online. It was developed by Rosetta Stone and recreates . . .

Reflecting back on Marriott's 80 years in the hospitality industry, one word summarizes our company's enduring success: opportunity. This weekend in San Francisco, I'm challenging our JW Marriott, Marriott and Renaissance General Managers from around the world to look for opportunities for their associates to grow and build careers within Marriott. When your employees see personal opportunity, the company thrives, and that has helped Marriott get to where it is today. At the recent Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites General Managers Conference in San Antonio, I shared with all the General Managers the following story about an opportunity my father was fortunate enough to receive.

In 1921, my father returned from his mission for the Mormon Church. . .

I'm blogging from the road today. I'm in San Antonio for a Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites General Managers' meeting. We had almost 850 people in our auditorium this morning and boy, are they enthusiastic about the future of the business and the way their properties are doing.

I've always loved San Antonio. It's a city that's so rich in history and culture. It has a very heavy Hispanic influence and we have a lot of diversity in this city and in our company. And I want to see that diversity continue to be reflected....

I was just out in Los Angeles last week visiting our hotels. I got to about 15 of them, and I was thrilled to see that over nine or 10 of them had totally renewed their interiors in the last six months. Some of them are still underway, but they really look sharp, and I was very proud.

Visiting these hotels is a great chance for me to connect with our associates and make sure they're all happy and smiling. You know...