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Mario Mariapan, HR Manager and Ruben Schrijver, GM, Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu, take pride in being on-the-ground leaders, an approach that has helped shape the relatively young hotel's culture from scratch. Priya Sunil uncovers this philosophy in conversation with the leaders.
Step into Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu, and you are immediately greeted by a wave of warm smiles. The hospitality everywhere is synonymous with the hotel's welcoming atmosphere — but what talent initiatives are enabling this property to gain a competitive workforce advantage against bigger names? Priya Sunil sets out to learn.
While on a walkabout hosted by Human Resources Manager Mario Mariapan (pictured above, right), one thing is evident: that the hotel's leadership team is focused on creating an environment where its more than 190 employees thrive on empathy, service attitude, and pride — whether they have mastered these, or are learning the ropes.
"It’s in our philosophy and focus that we care for people, so they can do their best; and, importantly, can have fun and be themselves. I hold this dear to me."
Mario Mariapan
"We enforce a culture of care here – We take care of our employees so they can do their best and, in turn, our guests are taken care of. While the ultimate goal is for our guests to be happy, how can we strive for that when our own colleagues are not happy?"
In this interview, Mariapan, along with Ruben Schrijver, General Manager, Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu (pictured above, left), talk all about how they shaped the relatively young hotel's culture from scratch and the journey it has brought them on, its approach to employer branding as it competes with bigger brands out there, and more.
Fostering open communication, leading with empathy
For Mariapan and Schrijver, creating the right culture at Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu was not just a task but a mission. As affirmed by Mariapan earlier, the emphasis from the outset was on a philosophy rooted in care and authenticity. This ethos isn't just a management line; it is embedded in the daily operations and interactions at the hotel, fostering an environment where employees are encouraged to express themselves and contribute ideas.
To this effect, the hotel has in place various avenues for employees to share their voice:
Hyatt Talk: A platform where employees gather in smaller groups in different departments, and have chat to share any suggestions, ideas, areas of improvement for their work, as well as any issues they may be facing at work.
On the wider front, this takes place monthly/bi-monthly with different teams, including interns. "Now that we have been established for more than 1.5 years, and have interns working with us, we do want to hear from them on their experience and this is definitely an eye opener for us because they do share with us their feelings or any issues they are facing," Mariapan shares. Everything is noted down as minutes and shared on a common platform for employees to view what have been discussed and how certain issues have been rectified.
Quarterly townhall meetings: These involve the whole hotel, and are where everyone is briefed on programmes that are being run, activities that have taken place, what to look forward to, and more, so there is a clear understanding on what is going on and what can be expected in time to come. Whatever feedback is gathered, will be used to draft action plans that can help the team improve on the employee experience.
"We are big on open communication here," Mariapan explains. "Ruben and I both go around talking to people. We and our other leadership committee members make it a point to give them that platform of communication for them to reach out to any of us."
Building on the points above, both leaders take pride in their empathetic leadership styles, a quality that has been instrumental in balancing the wellbeing of staff with the hotel's business goals. Whether it's a simple issue such as providing a jacket for a trainee working in the freezer room, or more complex operational challenges, the leaders have made it a point to build a strong foundation of trust and mutual respect.
On that note, when asked if they ever face resistance from employees on the initiatives, Schrijver highlights that while it does happen, what is most important here is that whoever has something to voice out, is listened to. "In fact, the fresher they are, the more they may encounter problems that others may not see, and we are very open to [hearing about] that. We have started working in an agile way, which means if you have a challenge, you can discuss it interdepartmentally and through different ranks, so it does not matter if someone is a manager or an entry level staff," he says.
This openness has encouraged the team speak up all the time. "The moment we walk around, staff members come up to us and say, ‘okay, why do we do this? What about that?’, or ‘A guest told us this’ — they actively want to share because they know we are actually interested and that we will do something about it.
"Essentially, it doesn’t matter whose idea is shared — it’s about making them feel heard. It is sometimes difficult when you come from a more traditional background or corporation, but we do have frequent conversations, one-to-one catchups, midyear reviews and so on where these topics are discussed."
Staying on top of the game
In an industry known for its high turnover rates, particularly in the post-pandemic landscape, attracting and retaining talent would no doubt be a top-of-mind matter for employers. In the case of Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu, much of its success in attracting talent can be attributed to the word-of-mouth generated by existing team members who have witnessed the hotel's growth firsthand, Mariapan tells us. "Rather than me telling you about it, our own team can do so, because they have been working here and have seen how we have established ourselves since the days of their recruitment."
On the retention front, the team also draws efforts to programmes such as RISEHY, which provides opportunities to underprivileged groups, and a focus on developing the skills of current employees through extensive in-house training and online training. For instance, if an employee or leader wants to acquire some skills in a different area of specialisation, they are given the avenue to do so — something both Mariapan and Schrijver have done respectively over the years. There are also opportunities for on-the-job training, which involves dedicated trainers in each department, who conduct these sessions with the guidance of HR and training manager.
This approach to retention is further bolstered by flexible work arrangements set in place by the leadership team — be it flexible work hours for employees who may have to travel further to get to work, or a day a week to work from home so employees can get more work done. "From a retention point, this really helps because you allow people to cater to their own needs," Schrijver says.
The above aside, the hotel has in place initiatives such as Wellbeing Day and birthday leave. With these schemes, employees are given the option to exchange the day off for a public holiday they may not celebrate, for a birthday leave or a day off on any other day. Schrijver explains: "- Our intention is to show our staff that we trust them. The intention is not to say, ‘oh, what is going to happen if you are here on a public holiday while everyone else is away?’
"We trust that they know what to do. We won’t track what time they come in or what time they leave – which is a little unusual for a hotel. But in 2024, we are trying to be a modern working environment."
Ruben Schrijver
Finally, the hotel had also introduced a 45-hour workweek for its employees in line with the Employment Act amendments in West Malaysia — ahead of the anticipated implementation in Sabah.
Striving to enhance the employee experience
As the hotel continues to grow, Mariapan and Schrijver both highlight that the focus remains firmly on enhancing the employee experience. One of the exciting developments on the horizon is the introduction of flexi-benefits, allowing employees to choose the benefits that best suit their individual needs. "It's a very new platform that is being implemented throughout Hyatt," says Mariapan. "I've been really excited to look into this—it will be very beneficial for our teams, especially given we have a largely young population with differing needs."
Schrijver adds: "It definitely is exciting. Some people require parking benefits, while others don’t; some require extended medical benefits, while others don’t; so being able to adjust to all these, is going to be really big, as being able to choose your own benefits will be a huge motivation for retention."
Rounding up the interview, we asked the leaders how they saw their collaboration as HR lead and business lead going further. Read what they had to say below:
Q You work really closely with each other. Keeping both of your roles in mind, how do you see the partnership between the business head and the head of HR, in general, growing within organisations in the next 3-5 years?
Schrijver: We are very fortunate that we have a very good and close relationship. We worked very closely on the recruitment during pre-opening, and we still do for every member that we recruit. We listen to and learn from each other on what we are looking for, and we respect each other's opinion. So, Mario's opinion on the staff member is absolutely equally important as mine. I think – and hope – that the way we work together will not change much in the next few years.
Looking ahead in general, I believe that in the next few years, a lot of successful business out there will move towards a closer relationship between HR and the general manager as the way we have, because human capital, especially in hospitality, is going to be the deciding factor of success. Yes, the building and the location are important, but the deciding factor between a successful stay and a non-successful stay will be the staff.
I support the decisions that Mario makes, because I understand the importance behind them; likewise, he supports the decisions I make, because he not just sees the importance from his angle, but from my angle as well.
This is important because if we are not aligned, the team won’t be confident – whenever I make a decision, they might wonder where the care comes in; or when Mario makes a decision, they may think I won’t agree with that. So knowing we are aligned, means we are all moving in the same direction together with the rest of the leadership committee.
And that is where the general manager and HR leader will need to work very closely. So, I only see the relationship growing stronger with an increased level of importance over the next few years.
Mariapan: To add on, the culture of care plays a part for me. In HR, we usually only look at the people aspect of things but from the general manager’s side, is about the business and profits. Here, we both talk about the same things – that we genuinely care for people.
Photo: Provided
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