hr insider post banner
Shayanne Gal/Business Insider
  • Hilton was named the best company to work for in the US for the second year in a row, according to Fortune's ranking of top employers.
  • Hilton's hiring managers look for job candidates who display empathy and who care about serving others, said Laura Fuentes, the company's chief talent officer.
  • Those traits can be even more important than the person's technical expertise. Many technical skills can be learned on the job, Fuentes said.
  • Employers are increasingly looking for candidates who are willing to learn, even if they don't have the exact qualifications.
  • Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Hilton is the best company to work for in the US for the second year in a row, according to Fortune's 2020 ranking of top employers.

If you're interested in a job at the $31 billion hotel chain, you'll want to flaunt your "innate sense of hospitality," said Laura Fuentes, Hilton's chief talent officer. It doesn't matter if you're applying for a role on the housekeeping staff or in the C-suite — hiring managers look for candidates "who are passionate about serving," Fuentes told Business Insider.

In fact, it's more important for candidates to express an interest in serving others than to show that they've mastered the technical skills needed for the job. Fuentes said Hilton wants to hire people who share its values and who will enhance its company culture. Some technical expertise is a requirement — but especially in today's fast-changing workplace, new hires can learn relevant skills on the job.

"Our philosophy is to bring great people that espouse [our] principles and that value [our] values," Fuentes said. "We can teach them technical skills."

This emphasis on alignment between a candidate's values and the organization's isn't unique to Hilton. Executives across industries say building a positive company culture is a top priority. The Institute for Corporate Productivity surveyed thousands of organizations, and two thirds had gone through or were going through a culture change. But just 15% said that culture change was highly or very highly successful.

Hilton was named the best employer to work for two years in a row

This is the second time Hilton has taken the top spot on Fortune's list of 100 Best Companies to Work For.

The list is produced in partnership with the people-analytics firm Great Place to Work. Employees respond to survey questions about things like diversity, benefits, and their overall experience at their organization; their answers determine the company's rank on the list.

Hilton is a 100-year-old organization (it went public in 2013) that employs more than 300,000 people globally across its corporate offices as well as its owned, managed, and franchised properties. Since becoming CEO in 2007, Chris Nassetta has made improving Hilton's company culture a top priority.

Nassetta's team uses the acronym "HILTON" to list the company values: Hospitality, Integrity, Leadership, Teamwork, Ownership, and Now (meaning employees are encouraged to complete their job with a sense of urgency.)

Hiring managers at Hilton want candidates who display empathy

A commitment to hospitality is the most important value Hilton looks for in new hires. 

Specifically, Fuentes said, she wants candidates who display empathy. In a hotel context, that might translate to being "quick to think of ways to personalize an experience," Fuentes said. You can imagine, for example, a concierge hearing that a guest is fond of reading and recommending a local bookshop.

Hiring managers also assess whether the person is a strategic thinker and whether they can be innovative and "agile," Fuentes said, meaning their flexibility and adaptability.

Some technical experience and expertise is helpful for job candidates, Fuentes said. "But a lot of those skills can be learned on the job," she added. Hilton has invested in training and educational opportunities for its employees, including virtual-reality programs that allow people to try out different jobs and to experience the hotel from a customer's perspective.

An employee's willingness to learn is especially important when companies are struggling to keep pace with technological advances, and when they aren't certain what skills their employees will need next week. (The hospitality industry, for example, faces threats from Airbnb, which said it plans to go public in 2020.)

When Hilton hires for leadership roles, hiring managers place special emphasis on the candidate's interest in making Hilton a great place to work and to visit, Fuentes said. "The what and how are just as important" as technical expertise.

Credentials are becoming less important than job-seekers' willingness to learn new skills

Other top employers say it's easier to develop technical skills than it is to get on board with a company's mission.

Symantec's former HR chief, Amy Cappellanti-Wolf, previously told Business Insider that a candidate who's willing and able to learn may be a better choice than someone who already has, say, a graduate degree in finance. It's about the person's potential to add value to the company.

Google trains hiring managers to focus on competencies versus credentials. Even if a candidate hasn't worked in or studied this field before, they might very well have the skills necessary to excel in the role, Kyle Ewing, Google's head of talent, previously told Business Insider.

As for Fuentes, she said candidates must be able to show that they're "aligned with our values." The rest, she added, "we feel comes much more easily."