Hyatt Corporate Leadership Training program: how it works and what Hyatt general managers say about rising there

Hyatt’s Corporate Leadership Training program, CLT, is the company’s hotel based graduate scheme in Asia Pacific and the Middle East, and the Corporate Management Training programme, CMT, is its equivalent in Europe, Africa and the Middle East: both combine rotations across a hotel with intensive training in a chosen specialization and management projects, and both end with a first management role. This page describes the two as Hyatt presents them and then turns to what the Hyatt general managers in my books say about their first years and the company as a place that grows people.

The programs, as Hyatt describes them

Hyatt publishes no single landing page for CLT. An official Hyatt listing describes a hotel based program tailored to each trainee’s experience and goals: rotations across departments, intensive training in an agreed specialization such as Rooms or Food and Beverage, team leading tasks and management projects, built to move graduates into Hyatt’s leadership team. It asks for a bachelor’s degree in hospitality or a related field; each hotel sets local eligibility.

The CMT programme in Europe, Africa and the Middle East is described in an official Hyatt document for university candidates. It is for people with “the greatest potential to become part of Hyatt’s management team of tomorrow,” and runs in three modules: Technical Skills, which can be waived if “all required competencies are acquired through previous experience,” a Management Module and a Rotation Module across several departments, with “Intensive training in the area of specialization” and “Team leading tasks and management project assignments.” Each trainee is assigned program managers and a mentor, with “Performance development discussions at the end of each module.” Before the programme ends there is a career counselling session, and Hyatt helps the trainee find an entry level management role, often in the same hotel at first. Hyatt looks for a genuine interest in a hotel career, relevant professional or internship experience, good working English and the local language.

For both, the way in is the same: individual hotels publish their openings on the Hyatt careers site and you apply online to that hotel. Lengths, pay, intake dates and the hotels recruiting change year to year, so I have left them out; the careers site and the CMT document carry them.

What Hyatt general managers say about the first years

The Hyatt general managers in my books took their first jobs in banquets, housekeeping, sales and an IT office. Only one came through a formal management training program, and it was not Hyatt’s.

Marc von Arnim, then general manager of Park Hyatt Sydney, started with Hyatt in banquets.

“After high school, I took a job as a banquet waiter for the Hyatt Regency Coolum in Australia. In my first managerial role as team leader of housekeeping, I realized that I was now in a position where my colleagues were relying on me to give guidance and direction. This was new to me. I had to be a leader and not a follower, so I stepped up to the plate and learned on the job.” Marc von Arnim, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)

Mariano Silvestri, then general manager of Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa, also took his first supervisory job in housekeeping: “I stepped into my first leadership role as housekeeping supervisor at Park Hyatt Mendoza in Argentina. This position set the tone for my entire career, as I learned to truly value, respect, and appreciate the importance of the back-of-the-house operation.”

Stephen Ansell, then general manager of Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow, came through a management training program with another company, and says of it:

“Looking back at all of my early management experiences, this is where I learned the most. The program gave me insight into all aspects of a hotel, including a six-month position in charge of stewarding. I was constantly reminded that in our business, the most important people we work with every day come from all walks of life, often with different backgrounds and life experiences.” Stephen Ansell, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)

Alexander Pichel, then general manager of Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta, spent the middle of his career with Hyatt, which he entered as an office assistant at the Hyatt Carlton Tower in London: “Ten years later, I became a general manager with Hyatt. The company believed in me to excel and deliver, and I believed in myself to do the same.”

Hyatt as a training ground

Krister Svensson, then general manager of The St. Regis Bangkok, grew up in a Hyatt and credits its general manager, Brian Deeson, with his career: “When I was young, he gave me the opportunity to learn more about the industry. Thirty-five years later, I climbed the ladder to become general manager of a luxury hotel.”

James Low, then general manager of COMO Uma Paro and COMO Uma Punakha in Bhutan, remembers a dinner with Bern Chorengel, the former president of Hyatt International: “He called me by name and said, “I’d rather sit next to you because I would like to hear what Hyatt means to you, and how you could add value to our hotel.””

Ansell describes what a recruit meets now. “All recruits undergo a specific coaching aimed at providing a solid understanding of our culture.” He also names what a trainee should want from a large company: “By working for a rapidly growing international hotel company, such opportunities are in abundance and perfectly compliment formal training programs.”

What to take from it

Apply to hotels, because that is how Hyatt recruits these programs, and ask who your mentor and program managers would be. Take the housekeeping or stewarding rotation seriously; the general managers above say it set the tone for everything after. Treat the move between Hyatt hotels as part of the training, as Ansell does, and read the full profiles on the Voices pages above before an interview. Chapter 2 of The Luxury of Attention, The Apprenticeship, is about exactly these years.