Marriott Voyage Global Leadership Development Program: how it works and what Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis general managers say about rising there

Voyage is Marriott International’s graduate leadership development program, run inside Marriott managed hotels across the company’s brands, which for a luxury hotel career means The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, EDITION and the group’s other top tier names. This page describes the program as Marriott presents it, explains why there is no separate Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis graduate scheme, and then turns to what the Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis general managers in my books say about the first years in the trade.

The program, as Marriott describes it

Marriott calls Voyage “an elite, award-winning program” that combines hands on, discipline specific training with a leadership curriculum. A Voyager joins one hotel in one discipline, from Rooms Operations, Front Office, Food & Beverage Operations, Banquets, Culinary, Event Operations and Event Planning to Sales, Accounting, Engineering and Information Technology. Alongside the discipline work, participants complete mini rotations across other disciplines, join management meetings, work on a Voyage project to “Improve processes & pitch new initiatives,” and gain access to “Marriott’s senior leaders and coaches.” The outcome is stated plainly: “Many program graduates are ready to step into a Marriott supervisory or entry-level management role right away.” The program is for recent university graduates with a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, “Superior critical-thinking & interpersonal communication skills,” a “real desire for personal & professional growth” and “Work authorization in the country you apply.” In some regions it is known as Voyager.

Two practical points. First, the luxury brands do not run their own graduate schemes; Ritz-Carlton hotels recruit Voyagers under this same program, so a graduate who wants to begin at a Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis applies to Voyage and searches the listings for those hotels. Second, the program’s length, pay, intake dates and eligibility windows change from year to year, so I have left them out; the Voyage listing on the Marriott careers site carries them.

What Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis general managers say about the first years

Five people in my books spent part of their careers in the Marriott luxury brands, and none of them came in through a graduate program. Brian Gullbrants, who had been general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Orlando Grande Lakes before I interviewed him at Wynn and Encore in Las Vegas, grew up in his family’s restaurant in Chicago and found his way to the brand as a waiter.

“My first job in the luxury hotel industry was as a server at The Ritz-Carlton, Phoenix. It was the first time I internalized the notion that we were all ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen. I was taught the basics of how to anticipate the needs of guests, how to provide genuine care, and how to focus on every aspect of the guest experience.” Brian Gullbrants, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)

His career launched as assistant manager of room service at The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, and his mentor was John Toner, then general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, who “served as a mentor and truly believed in my ability to perform, learn, and grow.” For a graduate weighing a management program against a line job, Gullbrants is direct:

“Most college students who have just invested four years or more of their time, effort, and money into learning the industry want to move directly into a leadership role upon graduation. This is a big mistake and very dangerous in the longterm. It’s vital to have real, practical experience in a line-level hourly job—or a few of them—to be able to understand and relate to many of the challenges that your staff face or will face in the future. You simply cannot lead them without having their perspective.” Brian Gullbrants, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)

Krister Svensson, then general manager of St. Regis Bangkok, says the same from the other side of the hiring desk. His own first job was as a steward in a Stockholm restaurant, and “I learned early on that starting from the bottom was incredibly important to understanding roles you would otherwise be oblivious to later on.” On graduates: “Do not expect nor seek a managerial role right out of college. Your rank-and-file staff will know more than you, and you are bound to fail.”

Gerrit Graef, then general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh, started as a chef at fourteen in a small family run hotel restaurant, and his first leadership role was as restaurant manager in a small Relais and Chateaux hotel in Germany. “At this early stage of leadership, I learned to treat every moment as a professional learning experience.” Mahmoud Skaf, then area general manager for The Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur and four other hotels in Kuala Lumpur and Koh Samui, began as a supervisor in the kitchen, and Pedro Dias, then general manager of The Surrey in New York after years that included the St. Regis New York, held his first leadership post as an assistant director of rooms after working every job in his father’s restaurant from fifteen.

The Ritz-Carlton as a training ground

What Graef says about young managers describes how a Ritz-Carlton general manager thinks about the people a Voyager will become.

“We have many millennials in leadership positions and they are the most vocal about wanting to contribute creatively to the success of the hotel. They are also the most hungry for training and development. My role is to provide them with ample opportunities to develop their skillsets, as this will build loyalty and trust between them and the company. If they start feeling like they are in an environment that’s not conducive to personal and professional growth, they will leave.” Gerrit Graef, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)

Skaf adds what happens when the training ends and the first real post begins. “When I first became a senior manager, I sincerely thought I was ready. I was confident in embracing the new role, but when I quickly ran into challenges that I failed to anticipate, it was overwhelming and I fell short.” He was coached through it by his supervisor, and now does the same for his own new hires.

What to take from it

Apply to Voyage with a hotel and a brand in mind, since the luxury brands recruit through it rather than around it, and the general manager you land under will shape the program more than the curriculum does. Take the line level work seriously, in the rotations or before you apply; Gullbrants and Svensson, who reached the top of two of these brands, both say a graduate who skips it will struggle to lead the people who did not. Expect to be moved, and welcome it, because Graef describes a company that keeps its young managers by developing them and loses the ones it does not. Chapter 2 of The Luxury of Attention, The Apprenticeship, is about exactly these years.