Garcia Williamson

Garcia Williamson, director of talent development at Hilton International:

• Garcia Williamson, Director of Talent Development,

Garcia Williamson is speaking at the CIPD's HRD learning and development event at London's ExCeL on 17-19 April • www.cipd.co.uk/hrd T 020 8612 6248

When Garcia Williamson says that Hilton's career development programme for HR professionals works, she has the evidence to prove it.Retention among the 30 high-flyers who have been through the Top Gear programme since its launch two years ago has been a cool 100 per cent, and 60 per cent have been promoted.The return on investment from the project work that forms part of the programme has been just as impressive, with the first year's participants alone generating £367,000 in cost savings or additional revenue.

It's tangible business benefits such as these that are used to measure the success of the Top Gear programme and, indeed, of Hilton's other learning activities."Those are the things that light up our CEO's eyes and we focus our measurement on them," says Williamson, director of talent development for Hilton in the UK and Ireland.

The company, she explains, is moving away from providing training for its own sake to targeting areas that have a direct impact on strategic goals, such as improving service standards or becoming an employer of choice.This commercial focus has become sharper since the UK-based Hilton Group sold its hotel division to its near namesake, the US-based Hilton Hotels Corporation, last year.

The global hospitality firm now has more than 2,800 hotels in 80 countries, with ambitious plans for expansion, not only in Europe and North America but also in India, China and other emerging markets.

"We will be growing massively over the next three to five years, and that really changes the whole landscape of learning and development," says Williamson.
...
"Everyone is given a ‘passport', which is stamped as they go though each stage of the customer journey," says Williamson.

Team members also have to complete several e-learning modules covering service standards in their own department, which could be food-and-beverage operations, front office, conference and banqueting, or housekeeping.Delivered through Hilton University, the company's online learning portal, these modules have only recently been launched, but early feedback has been encouraging, according to Williamson.
...
Such an improvement, which Williamson attributes largely to training designed to raise service standards, means that there's little need for the talent-development team to justify its own existence."If what we're doing is having an impact on guest satisfaction, it's pretty obvious that it's of significant value," she says. N

Garcia Williamson

Director of talent development, Hilton UK and Ireland

She says: Delivering a consistent high-quality experience is one of the bedrocks of operating a successful chain of hotels - something Hilton is focused on.

* Garcia Williamson, Director of Talent Development,

Garcia Williamson, Director of Talent Development, Hilton UK

Garcia WilliamsonDirector of Talent Development, Hilton UK
...
Garcia Williamson - Director of Talent Development, Hilton UK
...
Garcia WilliamsonGarcia is responsible for the talent management, learning and career development processes for the 78 Hilton hotels in the UK and Ireland . Her team of 20 professional training managers provide brand and service related training and management development programmes for the estate and support the award winning online Hilton University .

Garcia's experience covers resourcing, selection and assessment, training and development, coaching, elearning, virtual classroom technology, employee communication, project and change management, succession planning and talent management.

Garcia joined Hilton three years ago from an international drinks company and has previously led resourcing and training functions in the computer industry, in economic development and has been a director of an HR consultancy company in Scotland.