The goal of the Hilton Mentoring Programme is to develop the careers of future hotel GM, and the four members (as per Hilton own terminology) of the management team, also known as the “4 Ds”: Director of Human Resources, Director of Finances, Director of Operations and Director of Business Development. The reason, an observation made in 2002 upon analysis of results from evaluation centres bearing on the seven previous years: the traditional training methods had become inefficient, or at least insufficient for preparing managers to climb to new levels in the hierarchy. Thus, the idea came about of implementing a programme that is more involved in the changing realities of the trade. A state-of-the-art tool for helping employees in their career plan within the chain. “A lot of companies have recently looked into setting up a mentoring programme. We believe that what is innovative in our approach is the fact that we are not only supporting high potential managers, but consciously attempting to influence the whole operating culture of the organisation,” outlines Tea Colaianni, Vicepresident of Human Resources for Europe and Africa.“Team members are proud of being selected to participate in the Hilton Mentoring Programme and recommend the programme to others,” concludes Tea Colaianni. “Mentors see this as a fantastic opportunity for self-development. As for the mentee’s, Team Members are asking how they can participate in the programme. Most of our targets have been reached. The number of promotions has been enhanced.”The programme is on an international scale in a partnership with the Oxford School of Coaching and Mentoring (OSC&M). It concerns 90 properties in Europe and Africa. Its goals are multiple, but clear. It is a matter of enlarging the reservoir of potential general managers and division directors (4 Ds), to grow individual motivation while reducing the turnover of...