Hospitality is often thought of as a customer-facing concept — something that defines how guests, passengers or clients are served. But hospitality starts long before any of those or others outside an organization experience it. The way employees are treated sets a standard for the service delivered to others. Employees can’t be expected to create a welcoming, high-touch experience for a client if they don’t feel seen, supported and valued themselves.

Creating that foundation begins with leadership, which in a hospitality-driven culture means listening, understanding and tailoring an approach to meet the needs of each person. It shows up in training and development, in the way employees are coached and mentored and in how success is celebrated. When employees feel genuinely cared for, their ability and motivation to extend that same care to guests grows exponentially.

The Connection Between Learning and Belonging

One of the clearest examples of this principle here at ISS is our English at Work program. We launched our first cohort back in 2023 to support team members whose first language wasn’t English. Our goal was simple: to help them feel more confident communicating with their colleagues at work. But the benefits extended far beyond the workplace.

One participant told me that before joining the program, she had difficulty talking with her children at home because they only spoke English. By learning the language at work, she could also connect more meaningfully with her family in the process. When we invest in our people, we’re not just helping them succeed on the job — we’re helping them thrive in their lives.

People stay at organizations and do excellent work when they feel seen and supported. Among the employees who have participated in English at Work, 95% reported increased confidence in speaking English going forward, and 100% of those participating employees were still employed by ISS one year later. 

Leadership Requires Inspiration

In a hospitality-driven culture, the role of a manager isn’t just to supervise — it’s to inspire people to be at their best. Managers are like cheerleaders; they aren’t there to tell people what to do, but rather to keep people motivated and engaged while they’re working.

Assisting guests, preparing meals, maintaining buildings — our teams perform these kinds of tasks countless times. What makes them meaningful is how they’re done. It’s easy to smile the first time you hand someone a cup of coffee, but it might be harder to show the same enthusiasm on the 500th. Great leaders keep that energy alive by recognizing effort, celebrating wins and reminding people that every single interaction matters, both internally and with clients.

Hospitality thrives on authenticity. Leaders can’t act one way with a client and another way with their team — people notice the difference immediately. True hospitality is a mindset centered around caring for others out of a desire to genuinely make their day better.

The “How” Matters as Much as the “What”

Facility management providers are great at teaching the “what”: how to clean a floor, how to make a room sparkle, how to deliver a service to specification. But hospitality is all about the “how.” How do you interact with someone while doing those tasks?

If you’re mopping a floor and someone walks by, you could keep your head down and continue working — and you’d technically be doing your job. But if you pause, stand up straight, make eye contact and say, “Good morning, how is your day going? Anything I can do to make it better?” you’ve just changed the energy of the interaction. You’ve created a moment of connection, and even that minor act of hospitality has a measurable impact on the community and culture of a workplace. 

The rise of hybrid work has made these principles even more relevant. People don’t want to come to the office just because they have to — they need a space where they actually enjoy spending time. And they’ll want to when the experience of being there is positive, energizing and acknowledges their humanity.

While our world is profoundly more digitally connected than it used to be, personal connection remains just as vital for people to thrive and be at their best. Hospitality is how we build connection, foster community and remind people that work can be a shared experience, and not just an isolated series of tasks.

That’s why I believe so strongly in the role of hospitality across the modern workplace. Whether it’s through food, service delivery or a simple greeting, we have an opportunity to create places where people feel like they belong and contribute. When we focus on hospitality, our best employees will want to stick around and be a part of what’s to come.