Here is a brief excerpt from Kellye Whitney’s brilliant profile of Robb Webb for Talent Management magazine. To check out all the resources and sign up for a free subscription to the TM and/or Chief Learning Officer magazines published by MedfiaTec, please click here.
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Long employee tenure is common at Hyatt — a testament to the organization’s cultural strength and HR strategies that focus on internal employee development and engagement.
Serendipity often plays a role in how the course of a life plays out. For instance, Robb Webb, chief human resources officer for Hyatt Hotels Corp., never set out to work in HR. In fact, he didn’t really plan anything. His career trajectory was almost shockingly random, one lucky appointment after another.
It began during college. He went to a government center in his native Canada to ask for help finding a job. The woman who waited on him said, ‘You look like a nice person. Why not come work for us?’ He applied and ended up helping other students find jobs.
After college he worked for the United Way, where he later caught the attention of an executive for Westinghouse Canada Ltd. who hired him away to work in HR. Nine years later, he moved into the financial services industry as an assistant vice president. After a year, his employer offered to move him to the company headquarters in California. Here Webb said his wife gave serendipity a push when she suggested he go for it. After a decade, the company was acquired by Citigroup. Webb stayed, and made more geographic moves up the career ladder before landing at Hyatt five years ago.
There’s a common thread in Webb’s career: At each stage someone recognized something in him that they wanted for their own organization, then lured him away to the next opportunity.
For instance, in the mid-90s while he was living in California, over a long dinner at an offsite meeting with his boss and the fellow who would run the company’s newest venture in Hong Kong, another opportunity dropped into his lap.
“We were discussing who could coordinate the setup and launch of the company. I turned to [my boss] and said, ‘If there’s nobody else, I’d be interested in doing it,’” Webb said. “He put his wine glass down and said, ‘That only took four hours. I was waiting for you to say that.’ I said, ‘But I’m the HR guy; I shouldn’t be the guy who’s opening up companies,’ and he said, ‘No, you’re Robb, and you’re actually the guy with the skill set that we need to open the company; don’t limit yourself by what your title says on your business card.’ It was a fascinating experience.”
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To read the complete article, please click here.
As its managing editor, Kellye Whitney oversees the daily editorial and operational duties of Talent Management magazine and Diversity Executive magazine, their weekly and monthly e-newsletters and related live and online events. Kellye is a senior member of the editorial staff and also contributes strategic direction and content for Chief Learning Officer magazine and Certification Magazine. She joined MediaTec Publications Inc. in February 2004 as an associate editor. Her previous experience includes an editorial position at Midwest Real Estate News and freelance work for Vibe, the Chicago Tribune and numerous Web sites including ediets.com. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia with a BA in news-editorial journalism.