Merrillville, Indiana, March 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — White Lodging, a privately owned industry leader in urban and lifestyle hospitality development and management, was named one of the 62 companies across the globe as a winner of the 2025 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award for employee engagement.
This award recognizes the most engaged workplace cultures in the world. This is the fifth year that White Lodging has earned the award as it celebrates its 40th year in business. The company currently employs more than 6,500 associates across nearly 60 hotels and more than 50 restaurants and bars.
Despite momentous challenges in a rapidly evolving workplace, Gallup found that White Lodging continued to engage and develop its people in innovative ways, setting new benchmarks for workplace excellence.
A Culture of Engagement
Since coming out of COVID 19, White Lodging has invested in associate-focused programs and benefits to help support its Associate Promise, which is ‘to create an environment that allows them to be your best self and grow through ongoing training, development and mentorship.’ Some of these programs include leadership development programming and a refreshed career development program supported by technology and process enhancements.
Over the past two years, this investment helped lower turnover by 22% and reduce management job openings by 69%. In addition, internal management promotions increased by 24% and associate-referred hires increased by 17%. From an engagement and reputation perspective, White Lodging’s scores in employee engagement and Glassdoor reviews have materially increased year-over-year and reached record highs in 2024.
“An engaged workplace today is a thriving workplace tomorrow,” White Lodging CEO Jean-Luc Barone said. “Earning this recognition for the fifth time—especially in our 40th anniversary year—is a significant milestone that reflects our ongoing commitment to our Hospitalitarians. We invest in our people because they invest so much in us. This includes robust, proprietary Career Development tools to help associates navigate their career growth, as well as fostering a culture of Genuine Care to support our Associate Promise—creating an environment where they can be their best selves and grow through ongoing training, development, and mentorship.”
“Congratulations to this year’s Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award winners for setting the standard for a thriving workplace. White Lodging’s commitment to creating an environment where employees feel valued, heard and empowered to do their best work is truly remarkable. By prioritizing both people and performance, they are shaping the future of work and proving that exceptional workplaces drive real results,” said Jon Clifton, Gallup’s Chief Executive Officer.
Gallup’s meta-analysis on team engagement and performance is the most comprehensive workplace study ever conducted, with data on more than 3.3 million employees in 347 organizations across 53 industries and 90 countries. Highly engaged organizations significantly outperform their peers on important business outcomes, including customer ratings, profitability, productivity, turnover, safety incidents, shrinkage, absenteeism, quality, wellbeing and organizational citizenship.
White Lodging has developed more than 210 new hotels since its founding in 1985. The company currently owns and/or manages approximately 60 high-end urban and lifestyle hotels with more than 15,000 rooms under the Marriott, IHG (Kimpton), Hyatt and Hilton brands.
For a complete list of Gallup Exceptional Workplace winners, visit the 2025 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award Winners page. Learn more about the awards here.
ABOUT WHITE LODGING:
White Lodging, established in 1985 by Bruce White, has evolved into one of the country’s largest privately held hospitality companies focused exclusively on highly curated urban and lifestyle properties. The company develops, owns and manages a portfolio of brands in destination-driven markets, including Austin, Chicago, Denver, Nashville, Indianapolis, and Louisville. With a focus on elevated and experiential service, White Lodging’s portfolio consists of approximately 60 premium hotels; a private collection of world-renowned luxury ranches; 50 locally relevant, award-winning restaurants; and 10 market-leading rooftop bars. White Lodging focuses on hiring and developing Hospitalitarians that are committed to exceptional service and fostering meaningful connections. White Lodging has earned the Gallup Exceptional Workplace award five times, including in 2025, and consistently is in the top J.D. Power Guest Satisfaction Benchmark listing for third-party management companies. For more information about White Lodging, visit www.whitelodging.com or follow the company on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
About Gallup
Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organization in the world.
- White Lodging Honored with Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award
- White Lodging Honored with Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award
