Ecommerce managers have limited levers to that can be used to drive revenue. Franchise hotels don't have to follow recommendations from ecommerce on setting aside budget for digital marketing, so we are forced to rely on cheap/free tactics that can't drive much revenue. Despite not being given the proper tools to drive results, we are expected to deliver them nonetheless.
Ecommerce leadership is weak, disconnected and opaque, all the way up to CLR (one of our VPs). I don't believe they try to be secretive, I just don't think they possess the skills and expertise to effectively set annual strategies, milestones and communicate their vision properly. As a result, the department feels directionless, has been passed around to numerous senior executives, and is now being gutted to bolster the ranks of the current executive's pet discipline - destination marketing.
Favoritism runs rampant and substandard employees have been fast tracked into middle management roles because they latched onto the right coattails, despite having glaring skill set and knowledge gaps (one of them promoted to director of social media after less than a year as a senior manager without knowing how Facebook ads work - seriously). Office politics exist everywhere, but Hilton is the worst example of it I have seen in my long career. Your performance doesn't matter as long as your managers like you as a person.
The good news is myself and a few lucky others survived the PNG purge and will continue to make good money with a good work-life balance after the dust settles. I feel bad for those who are having to take a demotion or look outside the company to achieve one executive's power play. The bad news is the ones who prevent the department from excelling are still running it. I give it a few more years before they just fold eCommerce into a more competently run part of the organization, like Advice or Revenue Management.
If we had the same strong leadership present in those departments, we might be growing in size and company influence. Too bad we don't.
