Case Study: Choice Hotels International

Choice Hotels International (NYSE: CHH) is one of the largest and most successful lodging franchisors in the world. Choice Hotels currently franchises more than 7,500 hotels, representing nearly 650,000 rooms, in 47 countries and territories.

Location: Headquartered in North Bethesda, Maryland

Time frame of work with Mind Share Partners: February 2024 — Ongoing

“The outside expertise and perspective Mind Share provides has allowed us to lead the way and instill confidence in our employees about the direction we’re taking to support well-being. Employees can be reluctant to open up for fear information will be used against them. Taking a survey is one thing, but sitting on a panel and sharing your story in front of your colleagues is something entirely different. The coaching and support Mind Share provided made that trust possible. Mind Share’s data-driven, employee-informed approach has also been a vital part of demonstrating our commitment to this

— Louise Slark, VP, Total Rewards at Choice Hotels International

For Choice Hotels, partnering with Mind Share Partners was about turning an existing vision to support a mentally healthy workplace into reality. It wasn’t just another HR initiative. Instead, it was about weaving well-being into everyday employee experiences through managers, leadership, and the broader organizational culture.

Michelle Shirley, Senior Director Benefits, Wellbeing & Belonging at Choice Hotels International noted that the company’s work culture is highly performance-driven, and they had already made meaningful strides in making employees feel welcome, wanted, and respected. But the pandemic surfaced a deeper need to support work-life balance and employee mental health in a more intentional way.

Seeking expertise to support this work, Louise Slark, came across Mind Share Partners through a Washington Post article, which then led her to the organization’s biennial U.S. workplace mental health report. One line in the report caught her attention, “Workers want healthy work cultures, not self-care perks.” That single line really struck a chord. “It completely resonated with the journey my colleagues and I had been on,” Louise recalled. “We had the right vendors, but what we were missing was that grassroots movement—something that could bring our values to life every day. We needed someone to guide us on that path.”

To ensure this was not just another HR-led program, but instead of a true grassroots

initiative, Mind Share Partners partnered with Choice Hotels to launch a custom culture

transformation strategy grounded in employee voice. 

The work began with diagnostics and discovery to assess mental health symptom

prevalence and attitudes across the organization, benchmarking results against Mind

Share’s national study. Mind Share then presented the findings to Choice Hotels’ HR

Senior Leadership Team and shared a recommended strategy with the C-suite. To

reduce stigma and build connection, Mind Share facilitated two in-person storytelling

events that highlighted employee experiences and reinforced available resources. Mind

Share collaborated closely with the HR team, from coaching storytellers and shaping

the event scope, to drafting communications to build awareness and attendance.

In the second phase of work, Mind Share delivered mental health champion training for

Choice Hotels’ employee resource group leaders, equipping them with skills to support

colleagues through allyship and empathetic listening. The team also hosted two panel

discussions focused on reducing stigma and sharing practical approaches for self-care

and supportive leadership. Further, with support and guidance from Mind Share

Partners, Choice Hotels launched an employee-led Mental Health Subcommittee under

their existing Diversity Advisory Council, embedding a cross-functional and grassroots-

oriented mental health initiative within their existing organizational infrastructure. This

committee provides feedback on the broader mental health strategy at Choice Hotels

and represents a channel through which employee voice can help drive priorities. 

The next phase of work will include understanding how to maintain business goals and

high performance alongside a high level of support for employee mental health,

continuing to uplift and empower employee voice via the Mental Health Subcommittee

and other initiatives, maintaining investments in existing stigma reduction campaigns,

events, and resources, and expanding trainings internationally and for people managers

tailored to Choice Hotels’ unique culture, giving managers real-world practice in

supporting mental health.

Choice Hotels has seen meaningful culture shifts since launching its partnership with

Mind Share Partners, particularly in openness, trust, and greater confidence around

supporting mental health.

One of the most visible changes has been a significant increase in employees’

willingness to talk about mental health. Post-event surveys and anecdotal feedback

show that the storytelling panels played a pivotal role in breaking down stigma and

encouraging more authentic conversations. “So many more people are willing to have

conversations about mental health because of the panels,” shared Shirley. “Our

employees can see that we’re genuinely trying to take action, not just paying lip

service. Partnering with Mind Share demonstrates that we truly want to create

space for people to come forward with concerns.”

This work continues to lay a strong foundation for Choice Hotels’ long-term well-being

strategy. Choice Hotels’ HR leadership shared that the engagement helped clarify how

mental health fits into the company’s broader well-being vision and Total Rewards

strategy. “Before working with Mind Share, we wanted to do the right thing, but we didn’t

have the years of expertise and research,” Shirley reflected. “Mind Share has helped

shape what we’ll do going forward, including integrating mental health training

into our onboarding for managers and new hires, ensuring conversations

continue long after the initial programming.”

Across the board, Choice Hotels’ HR leaders affirmed they would partner with Mind

Share again. “Mind Share is easy to work with—responsive, thoughtful, and the way

they facilitate meetings is exactly what you want from a subject matter expert,” Shirley

Leadership engagement has remained strong throughout the process and even

expanded as the work progressed. As Slark noted, “We’ve always had commitment

from the beginning, and now we have even more leaders leaning in.”

About Mind Share Partners

Mind Share Partners is a nonprofit that is changing the culture of workplace mental health and well-being so that both employees and organizations can thrive. Learn how to partner with us>