Ask Ty Breland, executive vice president and CHRO at Marriott International, how his organization has made Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 26 years in a row, and his answer is simple.

It starts, Breland says, with a "people-first culture" that includes investing in employees and, as Marriott chairman emeritus J.W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr. would say, providing opportunities to as many employees as possible. And Breland should know. He joined Marriott in 2004 as director of HR, talent management and analytic solutions and has steadily risen through the ranks over the past 20 years.

"Like most of my peers, I probably thought I would be here a couple of years. But I really do feel that the culture is real. I always felt that there were people investing in me and I had an opportunity to move all around the company. I've had global assignments. I've had operations assignments. I've had sales and marketing assignments all over the organization," Breland recalls. "I had leaders betting on me, and I think that belief allowed me to believe a little bit more in myself and pursue an array of different things over the years."