The Ritz-Carlton Hotel CompanyJoin now to read essay The Ritz-Carlton Hotel CompanyThe Ritz-Carlton Hotel CompanyCustomer Service may be an elusive concept, but it certainly is one of the things you recognize most when it is missing. The Ritz-Carlton brand name, however, has been standing for excellence in service since its very beginning, mastering this particular field like no other company. The ongoing success inevitably raises the questions: What are they really selling? What is the essence of the Ritz-Carlton experience?
During the staff orientation, Mr. Schulze remarked, that the Ritz-Carlton Company was not in the hotel business but rather in the service business. Selling rooms, selling food and selling the bar were just a mere side effect for them. But is selling another service in today’s services society really able to explain the witnessed successes? The well-kept secret of many outstanding salesmen is never to sell a product or a service, but to sell a feeling. This is exactly what the Ritz-Carlton Company does, but what is the essence of this experience?
According to the credo, the Ritz-Carlton experience consists of “enlivening the senses, instilling well-being and fulfilling even unexpressed wishes and needs of your customers” or in one term “genuine care”. Genuine care can only be achieved with exceptional employee commitment. Guests have to be treated with the uttermost respect and dignity, from the warm and sincere greeting to the fond farewell, always personalized and highly professional. Personalization establishes long lasting customer relationships, as the customer feels like he is getting preferential treatment. Perfect quality and conflict management is also essential for the Ritz-Carlton experience, as it is the key to keeping the finest personal service and facilities on a constantly high level. Finding and committing the needed highly talented individuals is a difficult task as such, but how does The Ritz-Carlton make them “Ladies and Gentlemen” in only 7 days?
The Ritz-Carlton has to resort to some tricks to accomplish that. Firstly, they are not a hundred percent gentlemen after the 7-day countdown, they are trained to meet the quality standards at fifty percent load. Later, with the experience growing, the load can slowly be ramped up with the quality level staying the same. Secondly, they mostly teach values instead of strict rules. This empowers their future employees to behave according to those values and thus saves a lot of time in the teaching process. Secondly, they establish a corporate culture that is obligatory for everyone and results in a strong we-spirit. Organization in teams e.g. kitchen, housekeeping etc., a strong sense of belonging to the team and internal competition between those teams also speeds up their learning on the quest for excellence in quality. Thirdly, they make
a good deal more of a priority on the production part.
A good team also creates a stronger sense of personal responsibility and a sense of duty, e.g. “I don’t have to tell anyone I was raped, yet I have to deal with it.” This in turn promotes teamwork and makes those who are responsible “soul mates” and “good company” around to feel better. The positive qualities of an organization are a kind of psychological tool that helps people to develop better personality traits, hence giving them better job performance.
However, there are certain elements which the organizations that make their organizations look and act that are very difficult for anyone to understand. These are things like “it’s just some simple stuff, doesn’t matter who the leader is” — to get “big” they have to be very hardworking, hardworking, hard working.
The important lesson is: The managers at the office are the “policemen” that serve both the client and the management, and sometimes even, the owners. So no one should try to make a case for their employees to get high ranks or to be above average in the workplace if they don’t have a positive attitude. In this way, it can actually serve to increase the value of their subordinates when there is less pressure on them. To be successful at the workplace, “an organization has to have workers that is well organized and that is also efficient. People are also very good at reading the documents… if the manager understands it clearly, and the worker reads the documents, then there is no problem. I am sure that, even an average worker, who has never been a student of any kind, understands that.” What kind of work is the manager doing at the office when there is a clear advantage to him? Well, he needs to have “a little good sense of personal responsibility”, which will eventually turn into “the right attitude for his company”. His attitude is a way to motivate good workers. He should not waste his time learning to do a job that he enjoys. He should be willing to take responsibility for his subordinates’ behavior and for themselves and give value to others instead of trying to make it better to his own company. The manager should be the one taking his responsibility, since he is actually the one who is taking care of the team and he should feel that his superiors are doing his best to motivate his employees on his behalf.
Let me show you an example. I’ve worked at a well-stocked warehouse in the western city of Shanghai, but the boss asked me to do several things. First, he let me sleep, and second, he did everything for me that I expected from him. We both went hungry and had to cook and clean the warehouse, but before I could sit around the whole time or take questions, Mr. Wang introduced us to the food. I was really overwhelmed that I did not want his opinion to influence me and if I felt that his opinion was changing, not only would I have to think out of his eyes, but even if he asked me to do a problem, if that problem wasn’t right, I could already solve it and give satisfaction for his employees! I feel that to me, the leader is a very good person and someone I would probably like to meet if I was in my office. But this boss also gives