Case Study: The Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton is an outstanding hotel providing luxury service to its guests. In contrast with the standard goals of typical business hotels—to provide a home away from home—the Ritz-Carlton decided to take it a step further and provide luxury accommodation to industry executives, meeting and corporate travel planners, and other affluent travelers. The chain is based in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and runs 91 luxury hotels that pursue excellence in each market.
The hotel company was awarded the U.S. government’s Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The award praised Ritz-Carlton for its participatory leadership, thorough information gathering, coordinated planning and execution, and trained workforce that was ready “to move heaven and earth” to satisfy its customers. Thinking about control, what types of control mechanisms did Ritz-Carlton need to achieve excellence?
Ritz-Carlton’s corporate motto is “We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen.” All employees are expected to practice the company’s “Gold Standards.” These standards are made up of a service credo and the basics of premium service, including processes for solving any problem guests may have.
The difference between this luxury chain and other hotel companies is that its employees are “certified” after the common basic orientation followed by an on-the-job training.
This certification to work for Ritz-Carlton is reinforced daily by frequent recognition for achievement, performance appraisal, and daily “lineups.” Annual surveys are given to make sure the employees know the quality standards the hotel company expects of them as well as to determine their level of satisfaction with the company.
One year, 96 percent of the employees surveyed ranked excellence in guest services as their primary duty. Employees are empowered by the company to do whatever it takes to solve any sort of problem a guest may encounter.
Employees are required to assist their coworkers in dealing with a guest satisfaction issue, leaving no room for any excuse as to why a customer problem was not solved on the spot. In this way, the guest is truly treated as a king; guest satisfaction comes first—always.
How does the Ritz-Carlton foster a high level of employee commitment and ensure a high quality of guest service?
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