Okay, so I admit that I check the HBR website every other day. I get a vast variety of articles that engage and make me want to share. Today was no exception with: What Happens When You Really Meet People's Needs.
The article focuses again on the Ritz Carlton and how they meet customer expectations, empower their employees and ultimately create a positive working environment. A few examples of how they do it (directly from the article):
1. The spirit of the place is captured in the company motto: "We are ladies and gentleman serving ladies and gentlemen." Yea, I know it's straight out of a Jane Austen novel and sounds stilted in these times. But in a world characterized by so little courtesy and care, it implied civility and respect, whether for a guest, a manager, a bellman, a desk clerk, or a maid.
2. Every employee carries around a pocket-size card that includes the company's motto, its credo (beginning with "The Ritz Carlton is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission"), a list of 12 service principles and 3 key steps of service. More interestingly, every employee can name everything on that card.
3. The morning lineup, held in all departments in all hotels, is where employees gather for practical updates, but also to hear each day about a particular example of great customer service by some Ritz Carlton employee, and then talk about how it connects to one of their service principles.
4. Management seems to genuinely believe that no employee is more important than any other, and, that every one of them is critical to creating a great, seamless experience for guests. It was a young bellman, for example, who was chosen to conduct morning lineup for the general managers — in the form of a skit. This bellman was amazingly self-possessed and impressive. If I had been told he was the manager of the hotel, I would have believed it. That's bench strength.
5. Every employee of every Ritz hotel has the right to spend up to $2000 a day per guest to resolve any problem that arises. It's a powerful expression of trust in employees, as well as a gift of empowerment and autonomy. It's also vastly better for guests. How many times have you been told, over the years, "I'll have to go to my manager about that"?
6. The employees I met shared a palpable pride in serving a mission that transcends the bottom line. It begins with the passion to provide unparalleled service, but it extends to something incredibly uncommon in our fractious world: a commitment to caring for one another, and truly making each other better.
So, if your businesses followed this model what would that mean for your bottom line!
