The Ritz-Carlton

Inspire life's most meaningful journeys

Provide genuine care and comfort

Create service values that keep employees empowered and engaged

• I build strong relationships and create Ritz-Carlton guests for life.
• I am always responsive to the expressed and unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.
• I am empowered to create unique, memorable and personal experiences for our guests.
• I understand my role in achieving the Key Success Factors, embracing Community Footprints and creating The Ritz-Carlton Mystique.
• I continuously seek opportunities to innovate and improve The Ritz-Carlton experience.
• I own and immediately resolve guest problems.
• I create a work environment of teamwork and lateral service so that the needs of our guests and each other are met.
• I have the opportunity to continuously learn and grow.
• I am involved in the planning of the work that affects me.
• I am proud of my professional appearance, language and behavior.
• I protect the privacy and security of our guests, my fellow employees and the company's confidential information and assets.
• I am responsible for uncompromising levels of cleanliness and creating a safe and accident-free environment.

Enliven the senses, instill well-being, and fulfill even the unexpressed wishes and needs of guests

The respected and admired caregiver

These caregivers are "gracious, generous, and humble" leaders and true Ladies and Gentlemen. People are drawn to them because of the warmth and compassion they show for others. Ladies and Gentlemen are highly observant and use their keen intuition to fulfill the unexpressed needs of the ones they serve in unique and creative ways. They have a timeless style that is always sophisticated and relevant while never being trendy.

Warm, relaxed, and refined

Always authentic and unscripted, conversations should also be natural to the personality of each Lady and Gentleman. Interactions can be informal but staff should always remain articulate, elegant, and courteous. Phrases like 'High five,' 'huh,' and 'wassup' have been and will always continue to be unacceptable.

Luxury

At its core, luxury is about being rare and special but for The Ritz-Carlton luxury goes beyond just material objects. To them, luxury is about creating rare experiences for guests that build deeper more meaningful connections with the people they share them with.

Anticipation

The Ritz-Carlton believes that great service is not simply about reacting to guest needs, but most importantly being able to anticipate them. By always listening and looking for opportunities to meet the unexpressed wishes of their guests, the Ladies and Gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton are able to create unique, personal, and memorable experiences.

Discerning affluents

While status seekers will always be drawn to the luxury of The Ritz-Carlton on brand name alone, discerning affluents instead analyze and carefully select their luxury purchases. They spend money on things that hold meaning to them and cherish the stories and connections they make in life above all else. Like The Ritz-Carlton staff, discerning affluents choose their own path forward, not following others, and want to make a lasting positive impact on the world.

Never sacrifice quality

Whether its something as small as recalling malfunctioning pens or as impactful as closing hotels that cannot maintain Gold Standards, The Ritz-Carlton refuses to sacrifice on the quality of their product. Even during economically depressed times, they focused on providing maximum quality through efficiency rather than cutting corners. As co-founder Ed Staros remembers during the 1980s: "Just because the economy was bad, it did not mean the guest didn't want mouthwash."

This dedication has led The Ritz-Carlton to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award twice and pretty much every major award in the hospitality category.

Build your strategy by following the 3 Cs

• Collect data on everything: Over 40,000 Ritz-Carlton employees are responsible for collecting qualitative and quantitative data points on everything from the number of scuffs on elevator doors to how long it takes guests to become impatient at check-in. Data, that is not provided directly from staff, comes from guest comment cards, phone interviews, online questionnaires, and secret shoppers.
• Compile and analyze the information: All of the data is then reviewed through the lens of the company's five key success factors: Brand strength (the Mystique), employee engagement, customer engagement, product service excellence, and financial performance. Trends are then discovered and a SWOT analysis is performed in order to compare where they are today to their desired future state. The result is three to four priority measurements for each key success factor.
• Communicate your findings to everyone: The success factors and their measurements are then designed into a pyramid infographic with brand at the top and financial strength at the bottom. The pyramid is then prominently displayed in all staff areas. Department-level meetings are continuously held to discuss how each employee can personally impact the Key Success Factors and in turn impact the overall success of The Ritz-Carlton.

Measure engagement, not satisfaction

High satisfaction scores only tell you if customers are happy, not if they are loyal to your brand. So, The Ritz-Carlton began measuring customer engagement with Gallup's CE11 survey and employee engagement with Gallup's Q12 survey. By measuring both employee and customer engagement holistically, which Gallup refers to as HumanSigma, The Ritz-Carlton started to see the direct effect that employee engagement had on the customer experience.

Obsessively collect guest data to create personalized experiences

The Ritz-Carton staff are provided Guest Preference Pads, so they can write down notes about guests and later upload them to their customer relationship management (CRM) database. Any problem encountered or preference expressed, gets written down. Staff even do a quick Google search of guests to add their pictures to the database.

All of this information is then shared with staff during the morning lineup to help prepare for the day. The staff also are fed information through ear piece radios to help welcome guests by name and to make their stay more personal.

Create a continuous improvement system to battle MR BIV

Problems, mistakes, and defects will always occur but The Ritz-Carlton trains and encourages every employee to spot, report, and help solve these MR BIV sightings right away.

MR BIV (an acronym for Mistakes, Rework, Breakdowns, Inefficiencies, and Variations) is The Ritz-Carlton's way of continually trying to improve their systems.

Once a MR BIV has been identified, it's important to determine if the problem is a symptom of something larger. Staff begin by asking themselves 'Why' as many as five times to find the root cause, and then a permanent solution. For example, one Ritz-Carlton property was having problems with room service being late, so employees took it upon themselves to start asking 'Why.'

• Why? Answer: Waiters are waiting a long time for an elevator.
• Why? Answer: Elevators were being held up by the houseman.
• Why? Answer: The houseman was collecting linens from one floor to take to another.
• Why? Answer: There was a shortage of linens.
• Why? Answer: Linen inventory was cut to 80% occupancy.
• Solution: Order more linens.

But be careful to always receive MR BIV with open arms and a curious mind. Attacking or blaming employees for problems will only lead to them never helping you find a MR BIV again.

Make it easy to share best practices globally

The Ritz-Carlton has an innovation database where new proven problem resolutions can be shared with all of their hotels who may be facing similar challenges. The database has thousands of innovative solutions ranging from more effective ways to manage check-ins during busy times to introducing transportation vehicles for speedy beverage delivery on the beach.

Grade performance with a quality control checklist

At The Ritz-Carlton, for every four housekeepers, there is one person who spot checks their work against a quality control checklist. Scores are determined on a 100 point scale and anything below a 95% is considered below standard and requires a follow-up with the housekeeper to review what went wrong.

Become Ladies and Gentlemen who serve Ladies and Gentlemen

Although these Ladies and Gentlemen are there to serve, The Ritz-Carlton staff are not servants. Co-founder Horst Schulze believed that if you performed your job with excellence, presented yourself with pride, and always remained respectful, you become just as important as the people you serve.

Keep your eyes up, phones down, and say hello to your staff

Creating a service culture all begins at the top. If you are comfortable walking past your staff with your face in your phone then you are creating a culture where your staff will do that to your guests. Instead, greet everyone you meet.

At The Ritz-Carlton, it's very common for you to hear leaders saying 'Hello' in rapid fire to hundreds of staff walking down the hall as they prep for the opening day of a hotel. As The Ritz-Carlton leadership see it, practice makes perfect...and what gets practiced internally becomes a habit with customers.

Step out of your role to help

No matter what your role or job description is at The Ritz-Carlton, if you see a way to help out, you are expected to do just that. This has led to a culture that breaks down hierarchy and creates collaboration where:

• Marketing and human resource directors serve plates at banquets to help the culinary staff.
• Supervisors drive cars down to the entrance to help doormen.
• Hotel managers assist in carrying luggage up to a room without being asked to help.

Define your Gold Standards

To achieve service excellence, you first need to make sure that every employee has a clear understanding of what service excellence means to you. The Ritz-Carlton did this by codifying their service philosophy into what they refer to as their Gold Standards. These include the brand's:

• Motto: The motto the foundation of how employees should see themselves, their coworkers, and guests.
• Credo: Part mission, part brand promise, the credo defines the atmosphere you want to create and the experience you seek to provide.
• Steps of Service: These service steps outline the pillars that your guest experience is founded on.
• Service Values: These values empower employees to take ownership of their roles by providing guidelines, not rules, of what is expected of them.
• Employee Promise: This promise defines how you will protect and care for your employees.
• The 6th Diamond: Based on the idea of the five diamond rating system, the 6th Diamond is what sets you apart from everyone else.

Constantly evolve your Gold Standards

If something is detracting from the guest experience, The Ritz-Carlton improves upon it...even if that means changing their Gold Standards.

Before 2006, The Ritz-Carlton lived by the 20 Basics of Service. These guidelines were meant to create a consistent guest experience but became more of a script than an empowerment tool. Employees began using suggested phrases like 'My Pleasure' in the wrong context and felt compelled to escort guests to where they were going even when they were asked not to.

With significant input from the Ladies and Gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton, the 20 Basics became today's 12 Service Values. By starting each value with the word 'I,' they offered staff 'ways of being' as opposed to 'ways of doing' which has resulted in more personalized guest experiences.

Even today, The Ritz-Carlton continually polls their employees to gauge the relevance and helpfulness of their Gold Standards.

Provide physical reminders of what your culture stands for

On every employee's first day, The Ritz-Carlton provides each new hire with their own Credo Card. This tri-fold card, which fits easily into any pocket and is considered part of The Ritz-Carlton uniform, includes the company's Gold Standards. The card is continually referred to on a daily basis for coaching purposes and is available to any guest upon request. And if you ask, staff will even sign it for you too.

Always start your day with a lineup

Through calm or crises, one meeting that remains constant at The Ritz-Carlton is the daily lineup. This 20 minute meeting, which is held by all teams from cleaning crews to executives, was introduced to inspire and unify staff while also emphasizing the importance of the company's Gold Standards.

How it works:

• A Commitment to Quality sheet is sent out to all Ritz-Carlton staff that focuses on one of the 12 service values.
• The team lead shares a WOW story that focuses on that day's service value.
• The staff share personal stories of how they have delivered on that day's service value.
• The team shares details regarding any guest preferences and problems.
• Anniversaries and milestones of employees across the entire hotel are recognized.
• Fun facts about the company and hotel performance metrics are shared.
• The meeting concludes with someone reciting an inspirational quote or song lyric. 

Collect, share, and reward WOW stories

Each year The Ritz-Carlton sets a standard of how many WOW stories each hotel is expected to submit. The stories are then sent to the internal communications team, who review them and choose a select few to be included in the Commitment to Quality daily lineup sheet that is shared with the entire company. Any Lady or Gentleman who has their WOW story spotlighted in the sheet receives $100.

Create ways for employees to reward and recognize each other

First Class Recognition Cards are simple note cards that can be filled out by any employee to thank their colleagues for helping them out. Although they can be shared at any time, some staff members wait for the hotel-wide Friday lineup to celebrate their fellow employee in front of everyone.

Five Star Staff Awards occur at each hotel quarterly. Employees nominate their colleagues based on how well they are living up to the brand's Gold Standards. The leadership team then chooses five winners, who will:

• Have a luncheon thrown for them in their honor
• Receive acknowledgment at the hotel's lineup
• Receive a Five Star winner pin
• Become ambassadors for the hotel who will share their stories with new hires at orientation

At the end of the year, five quarterly winners, are then selected as annual Five Star recipients who receive approximately $1,000, a round-trip airfare for two, and a week's stay at a Ritz-Carlton property.

Give every employee $2,000 to use to anticipate the needs of your guests

Every employee at The Ritz-Carlton, from the general manager to the newest busboy, can spend up to $2,000 per day on each guest. This empowers employees to take full ownership of the customer experience and quickly resolve any immediate need.

The $2,000 is a symbol of trust that the company has in their employees and while it is often used to treat guests to drinks, cigars, or meals, sometimes it is used for much grander gestures, like:

• Buying four metal detectors to find a lost wedding ring in the sand (which they found)
• Building a makeshift ramp onto a rocky beach so that a wheelchair bound couple can have an unforgettable anniversary picnic
• Mobilizing a helicopter to fly over a gridlocked city to get flowers and a band to a wedding on time.

For The Ritz-Carlton, telling a guest 'No' is never an option and having an employee wait for approval to take action usually results in a more expensive resolution. As co-founder Horst Schulze sees it: "The average business traveler will spend well over $100,000 on lodging during their lifetime. I'm more than willing to risk $2,000 to keep them coming back to our brand."

Take your time to find the right person

The Ritz-Carlton has interviewed 14 people for a dishwashing position and taken 9 months to find the right housekeeper. Yes, there are short-term pains but all data and staff agree that it's better than bringing on the wrong person.

Develop a holistic approach to interviewing

The Ritz-Carlton interviews candidates multiple times, and not just with Human Resources and potential team members, but across all departments. Engineers interview chefs, and fitness instructors interview housekeepers, all to make sure candidates are a culture fit.

Ask behavioral questions during an interview

Skills can always be taught, so instead The Ritz-Carlton looks for people who will genuinely care about the role and their customers. During an interview, candidates will be asked to talk about:

• A time that they provided care for another person
• How they feel about cleaning up after parties
• How they respond when someone irritates them
• A time when they were able to cheer-up a friend

Select, don't hire

At The Ritz-Carlton, your choice of words matter. Telling people they were "selected as the best candidate for a career" versus just "hired for a job," creates two completely different mindsets. For The Ritz-Carlton, when candidates feel they have been selected it instills a sense of pride and excitement from the start.

Make orientation about your purpose and your people

The Ritz-Carlton's two day orientation always begins with top executives personally greeting each new hire. It lets new employees know that the company prioritizes people over paperwork, processes, and rules. Even as they are served lunch, new hires are surprised with favorite snacks that they had mentioned during their interview process.

As Day One begins, it is also a tradition for the President and COO to lead its discussions. Former President Horst Schulze always liked to stress the importance of every person there with these opening remarks:

"Good morning. My name is Horst Schulze. I am president and COO of this organization, and I am very important around here. But so are you! No human being should claim to be superior to the next human being. You are equally as important to this company as I am. Why is that? Because you are going to make a critical contribution here. If I don't show up for work until tomorrow afternoon, few people will notice! But if one of you in housekeeping doesn't show up, the beds won't get made. We won't be able to check in new guests for tomorrow night. The financial hit will be immediate. We will have a disaster on our hands!"

The rest of the orientation is filled with interactive discussions about:

• The company's history, purpose, and Gold Standards
• What it means to be the top 1% of an industry
• The importance of the customer
• What drives the customer experience
• The importance of financial soundness

Managers go through an additional day of orientation where they discuss the importance of respecting their staff, how to facilitate ongoing career discussions, and how to be a mentor.

Don't let anyone start working until after orientation

No one at The Ritz-Carlton can start their actual job until they complete orientation...no exceptions. And since orientation only happens once a month, The Ritz-Carlton has even lost some new recruits because they needed to start a job right away.

Have employees spend 10% of their time in training

When all is said and done, The Ritz-Carlton staff go through roughly 250 hours of training every year. And depending on the needs and learning styles of the staff, training is offered to them in an array of formats, like: one-on-one coaching, mock drills, employee shadowing, online training, classroom training, and week-long seminars.

Leading the internal training curriculum is the Global Learning Center Services team who creates classes that focus on:

• Managing difficult situations
• Understanding the difference between a guest's expressed and unexpressed needs
• Operational certification for specific job duties
• Leadership development
• Using the customer relationship management (CRM) system
• Continuous quality improvement opportunities
• Customer diversity training with even a section focusing on how to interact with service animals

The Ritz-Carlton also has a Leadership Center dedicated to teaching other companies the secrets of The Ritz-Carlton Mystique.

Provide new hires with a learning coach

For the first three weeks of the job, all new hires are teamed up with learning coaches to help train and certify them on their job's core competencies. The coaches are neither the employee's manager or supervisor but share the same title as the new hire. They are, however, high performers who are aspiring to take on a leadership position and have shown themselves to embody the Gold Standards.

Learning coaches are also assigned to employees who have been experiencing problems meeting the Gold Standards and require, what The Ritz-Carlton calls, just-in-time learning.

Follow-up and listen to your new hires on Day 21

After their first three weeks on the job, The Ritz-Carlton holds a six-hour forum for new hires called Day 21. For The Ritz-Carlton this is a pivotal time to: fill in any gaps not covered in training; review the Gold Standards; and identify and resolve any problems that may cause employees to disengage or become toxic to the culture.

By providing a safe space for staff to speak openly, new hires discuss their experiences and provide comments on:

• If they have all the tools they need to achieve success
• The quality of their training coach
• The camaraderie between departments and how it can be improved
• Their preparedness for their role
• The company culture and if what was described during orientation is present in their day-to-day experiences

All information is collected (with specific comments being kept anonymous) and provided to the guidance team at the hotel to take immediate action on. Leadership follows up directly with all new hires to let them know how their issues were resolved.

Re-certify and celebrate your new hires on Day 365

The Ritz-Carlton created Day 365, as a way to revitalize their staff's commitment and passion for the company. A full day event, employees are first re-certified in their roles with a written test, interview, and role-play session (which is all cake walk after over 250 hours of training in the year).

Once re-certified, employees are presented with service pins—a distinguished symbol of being part of The Ritz-Carlton family. They are also treated to a lunch banquet that is attended by everyone who is celebrating a service anniversary that month. The rest of the day is spent sharing stories and reflecting on the time they have had with the company so far.

Create the home of a loving parent

Being a child in a loving home is a wonderful thing. There is nothing to worry about. Your food is there for you when you're hungry; lights are changed without thinking about it; and if there's a cause for concern, your mother would say "I'm here for you" and fix the problem. What she wouldn't say is "I'll have to call the manager about that" or try to put the blame on you.

So when crafting their guest experience, which is referred to as the Mystique, The Ritz-Carlton focused on creating an environment where:

• Everything is under control
• Every need is taken care of
• Any problem is resolved right away

Offer impact experiences

The Ritz-Carlton created Give Back Getaways to provide guests immersive experiences while also offering them the opportunity to make a difference. Experiences can range from building nests for migrating birds in China to cleaning up coastal trails in Hawaii. Simpler onsite activities, like prepping food for local hunger relief charities, are also available and are used for team building exercises during conferences hosted at their properties.

Always use the guest's name

As they say, no sound on earth is as sweet to a person's ears as their own name. Even if you are not sure how to pronounce it, The Ritz-Carlton considers mispronouncing a name as a giant step up from saying sir or ma'am.

Keep your radar on and antenna up

Staff at The Ritz-Carlton avoid asking guests directly about their preferences. This can create experiences that feel forced and, worse yet, can set expectations for something that might not actually happen. Instead, The Ritz-Carlton places great emphasis on employees observing guests to learn their likes and dislikes.

Through training exercises, staff go through different scenarios on ways to identify and anticipate guests needs like:

• Noticing if any personal toiletries were thrown away and then replacing them
• Looking to see if nuts were picked out of an after dinner dessert then surprising them later with nut-free cookies in their room
• Listening for signs to determine if guests are feeling under the weather and then surprising them with a cup of soup or tea

Treat problems as opportunities

The Ritz-Carlton uses the LEARN model to treat any bad experience as an opportunity to create a great one.

• Listen and Empathize. Never crack jokes or laugh, no matter how ridiculous the complaint sounds.
• Apologize. It doesn't matter whether you caused the problem or not, take ownership of it. Use the words 'I'm sorry' and 'forgive me'—never use 'We're sorry' or 'forgive them.' Also, don't try to deflect the issue by explaining policies and guidelines, or explaining how a particular system works. The guest doesn't care.
• Resolve the problem quickly and to the guest's choosing. Don't just assume that a guest wants monetary compensation. Let the resolution be determined by the guest. Most times they just want to know they have been heard.
• Notify your team and follow-up with the guest. Write the guest a note or give the guest a follow-up phone call to see if everything is okay and if anything else can be done. Let other staff know of the problem too, so they can be aware and learn from it.

Call guests before they arrive

The Ritz-Carlton makes an effort to speak with all guests before their stay. This pre-visit chat is used to casually inquire and listen to what guests have planned. If a guest mentions that she really likes Maine lobster and it is on the menu at the time, the server now knows to highlight it upon arrival in the dining room.

For business people that come in weekly, a call is not always necessary, but the staff still check in with the guests to make sure all the amenities are correct and if they would prefer something else.

Greet guests using the 10/5 Way

Ritz-Carlton employees are trained to make eye contact and smile at guests if they are 10 feet away. If that guest walks within five feet, the employee than needs to say 'hello.' The 10/5 way was created to help break the ice and remove any insecurities a guest may have about interrupting an employee.

Know what's on the menu

Just in case a guest asks, every Ritz-Carlton employee is expected to be ready, willing, and able to recommend something from any menu in the hotel that's worth trying.

Create a sense-of-place through scenography

At The Ritz-Carlton, scenography is all about creating fully immersive experiences for their guests. Each property has its own theme, inspired by its surrounding location, that engages all five senses.

• Smell: The Ritz-Carlton's New York location has its own fragrance that evokes the smell of Central Park's flowers and plants.
• Taste: In Texas a Guacamologist™ prepares fresh guacamole every evening in the hotel lobby.
• Sound: In Arizona, each evening a ranger shares stories of the region's Native American ancestors while a flautist performs in the distance.
• Sight: In Washington, DC, a converted incineration plant with the theme of fire, has a design of deep red and orange hues throughout the lobby.
• Touch: In Moscow, guests are given extra-warm coats to enjoy the rooftop ice bar.

Each property is expected to improve upon their scenography each year with three new scenes. A scenography toolkit, SCNG, is available to help inspire staff and provide more context to the narrative of their property.

Define universal and localized brand standards

When defining their brand guidelines, The Ritz-Carlton separates their standards into two classifications:

• Universal standards, which are non-negotiable standards across all their hotels. These consistencies are what guests expect globally, like certain quality linens and textiles, the presence of fresh flowers, and Club Lounge service.
• Localized standards can be customized to each hotel depending on its location. The fresh flowers chosen should reflect the hotel's geographic location, and the Club Lounge food, should align to the guest demographic.

Create a mark that defines you

Inspired by the British Royal Seal, The Ritz-Carlton lion and crown mark were designed as a symbol of elegance and nobility. It then evolved in 2015 to "purposefully maintain the iconic luxury hotel company’s position with a new generation of guests globally."

Emphasize the experiences you offer, not the product

The Ritz-Carlton used to focus their messaging on the elegance of their properties, but as the company evolved, so has their messaging. Imagery and stories now focus on the unique and exotic experiences that their locations offer, as highlighted in their short-film series, The Stay.

Reinforce your cause in your messaging