Page 100 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 2: EMPOWER THROUGH TRUST
of the employee handbook. By contrast, the orientation process
at Ritz-Carlton is a benchmark for how businesses can maximize
the engagement and satisfaction of their workforce.
In an existing Ritz-Carlton hotel, the process of bringing on
new employees has a consistent pattern. Orientation takes place
in the hotel meeting rooms and lunch is in the hotel restaurant
so that new employees can be received as welcome guests. Senior
leadership, starting with the general manager of the hotel, person-
ally greets each newly hired employee. Initiating the Three Steps
of Service (discussed in Chapter 2), the new hires are warmly
welcomed, and their stated and unstated needs are anticipated
and met. Tom Donovan, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton,
Kapalua, shares, “Even though each property has its differences,
the process of new employee orientation is very much the same.
I have been the general manager in Bachelor Gulch, Colorado,
and Kapalua, Hawaii, and all new employees at both properties
appreciate the personal attention they receive in orientation. We
have our highest-ranking people at the hotel level actively wel-
come our new hires into employment. As a general manager, I am
saying ‘congratulations,’ and ‘you are part of our family.’ I would
not invite family to visit me and have a designee of mine at my
house to greet my guests. That’s why I am at each orientation.”
Prior to covering job-specific information, the Ritz-Carlton
orientation consists of two days of discussions about the Credo,
Motto, Service Values, and other core cultural components.
Michael Clemons, a newly hired bellman at The Ritz-Carlton,
Dallas, notes, “I have never worked for a company that has done
a better job with orientation. Literally, the senior leadership
spent days talking to us about the history, values, and purpose
of this business. I couldn’t believe that they would spend so
much time examining how we can make a difference for guests.
I also felt like they were helping me see that I had been chosen
because I could create memorable guest experiences. Don’t get
me wrong, I’ve worked at places that said their mission was
important, but we would spend only a few minutes on the mis-

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