Page 110 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 2: EMPOWER THROUGH TRUST
listen to the needs of the Ladies and Gentlemen, solve problems,
and reenroll staff members before they have an opportunity to
disengage or become toxic to the workforce.
Emnet Andu, who moved to the United States from Eritrea,
works as a server at the Atlanta Grill in the downtown Ritz-
Carlton, Atlanta, and talks about how revitalizing that review was
for her. “Day 21 blew me away. Not only did they listen to me—
I mean really listen to me—talk about how I was feeling at Ritz-
Carlton, but they posed important questions about my work.”
Alexandra Valentin, director of learning, The Ritz-Carlton, Central
Park, notes, “It’s amazing how open staff are at Day 21. Com-
monly our Ladies and Gentlemen will talk about problems they
had with their training or how they are sharing resources with
another department and how those resources are in short sup-
ply. We collect all of their issues and concerns and take them to
the guidance team at the hotel to get the issues addressed. While
we keep the specific comments anonymous, we do make sure
that we go back to all of the Ladies and Gentlemen so that they
know how their issues were resolved. It is important not only to
listen but to make sure they are apprised of the outcome.”
Leaders who pay attention to details of concern to their staff
members and who take action on those details ultimately model
the impact that detailed attention can have on the customers
their staff serves.

STRIKING GOLD

D How effectively do you acculturate leaders into your organ-
ization?
D As a leader, where do you participate in activities to role
model the importance of lateral service?
D What listening processes do you have in place to reengage
new hires early in their employment tenure?

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