Page 148 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 3: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU

12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and
grow.

(Copyright © 1998 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted with
permission. These items cannot be used without Gallup’s involvement
and consent.)

The items on the Gallup Q 12 address issues that either
strengthen or weaken the emotional connection between an em-
ployee and employer. Some of the areas assessed on this instru-
ment include the degree to which employees have the materials
they need to do their job and whether expectations placed on
them are clear; whether their supervisor takes an interest in them;
whether their opinions matter; and whether they are afforded
opportunities to learn and grow on the job. Kevin McConville,
regional managing partner of Gallup, remembers, “The first as-
sessment we conducted on [Ritz-Carlton employees] placed
them in the top quartile of businesses in our comprehensive
database. While we were impressed, it was not something that
leadership celebrated. They had set much higher standards for
themselves than almost any organization we’ve encountered.”
So, while most companies would have been thrilled with an ex-
cellent first score, executives at Ritz-Carlton reacted with disap-
pointment.
At Ritz-Carlton, leadership has an obsession for not only be-
ing best in class among luxury hotels but ultimately being the
best in class in all companies. So Kathy Smith, senior vice pres-
ident of human resources, and Simon Cooper, president of the
company, saw the top-quartile employee engagement results as
table stakes or base expectations. Gallup data led to a renewed
effort to increase the engagement of the professionals and staff.
According to John Timmerman, “Business units that lever-
age both employee and customer engagement yield over three
times better outcomes than the baseline, be those financial, safety,

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