Page 209 - The New Gold Standard

Turn Wow into Action
lence that match important corporate themes and business tar-
gets for the year. We also set objectives on how many stories each
hotel will submit each year—holding leadership accountable
for constantly catching people doing things well.” Wow stories
have also helped hotels innovate or improve existing processes.
Myra de Gersdorff, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, New
Orleans, reports, “Our staff might hear a Wow story about some-
one in a hotel halfway around the world expediting a guest’s
check-in process, and before you know it, they will have found a
similar way to make the check-in process easier at our hotel.”
Similarly, at The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City, management no-
ticed that many Wow stories worldwide involved staff accessing
items for guests from other departments in the hotel; for in-
stance, a housekeeper offering a complimentary item for a guest
that was secured from the hotel’s gift shop. This assessment gave
leadership insights into how to reduce the paperwork and bu-
reaucratic hurdles involved in these cross-departmental guest
service efforts.
Staff members are also encouraged to share praise with one
another. In support of this encouragement, leadership has cre-
ated a series of programs ranging from “First Class” recognition
cards to quarterly and annual “Five Star” staff awards for remark-
able service. Staff actively participate in identifying coworkers
worthy of recognition and participate in the events that honor
stellar performers. Employees are made aware of these programs
during orientation. In the case of First Class cards, human re-
sources personnel at each property provide note cards for em-
ployees to commend one another. While First Class cards are
shared in a fairly self-directed fashion, the human resources de-
partment is tasked to monitor and encourage card utilization.
The Five Star recognition program occurs on a quarterly ba-
sis at each property. Employees are nominated by their peer
group, and the criteria used for the nominations are based on
the Gold Standards (Service Values, Credo, Employee Promise,
and so on). Peer nominations are directed to the guidance team,

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