Page 272 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 5: LEA VE A LASTING FOOTPRINT
to think about your responsibility as an employer. I like to look
at the geographical diversity of our locations. While we are in
major cities, we also have hotels that are in more remote loca-
tions. In some cases, we entered a community as the largest em-
ployer and functionally changed the landscape of jobs that were
available in that area. In Grand Cayman, 7 or 8 percent of the
gross domestic product of the island is the Ritz-Carlton alone.
That’s a huge responsibility that you take on. Whether you like
it or not, you’re going to have a permanent impact on anything
you touch on that island. You just hope that all of the impacts
are good.
“Half Moon Bay entered a market where many of the jobs
were for seasonal farm work. If you look at The Ritz-Carlton,
Reynolds Plantation, in Georgia, you will see a community where
many of the factories had been closed down and where the largest
employer was the prison system.” Simon continues, “I know we
create great jobs. But when you go to those locations, you know
something else is happening beyond the careers of our Ladies
and Gentlemen. Particularly in more remote locations, solid em-
ployment actually creates families. It’s a life for our people. It’s a
life for their children. In Bali, for example, I am incredibly
proud to go out in those communities and see the changes that
have occurred in the lives of families as a result of Ladies and
Gentlemen choosing to work for Ritz-Carlton. It could have
been some other company, but in that case, it happens to be us.
For that, I am grateful.”
When values-based companies make positive investments
in communities, the gratitude is often reciprocated by those they
employ and the people in the communities they serve. Elena
Mullican, director of catering sales at The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta,
and The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, developed etiquette courses
for children ages 8 to 12 and for teenagers 13 to 17. She volun-
tarily offers these courses to children of economically disadvan-
taged backgrounds through the “Bridges from School to Work”

252