Page 96 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 2: EMPOWER THROUGH TRUST
In developing its selection process, Ritz-Carlton uses its own
expertise as well as consultants such as Talent Plus. Melissa Young,
pastry chef at The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C., describes her
experience with the hiring process that resulted from that lead-
ership effort: “I was in college at the time, and a professor knew
that I wanted to work for Ritz-Carlton. That professor contacted
the executive sous chef and the rooms manager of Ritz-Carlton
and told them about me. After filling out an application, I com-
pleted my first interview with the hiring manager and then did a
listening interview with the assistant pastry chef. During that in-
terview, he asked me both personality- and pastry-related ques-
tions. I had one more interview with the executive pastry chef.
Then I flew down to the hotel for a day and prepared pastry
items for a tasting by the chefs. Shortly thereafter, I got the call
offering me the position. It was exciting making it through the
selection process.” While the involved nature of selection at
Ritz-Carlton may be too slow for some businesses, it demon-
strates the importance that leadership places on assessing the
strengths, commitment, and skills of the applicant.
Understanding an individual’s strengths helps an employer
determine whether an applicant possesses the raw talent needed
for a particular job. Leadership at Ritz-Carlton invests heavily in
the formal assessment of strengths through structured interviews.
Each Ritz-Carlton employee has gone through a series of personal
meetings before being “selected,” rather than “hired,” for a job.
This important distinction between hiring and selection is
best explained by Hervé Humler, president of international op-
erations: “Hiring can be nothing more than finding anyone to
fill a job, but selection? That is choosing the best person to pro-
vide exemplary service.”
To increase the chances of finding the right person, inter-
views conducted in the selection process not only involve Ritz-
Carlton departmental managers but also frontline Ladies and
Gentlemen who have been certified as interviewers. New hires
feel pride knowing they were selected after going through such

76