Hospitality Leadership essay

Hospitality Leadership essay

The book, The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company by Joseph Michelli, mainly focuses on The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and the Gold Standard application and experience. The book explores the five principles that were developed and are applied in business operations that are conducted daily as their culture. The book explores the principles of Define and Refine, Deliver Wow! Empower through Trust, Leave a Lasting Footprint, and It’s Not About You. By the use of these principles, Ritz-Carlton strives and as well manages to maintain strong working relationships among its leadership, clients, and junior employees. They have been the well-proven tools of leadership and wisdom for the experts in this service, which has helped in the creation and setting of superior customer service practices and principles.

There had been an achievement of milestones by Ritz-Carlton in the hotel business. The success was a result of extraordinary discipline as well as Gold standards that were well defined, which enabled Ritz to remain ahead and relevant of its competitors, and improve its worker’s work relationships. Ritz’s definition of the Gold Standard was the genuine comfort and care towards the achievement of its highest mission,

The first principle is Defne and refine, that is what one stands for and how they do things. This involves the articulation of the busineess’s core identity and corporate culture in a manner that it can b understood and bought by everyone. The management, however, requires understanding the various elements despite being old fashioned at present are regarded as highly relevant, and customers value them and those that require to be updated or changed. For instance, the company’s motto “Ladies and gentlemen, serving ladies and gentlemen” is a statement that shows how customers and employees are regarded.

Secondly is empowering employees through trust. One of the secrets of Ritz Carlton is the manner in which its employees are treated and how they respond. It begins by finding the right employees for the job that is those who can share the passion and ideals for service. The company then creates various layers of evaluation where, according to Mitcheli, it makes new hires feel that there was some investment in getting to know them. When a company does that, the employees feel they have a great responsibility of living up to the trust placed on them. It is also vital to ensure that new employees are oriented and experience the services offered at the hotel. They should also be provided with training and mentoring opportunities and also encouraged through practical experiences so that they can develop team working skills. The anniversaries of joining employment should also be celebrated and acknowledged, and this improves in founding a tremndous employer-employee relationship. Mitcheli states that it is crucial for an employee to begin by knowing that they can trust the company they work for, that it can deliver management, recruitment, and financial performance that can protect his or her interest. For instance, Ritz achieves this by production and dissemination annual set of Key Success Factors. They are built around five elements, which include employee engagement, Ritz Carlton Mystique, financial performance, guest engagement, and product, and service excellence. Employees engage in discussions on how they can achieve individual objectives that are attached to the factors. The Employee Promise is also incorporated into The Credo card. It reads: “At the Ritz-Carlton, our Ladies and Gentlemen are the most important resource in our service commitment to our guests. By applying the principles of trust, honesty, respect, integrity, and commitment, we nurture and maximize talent for the benefit of each individual and the company. The Ritz-Carlton fosters a work environment where diversity is valued, quality of life is enhanced, individual aspirations are fulfilled, and The Ritz-Carlton Mystique is strengthened.”

Thirdly is the principle of building a business focused on others. This discourages leaders from creating processes and imposing them of their staff, which assumes the top-down approach. It encourages leaders to build processes by inquiring that is learning from staff, customers, business partners, and other businesses. Some of the strategies a company can use to achieve its critical success factors include conducting interviews that cover issues that relate to its trustworthiness, for instance, if the customer was treated with respect and how they feel about considering using the hotel in the future. The company can easily benchmark against other competitors since most of the companies use the same approaches. The company can also maintain a computerized database that is secure and can be accessed internationally so that it can be in a position to identify the various need of those guests that will be returning. This makes it easier for staff as they can anticipate their unexpressed and unrecognized needs instead of fulfilling the expressed wishes. Micheli states that the analogy is that staff will behave as they would in case they were dealing with a member of their family by trying to anticipate the little extras. This is experienced as the author states of when he arranged to interview one of the hotel’s general manager. His appointment involved him having to catch a “red-eye” flight. The manager had to provide him breakfast and reserve a room as he anticipated its effect as this would allow for a nap before the interview.

The other principle is delivering, “Wow!”. This mainly focuses on a customer-focused type of leadership. It is always essential to ensure that for every customer, a memorable first impression is created, and they should be “wowed” continuously. For instance, a hotel can google search photos of a customer which helps in easier identification before arrival, and even without them introducing themselves, they can be greeted by their names. The way staff deal and respond to problems can also leave a lasting impression with the customers. This shows that it is essential when leaders empower their staff in terms of owning to a problem and the creation of empathetic and imaginative solutions. For instance, at Ritz, they have a five-step process that is used to salvage any bad experience. The “wow” experiences should then be shared in publications and lineups where they can be linked back to the business’s core values. It is also recommended that employees share praises with each other, and staff participate actively in the recommendation of their coworkers for them to be recognized. The management should also have awards that are aimed at identifying employees with various achievements so that they can feel motivated to continue offering the best services to their customers.

Finally is the principle of leaving a lasting footprint. It is vital that an organization must leave an impression that is memorable to the world as it does to its clients. Commercially the company can achieve this by expanding its brand as well as its territory. For instance in the hotel industry, a hotel can expand the number of its hotel across the world. It can also pass its best practices and expertise to graduates through leadership centers, the same way it benefited from experiences and knowledge of others. More to that, a company can engage in corporate social responsibility despite there being some commercial benefit derived from it however it should not be the main reason of doing it. This can be done through contributions in terms of donations, products and services focusing its efforts towards environmental conservation, reliefing poverty and hunger and loking into the well being of children who are disadvantaged. It also goes down creation of substancial job opportunities to the local as the author indicates that “Great businesses strengthen communities often by their mere presence…”He also states that “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.”

To most of the people, Ritz Carlton is synonymous in the hotel industry. Its differentiator is the standard of service that is unsurpassed. It is also a corporate that empowers and values its employees truly. They are the best example in the hotel industry that can be emulated in making the employees, customers and community grateful for their services.

References

Turner, S. E. (2008). The new gold standard: 5 leadership principles for creating legendary customer experience courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.