Employee Motivation: The Ritz-Carlton

This research explores the concept of employee motivation at The Ritz-Carlton, a luxury hotel chain in the hospitality industry. It discusses the importance of motivating employees and the impact it has on the organization's outcomes. The research also highlights the strategies used by The Ritz-Carlton to motivate its employees and the benefits it brings to both the employees and the company.

Employee Motivation: The Ritz-Carlton

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Executive summary
The hospitality industry is just like any other wider service industries. The industry mainly
focuses on providing leisure, rather than fulfilling the basic day to day needs. This research has
explained the hospitality industry with its important information taking into consideration the
luxury hotel chain “The Ritz Carlton”. It is important for them to keep up with the ongoing
trends of the industry. The research has aimed to discuss employee motivation at Ritz Carlton as
it is as an important factor for the company's success and competitiveness. It shows that
managers need to motivate the employees to put their best efforts as it is directly related to the
outcomes of the organization.
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Contents
Executive summary.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Background......................................................................................................................................4
Literature review..............................................................................................................................5
Discussion........................................................................................................................................7
Analysis...........................................................................................................................................8
Recommendations............................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
The research project aims to discover Ritz Carlton as an element of the hospitality industry. The
research mainly focuses to discuss employee motivation at the chosen organization. Employees
can be easily categorized based upon their nature, skills, working capacity, etc. but the things
that remain constant in all types of employees are the need for motivation. Ritz Carlton involves
a number of employees where some are students, international students, part-time employees,
short-term employees, and permanent employees. Ritz Carlton also needs to motivate its
employees to bring the best out of them. Motivated employees fulfill their personal goals and
benefit the organization equally, whereas, absence of motivation degrades their own as well as
the company's performance. Thus employee motivation is a very crucial concept that actually
matters a lot in the hospitality industry (Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 2019).
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Background
Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is an American based hotel company operating a luxury hotel
chain. It was originally founded by William B. Johnson in August in the year 1983. It has its
original headquarters at Chevy Chase, Maryland in the US. It has about 130 hotels worldwide. At
the present time is also a subsidiary of Marriot International. With the countless rewards and the
deep history, they are very much committed to their service. They have a strong corporate
culture and credo both in their hotels and communities. They have been recognized as the gold
standard of the hospitality industry. They work with a vision of inspiring the most meaningful
journeys of life. They consider their employees as the most valuable asset in their service to
provide the best service to their guest. They believe that the employees who join them not only
just meet but exceed in their targets and that is what makes them a leader of the luxury brand in
the hospitality industry (Gallo, 2008).
The logo of Ritz Carlton shows a combination of a lion and a crown which depicts elegance,
noble learning and refinement. The crown the logo is the British royal seal and lion is the
financial backer. It was designed in the year 1965 but was not sufficiently noble and was later
reinvented by Cesar Ritz. While in Paris the logo contained just the crown and in Europe logo
only had the lion as a symbol (Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center, 2019). The initial logo slowly
was being accepted by many countries while much other still use to customize the logo as
required.
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Literature review
The whole research is about employee’s motivation at Ritz Carlton focusing on all of its big and
small elements. The main aim of this literature review will cover the theoretical concepts, ideas,
and issues of employee motivation in the organization. It also follows the human needs to study
the basic requirements and factors that they can use to motivate the employees. Employee
motivation is one of a very important aspect of any organization which improves the
performance of the employee individually, the department and even the company. Employee
motivation needs to be considered as a regular routine. Employee motivations are a resulting
action of the employee's interaction with the manager. It also allows the management to achieve
organizational goals. No motivation in employees in the workplace often leads the whole
organization to a risky place. Motivated employees increase productivity and help in achieving
the High level of outputs (Jabaley, 2016). Employee turnover in this industry billions of dollars
and the turnover of workers is about 95% as per the incentive performance center. Motivating the
staff in this industry not just improves job performance but also helps in reducing the costs
associated with training and finding new workers. Employees are the one who actually fuels the
whole industry and that is why they are always expected to deliver the best and be welcoming
and polite. It is a true fact that being an employee in the hospitality industry is not an as simple
job as it seems to be. It needs patience skills and most importantly motivation. Motivating the
employees has certain benefits such as:
 Increases employee commitment as motivated employees putt the best possible efforts in
every task assigned.
 Improves employee satisfaction
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 Develop the ongoing employee
It is generally understood that employment in these industries is often considered to be
temporary, or stop-gap employment, with workers leaving eventually for what they will consider
"greener pastures." and certainly, different economics are at work depending on the region, the
type of establishment, etc. However, turnover rates also vary within the same economies, the
same chains, the same cities, and the same regions (Alqusayer, 2016).
It is important for the hotel management to retain hardworking and loyal staff. For retaining them
it essentially requires devotion, dedication, and investment on employee motivation. The
management needs to have a blueprint of the ultimate agenda that motivates the staff and prepare
them for the challenges that occur in the day-to-day tasks. For the employee, the best motivations
are getting to know that his tasks are being valued. Employees need to be given impetus to
perform even better. Gaining employee's loyalty and trust is a pivotal part of any organization
and the thing it takes is motivation. Keeping the employees brimming, polished and congenial is
the primary factor to bring out their best efforts. Employees thus need to be given sufficient time
to interact with the managers and develop motivation and belongingness (Hekman & Lashley,
2017).
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Discussion
Employee motivation is undoubtedly the foremost element hospitality industry. The issue being
faced by employee motivation will be viewed thoroughly and solved. They believe appreciation
is good but verbally. But is it a matter of employees. They like to get incentives and bonuses for
the extra efforts they are putting in. sometimes, words cannot do it all. Once the employees feel
their hard work is just being wasted is not earning them anything, they can step back in putting
their best. They may feel their extras efforts being wasted which could somehow demotivate
them. Verbal appraisal lasts for a little time; one the employee steps out of the workplace they
only thing that can bring him back is an extra bonus. He may feel disregarded and demotivated.
Ritz Carlton lacks behind in these areas. They still stick to the old practices of motivation which
is now no more applicable or enough to motivate the employee is today's time (Hoffman, 2018).
They are not being able to fill the gaps between customer motivation and customer satisfaction.
Both the terms are totally different but are dependent on each other, as a motivated employee is
not necessarily a satisfied employee but a satisfied employee is always the motivated employee.
Ritz Carlton is not yet identifying the two terms differently and individually.
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Analysis
Employee motivation is the most important factor in any industry and in any organization as it
creates a positive workplace and that is the only basic element to take the company on the top. It
is a time-consuming thing to motivate the staff at the workplace. Managers must ensure the work
and efforts of the employees are being valued. The employees associated with Ritz Carlton are
always putting maximum efforts. The company has the best employee in its industry (Morin,
2018).
At Ritz-Carlton, they believe that employees set a crucial tone for their whole organization.
When employees at the front desk are the first impression of their service, the technicians collect
important data and communicate professionalism; the optical staff leaves a positive impression
for future experiences. They do not stress much on hiring the correct staff, but once the team is
built and trained they ensure that the employees stay inspired. They build themselves on a sense
of ownership by empowering employees. Each employee is motivated to go beyond their
possible efforts and create a unique and memorable atmosphere in the workplace. They call their
employees as ladies and gentleman of Ritz Carlton. They allow them to make decisions and
resolve guest issues. They motivate their employees to act like a “warm body” at work. They
acknowledge individual contribution of each employee involved. They encourage their
employees to come up with volunteer solutions, approaches and ideas. They ask their employees
to find solution for the problems and also some innovative suggestions. This is what they call as
actual motivation. They keep organizing regular meetings for staff and conduct time to time
recognition programs. It is a great way of showcasing outstanding efforts. They praise the
employees emotionally and verbally. They praise them in words with speeches which create
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employee recognition and differentiate among the whole staff. It fills the organization with
passion and boosts employees to encourage them. They consider that something is better than
nothing. Thus, they say that verbally appreciated employee is better than an unappreciated one.
As per their rules, the harder the employee works, the more recognition he will be provided. It is
important for them to keep up with the ongoing trends of the industry (Robison, 2018). The
research has aimed to discuss employee motivation at Ritz Carlton as is as an important factor
for the company's success and competitiveness. It shows that managers need to motivate the
employees to put their best efforts as it is directly related to the outcomes of the organization.
Recommendations
The recommendations provided are total as per the present conditions at Ritz Carlton. The
recommendations suggest the best measures for the company regarding the prevailing issue. The
ongoing issue of employee motivations is being faced by much organization today. Employee
motivation is still a misunderstood fact in many industries and at many workplaces. Ritz Carlton
is continuously focusing on motivating employees. They too use various measures in order to
encourage the employees associated with them. Their thought process and ideas regarding
employee motivation are a bit different than other companies. They look at this aspect from a
different angle (Gallardo, et al., 2010).
As they are not providing monitory appraisals, it is the biggest issue for them. They feel it better
to motivate the employees verbally with a "well done" tag. They are better recommended to
follow the new motivation ideas. Employees today put extra efforts expecting appraisals that
benefit them such as incentives, bonuses, holiday tickets, gift vouchers, etc. Ritz Carlton is not
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accepting any of this technique in its policy. The verbally motivated employee does not last
much. Every now or when he is ready to move on to the better job very his efforts are actually
benefiting him. Verbal appraisals may bring happiness but not satisfaction. The company is
suggested to bay back the hard work of the employees in the form of benefits and not just
through speeches and claps. While many other organizations in the same industry are building
structures of loyal employees by retaining them through the provision of incentives and bonuses,
Ritz Carlton also needs to change its policy for better performance and employee motivation.
They have to satisfy the employees by paying for their extra efforts instead of letting it go like
that. Satisfied employee automatically becomes motivated to work even better in order to
achieve better every time. The change in employee motivation policy will help the company in
being more productive and to perform and excel from time to time. Thus, the company is
recommended to analyze and modify the old frameworks that are still being implemented and
need to come up with a better innovative option for employee motivation.
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References
Alqusayer, A. (2016). Drivers of Hotel Employee Motivation, Satisfactionand Engagement in
Riyadh, the Kingdom of SaudiArabia. pp. 1-79. Retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f981/7ff2314707e11d88c38659bb5489749b3772.pdf
Gallardo, E., Sánchez‐Cañizares, S., & Jesus, M. (2010). Employee satisfaction in the Iberian
hotel industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 22(3),
321-334. Retrieved from
https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/09596111011035936
Gallo, C. (2008). Employee Motivation the Ritz-Carlton Way. Retrieved from
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-02-29/employee-motivation-the-ritz-
carlton-waybusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice
Hekman, A., & Lashley, C. (2017). Workers in the luxury hospitality industry and motivation –
the influence of gender, age and departments. 7(2). Retrieved from
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/rhm/article/view/168526
Hoffman, J. (2018). Employee engagement: Ritz-Carlton’s secret to providing world-class
service and increasing customer loyalty. Retrieved from
https://www.psafinancial.com/2018/05/employee-engagement-ritz-carltons-secret-world-
class-service-customer-loyalty/
Jabaley, J. (2016). What the Ritz-Carlton Teaches Us About Motivating Staff. Retrieved from
https://reviewob.com/what-the-ritz-carlton-teaches-us-about-motivating-staff/
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Morin, C. (2018). How the Ritz-Carlton Creates a 5 Star Customer Experience. Retrieved from
https://crm.org/articles/ritz-carlton-gold-standards
Ritz-Carlton Hotel. (2019). The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company official website. Retrieved from
www.ritzcarlton.com: http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/japan/osaka
Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center. (2019). Dos and don’ts of Onboarding: employee satisfaction.
Retrieved from http://ritzcarltonleadershipcenter.com/tag/employee-motivation/
Robison, J. (2018). How The Ritz-Carlton Manages the Mystique. Retrieved from
https://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/112906/how-ritzcarlton-manages-mystique.aspx
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