He may have 33 years under his belt as one of the founders of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, but president Herve Humler is as keen to learn as he has ever been and to ensure staff worldwide understand the company’s gold standards
could be placed at the heart of everything. Sadly, they don’t yet. But it’s a utopian dream we could all be a part of if the president and chief operations officer of the company, Herve Humler, had his way. Reassuringly sophisticated, this French man
runs possibly the world’s most famous luxury hotel company. He has an aura of confidence around him, but also one of humility – an awareness that it takes the buy-in of many thousands of people, 40,000 in this case, to make a company, not just one person. I am listening to Humler give a motivational speech for the staff of the group’s newest hotel, Ritz-Carlton Budapest, opened in the heart of the city’s cultural district on Elizabeth Square in April. The building dates back to 1914 and boasts a central stained glass cupola and grand crystal chandelier, but its 170 rooms and 30 suites – with views over St Stephen’s Basilica – are elegantly fresh and modern. His speech is peppered with “alors” and “you
see” as he beseeches the team to “be the best version of themselves”, to email him personally if they ever need him. “Believe that your hotel could be the best in the country – and why not the world,” he adds. The team sit rapt, translators buzzing in their
ears for those more comfortable hearing his speech in Hungarian. But to say “speech” makes it sound like a scripted Powerpoint – the only prop he has is his “Credo”, a little folded-up prompter no bigger than a business card that can usually be found in the pocket of most employees no matter their rank or location. To give it its full name, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel
Company was started in 1983 by then president and founding father Colgate Holmes, alongside Horst Schulze, Joe Freni, Ed Staros and Humler. Between them, these founders established a legacy that lives on today – Gold Standards, which are at the heart of how Ritz-Carlton operates. At one stage, there were “20 Basics” which staff should refer to at all times; they have become more flexible, but the Credo reminds staff of the essence of Ritz-Carlton, what it stands for and what it means to work for the company. And what it says is not a secret. It’s on the company’s website and guests are more than welcome to share it with guests. “We are all ambassadors,” Humler reminds
Striking gold I
author: April Hutchinson
magine if Ritz-Carlton ran service stations. Or taxi companies. Or banks? Places where service, cleanliness and guest experience
those in the room in Budapest. “You are an ambassador for the Ritz-Carlton brand. Tell others what you have learnt today.” Ritz-Carlton’s style has generally started to
become less formal – in keeping with today’s more relaxed, but still fastidious luxury expectations. But its motto is still “We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen”. “We have the same values, but the way we
deliver them has changed,” says Humler. “It’s much more relaxed – especially as this is what the new generation wants. “Everything has changed so much in the last
few years and you have to keep thinking how you can keep an iconic brand relevant,” he highlights. “I would say that in the last seven years we have been doing a lot of things differently.”
Ladies and gentlemen When it comes to finding its Ladies and Gentlemen, the company’s philosophy is “select not hire”, preferring to take the time to find the right people instead of rushing to fill vacancies. It also ensures every employee receives more than 250 hours of training in their first year. When a new hotel is due,
certain weekly milestones must be met in the 52 weeks prior to opening and the final stage is the “10-day countdown”, when the very best of the best “service champions” from other hotels fly in to help. General managers support one another by accommodating requests to let their best people travel through the intense opening period. It’s this countdown that I am in Budapest to see a part of. One day, I am sat in my room when I hear lots of cheering and commotion out on the streets: I look from the window and see every member of the hotel lined up by department outside. I rush down to the lobby and arrive out of the lift in time to see a stream of people filing past me. Laughing and shouting, they hold aloft signs covered in funny slogans and illustrations denoting their department – other hotels also send well-wishes to go on the signs – as those
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TTGLUXURY.COM SUMMER 2016 BUSINESS OF TRAVEL
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