Golden Rule Company: Ritz Carlton

This article continues an ongoing series of the Enterprise Engagement Alliance featuring organizations, leaders, and academics who embody or promote the principles of stakeholder capitalism. The goal is to help proponents and opponents visualize what it looks like in practice as well as to highlight the insights of innovators in the field.

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High Levels of Employee and Customer Engagement
How the Ritz Carlton Operationalizes the Golden Rule

Through successive CEOs, the Ritz Carlton division of Marriott has maintained for decades a reputation for addressing the needs of all its customers, employees, supply chain and distribution partners, and communities. It is for this reason that the Enterprise Engagement Alliance has selected the company Ritz Carlton, and not just its CEO.

Click here for the growing list. Click here to recommend a company on the new Golden Rule linkedin page or email Bolger@TheEEA.org with your suggestion.

Companies in the hospitality field and generally any business dealing with the public have a hard time achieving high levels of overall employee satisfaction. As anyone in retail knows, the bell curve applies to customer behavior as well, with about 20% generally pleasant, 60% variable depending on the situation, and 20% consistently rude. This almost always makes for a challenging work environment.

High Levels of Employee and Customer Engagement

Despite the challenges of the job, out of 3,400 reviews, Ritz Carlton gets a 3.8 rating out of five, with 66% saying they would recommend the company to a friend. Of the CEO Herve Humler, 75% say they approve. A case study in the IBS Center for Management Research reports that Ritz-Carlton properties maintain an annual turnover rate of around 20%. According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report that annual turnover in hospitality regularly exceeds 70%, sometimes reaching 85% in leisure and hospitality sectors. What is that turnover costing these companies that shareholders remain ignorant of.

The brand has received rewards from Forbes Travel Guide, Michelin, Condé Nast Traveler, and Travel + Leisure. The J.D. Power 2025 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index (NAGSI) names it No.1 in the luxury hotel segment. It is the only hotel chain to have earned the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, an accomplishment achieved two times.

How the Ritz Carlton Operationalizes the Golden Rule

A clear purpose statement. Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen: values baked in daily practices, meetings, and training programs. Stakeholders can visualize what this looks like in practice.
An integrated process. The Malcolm Baldrige quality award recognizes the company for leadership, a systematic approach, effective measurement, and continuous improvement.
Empowerment. Employees have the autonomy to spend up to $2,000 per guest, per incident to resolve issues and delight customers.
Employee training. The company invests heavily in training, promoting internally, and creating a culture of respect and empowerment.
Customer experiences. The company is known for providing high levels of customer service, personalized experiences, and proactive problem resolution, using data to enhance experiences.
Innovation. The company reportedly maintains a global best-practices database accessible by all properties; uses its database to anticipate guest needs (such as storing pillow preferences, special dates, even drink orders), so that every stay feels personally tailored. It actively involves employee in generating ideas to improve service and efficiency.
Community support: The company’s “Community Footprints” program supports hunger relief, child well-being, and environmental sustainability.
Metrics. The company has measurable results in customer satisfaction and business performance
Brand integrity and sustainability. It has maintained a reputation for service excellence for decades, proving that Golden Rule values are sustainable and scalable.

In summary, Ritz Carlton was selected because it:

Lives the principles daily through leadership, systems and a consistent culture
Harmonizes the interests of all stakeholders’ needs, rather than focusing first on profits
Delivers sustained excellence over decades
Innovates in human-centric ways
Inspires others to adopt similar values

Enterprise Engagement Alliance Services

Celebrating our 15^th year, the Enterprise Engagement Alliance helps organizations enhance performance through:

1. Information and marketing opportunities on stakeholder management and total rewards:

ESM Weekly on stakeholder management since 2009. Click here to subscribe; click here for media kit.
RRN Weekly on total rewards since 1996. Click here to subscribe; click here for media kit.
EEA YouTube channel on enterprise engagement, human capital, and total rewards since 2020

2. Learning: Purpose Leadership and Stakeholder

Management Academy to enhance future equity value for your organization.

3. Books on implementation: Enterprise Engagement for CEOs and Enterprise Engagement: The Roadmap.

4. Advisory services and research: Strategic guidance, learning and certification on stakeholder management, measurement, metrics, and corporate sustainability reporting.

5. Permission-based targeted business development to identify and build relationships with the people most likely to buy.

Contact: Bruce Bolger at TheICEE.org; 914-591-7600, ext. 230.