Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

by Stanley McChrystal

Nearly fifty thousand executives from other companies have traveled to the Ritz-Carlton Learning Institute and Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center to learn how they too can achieve such quality of service. One might think that this is a result of careful oversight and exacting requirements drilled into the Ritz’s customer-facing employees—that outstanding service arises from a set of painstakingly detailed protocols. In fact, the company’s approach to HR is famous for the freedom it grants. Employees can spend up to $2,000 to satisfy guests or deal with issues that arise. A Harvard Business School case study detailed this and other extraordinary policies, such as the fact that the Ritz trains all its employees to “break away” from their duties if a guest needs something special, and encourages employees to “use their empowerment.” One of the basics that employees are given is “Instant guest pacification is the responsibility of each employee. Whoever receives a complaint will own it, resolve it to the guest’s satisfaction, and record it.”