In 1996, Disney Institute launched to teach the highly successful Disney approach for customer satisfaction (or guest happiness, as Disney culture calls it) to managers and executives in a range of industries far removed from hospitality—like health care, automotive and retail.
Yet Disney is not the only hospitality brand to share its success formula with others for a fee. Disney Institute’s chief competitor resides under the Marriott International tent.
For over two decades, The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center (TRCLC) has promised to transfer the underlying tenets of Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen, its brand motto, to anyone wanting to “improve customer and employee engagement, innovate their culture and differentiate themselves,” as TRCLC’s website puts it.
Read More: Don’t Call Me Walt, or How to Lead with Disney Magic
The hotel brand promises it has “identified key leadership behaviors that enable excellence to be fostered within an organization. Through this reflective and action-driven offering, you will explore the time-tested leadership framework The Ritz-Carlton deploys to foster an environment where employees aspire to not simply meet or fulfill customer expectations, but rather, proactively anticipate needs and exceed those expectations in every interaction.”
Throughout the year, TRCLC offers instruction online about the brand’s best practices and in two-day immersions onsite at The Ritz-Carlton hotels that teach culture building and a service mentality that can “anticipate and fulfill unexpressed needs, pivot quickly to customize interactions and make indelible impressions that create passionate internal and external brand advocates.”
Read More: New and Renovated: Putting on The Ritz
Topics in the curriculum include:
- Brand Guardianship: Example-setting leadership through modeling behaviors for employees to follow.
- Authentic Storytelling: Through storytelling, “an environment of continuous amplification of best practices” can be created.
- Prioritize Company Culture: The Ritz-Carlton credits its success to “global alignment to our cultural pillars.” This alignment consists of “non-negotiable amplifications that are universally exercised through knowledge, ownership and energization.”
- Drive Excellence: “If your employees connect to the purpose of their role, and of your organization, they will actively strive to perform at that next level.”
- Enliven Empowerment: Empowerment is “foundational to the success of your employees and your organization.”
Other instruction is in the areas of personalized service, cultivating quality, leading with compassion and accountability, inspiring innovation and celebrating successes.
Consulting services at client companies and keynote speakers are also on offer.
