Case Summary m@Hfuz

7/31/2019 Case Summary m@Hfuz

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Company Overview:

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. is the parent company to the luxury hotel chain, Ritz-

Carlton Hotels. The hotel company is a subsidiary of Marriott International. The company also

has marketing agreements with Bulgari Hotels &Resorts, and two privately owned hotels, The

Ritz Hotel, London, and the Hotel Ritz Madrid. The company grew to become the hospitality

leader in the US under the leadership of President and COO Horst Schulze. Schulze's strong

conviction of customer loyalty and emphasis on a value/mission driven philosophy for the

"Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen" became a benchmark in the industry to

which other companies aspired. Under his leadership the hotels earned an unprecedented two

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards and grew from four to forty U.S. locations. The

Ritz-Carlton also known for its influence on service in a wide range of industries, through the

creation of the following organizations:

The Ritz-Carlton Learning Institute

The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center

These organizations created for the purpose of where executives from other companiesworldwide in

many disciplines come to learn Ritz-Carlton principles of service. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is

now headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, located in theWashington, D.C. MSA.

Slogan of Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

You can't be a legend without a great story.

100 years of history, countless rewards and with an unshakeable credo and corporate philosop

hy of un-wavering commitment to service, both in hotels and in communities, TheRitz-Carlton

has been recognized with numerous awards for being the gold standard of hospitality.

Case Summary

When The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. was preparing to open, then recruiting to fill in

major positions became a major challenge for the HR Director, Marie Minarich. The

HR Director used the both conventional and creative approaches to fill the major vacancies in

the hotel. The several recruiting techniques such as signs were put on the building about the

information of recruiting and applying system, newspaper advertisement. The managers and

staffs of Ritz-Carlton Hotel hand out business cards and service praise cards to the employees

of other restaurants and hotel before few weeks of job fair. These are the creative methods that

were followed by HR Director of Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The job fair was the major source forrecruiting 2300 applicants in two days. During the job fair, one of the exceptional creative


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method applied, which was to keep with upscale theme of Ritz-Carlton Hotel played by the

musicians. This theme introduced the applicants with the culture of the company andattracted

them. The applicants completed the application blanks and faced the preliminary screening

interview. After the screening interviewing process those who passed, then they were

scheduled for more in depth 1.5 hours interviews consisting of 55 questions. More than150 in-

depth interviews were conducted at the job fair. The HR Director and HR staff filled

the positions with appropriate people by applying such kind of successful creative andconventi

onal recruitment approaches within short time period.

Question No 1. Describe why a strategic approach to recruiting was crucial at the Ritz-

Carlton?

Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a

job. And strategic Recruitment means identifying the real recruitment needs of an organization

and fulfilling those needs. The organizational needs are tied to the overall strategic business

plan. The needs are in terms of number, quality, and specialized skills and talents in every area

of the organization's activities. The use of strategy in recruitment is

intended to attain the objective "Matching People with Jobs." With the absence of this

approach, an organization may have to change its plan and may end up "Matching Jobs to

People." This goes against the direction of a business plan. Strategic recruiting may sometimes

need to go beyond just filling empty positions. It can focus on discovering talent before it is

needed, capitalizing on windfall opportunities when there is an abundance of highly qualified

people" This is proactive action to ensure that nothing is left to chance. There is correlation

between the HRM strategy and the overall corporate strategy. As HRM as a field seeks to

manage human resources in order to achieve properly organizational goals, an organization's

HRM strategy seeks to accomplish such management by applying a firm's personnel needs with

the goals/objectives of the organization. Specific HRM functions, such as recruitment and

selection, reward/recognition, an HR plan, or learning and development policies, would be

tailored to achieve the corporate objectives. Strategic Human Resource Management helps you

achieve success. Strategic human resource management aligns your human resource function to

your core business objectives. StrategicHR management involves more than just the

administration of human resource programs or activities. Close co-operation (at least in theory)

between HR and the top/senior management, in the development of the corporate strategy.

Theoretically, a senior HR representative should be present when an organization's corporate

objectives are devised. This is so, since it is a firm's personnel who actually construct a good,


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or provide a service. The personnel's proper management is vital in the firm being successful,

or even existing as a going concern. Thus, we can say that a strategic approach to recruiting

was crucial at the Ritz-Carlton. The importance of strategic recruitment becomes obvious when

an organization plans for immediate and future expansion. Under a strategic recruitment

approach, firm needs to link the business strategy to recruitment strategy. Business strategy

can change and must change in response to changes in the business and economic environment.

Recruitment strategy must also change accordingly.

There are several tools that have been used by companies with the aim of recruiting

their employees. Some of them are more traditional or considered to be generally effective,

whileothers may prove appropriate for specific situations only. In order to choose whichrecruit

ment method the employer is going to use, the employer needs to consider many aspects, for

example, the cost of reaching the candidates, the time scales involved, and the culture of the

organization. And the firm will form a recruitment strategy that links with the business

strategy.


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Measurement of Recruitment Effectiveness:

The quality of people that you can recruit will determine the future of your organization. You

need to have the right mix of experience, skills and talents in order to grow stronger in every

way. The strategic recruitment approach requires your organization to measure the

effectiveness of your recruitment policy and activities. This is important because a lot of money

is involved in recruitment.

Considerations in Evaluating Recruitment include:

Cost per hire which includes all the costs involved from the time the

recruitment process commences until the selected candidate reports for duty.

Speed of Hire also referred to as Time to hire referring to the time the position fell

vacant to the time a replacement is found.

Quantity of applicants. Because the goal of a good recruiting program is to generate a

large pool of applicants from which to choose, quantity is as natural place to begin

evaluation.

Quality of applicants & hire. Some consider this as the most important measure. This

means that the requesting department or unit now have the right people in order to be moreproductive.

Question No 2. Why were the conventional recruiting approaches less important than the

creative methods in generating a large number of applicants at one time?

Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for

a job. The stages in recruitment include sourcing candidates by advertising or other methods,

screening potential candidates using tests and/or interviews, selecting candidates based on the

results of the tests and/or interviews, and on-boarding to ensure the candidate is able to fulfil


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their new role effectively. Recruiting is a sales and marketing process. In the marketing of the

company's detailing services the marketing manager choose marketing strategies that will

attract the customers who can most use and therefore want to buy services. Why waste money

on customers who don't want to buy? The same is true for recruiting. Recruiting is simply

marketing your company's employment to potential employees. If the company uses recruiting

methods that attract the employees whom the company wants, those who can "most use" and

therefore want to "buy" you as an employer, then the company should attract only them and

spend a lot less time and money. So, how does the company choose the recruiting methods that

will be most successful, save time, save money plus bring you the desired candidates? It

depends on how the HR recruiting plan is made. Like for the new Ritz-Carlton hotel in

Washington, D.C, the HR Director used a perfect blend of both conventional and creative

recruiting approaches. As the hotel was being built, signs were put on the building indicating

the opening date and how to apply for jobs. As the opening got closer, some newspaper

ads were placed, but no internet or radio ads were used. Additionally, Ritz-Carlton managers

and staff made it a point to hand out business cards and service praise cards to employees at

other restaurants and hotels in the months and weeks before the peak hiring was to occur.

Those individuals were encouraged to apply at Ritz-Carlton and many of those receiving the

cards showed up at a two-day job fair held by Ritz-Carlton. The job fair was the major source

for recruits, generating 2300 applicants in two days.

Togenerate more applicants at the jobs fair, Ritz-Carlton recruiters handed out job fair

invitations at subway stations the job fair. During the job fair, refreshments were served by

employees of other Ritz-Carlton hotels in the area. To keep with the upscale theme of Ritz-

Carlton, musicians played at the fair. Although for the new Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington,

D.C. a perfect blend of both conventional and creative recruiting approaches were used but

it was the creative recruiting methods that helped Mina rich and the HR staff fill the needed

positions for the opening for the hotel. Now to understand why the conventional recruiting

approaches were less important than the creative methods in generating a large number

of applicants at one time for Ritz-Carlton we must first learn about the methods and understand

pros & cons of the methods. Conventional Recruitment Methods-


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1. Written job application in response to an advertised position - directly to the

company.

This is the most common method of recruitment. Many people still seem to think that a written

application means a hand written application. If a company does want a hand written letter they

will say so.

2. Written job applications to recruitment / employment agencies

Treat this same as a letter to an employer; however, refer to the employer as Your client as

they are a second party in this process.

3. Registering with a Job Recruitment / Employment Agencies

Job Recruitment / Employment Agencies are effective recruitment tool. Agencies advertise

a position on behalf of the employer and conduct the interview to short list stage. This could be

a pool or the best 3-4 applicants. This job search strategy requires less work and allows you to

access to job opportunities you might not have found on your own. The disadvantage of this

recruitment method is that the agency is working for the employer, and will need to satisfy all

their criteria. Nevertheless, Recruitment Consultants who have developed a good rapport with a

client may ask an employer to look at a "wildcard' - a person who may not meet all the criteria,

but has potential.

4. Registering with a Job Search Firm

These are more exclusive employment agencies at the top end of the market mainly executive

recruitment. As part of their hiring strategy Recruitment Consultants "head hunt" applicants

from other firms on behalf of their clients. They often do career transition programs for

retrenched workers on behalf of companies.

5. Employee referral

This method of recruitment occurs more often than you may think and can be a traditional

method of employment for many companies. The advantage is that an employee would not

recommend someone they know that is not up to the job as it reflects back on them. It was first

tried as a traditional recruitment method by American Express over 30 years ago.


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6. Accepting applications from job seekers cold calling

In the past smaller employers were impressed by the applicant who cold called, by visiting the

company and leaving their resume. Research confirms a view that has been held for a long

time, those job seekers who cold call are considered to be highly motivated with a lot

of initiative and confidence and really wanted to work. The extensive use of the internet

for looking for work.

7. Phone application in response to an advertised position

Generally this recruitment method used by smaller companies. If you are asked to phone you

must do so immediately. You will probably be screened by the receptionist who may take job

and personal details. They will tell you that the employer will ring you back. This is a hit and

miss method of recruitment and used by many smaller companies and very frustrating for

jobseekers.

8. Industry/Corporate Websites

A good example is mining companies and larger organisations. Most have vacancies advertised

on their site.

9. Group recruitment - information sessions

If a company is doing group recruitment they may ask you to attend an information session

if you pass the telephone interview. They may do recruitment testing or simply get you to play

silly games meant as a recruitment assessment technique. Psychology tests are available

for use; the main one is to find out if candidates are team players.

10. Temporary Staff Recruitment / Employment Agencies

This should be a popular recruitment method yet many job seekers feel it is too insecure. These

agencies can make arrangements to transfer an employee to the company full time if required

(at a fee to employer). Often companies use agencies to 'trial employees' as they do not have to

deal with Industrial relations issues. Points to consider:-

Many people have been placed in good permanent jobs after proving themselves.

Usually this arrangement is considered a 'perfect match' for both the employer and

employee.


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Temporary agencies are very selective in their recruitment. Job seekers may need to

establish themselves and build credibility with an agency to be selected for some of the

better positions.

11. Telephone or screening interviews

A screening interview may be conducted legitimately by a government agency or a new

company who are bulk recruiting. An employer, (and also an employment agency/recruitment

firm), may ring the jobseeker to talk or "chat" about their application. This is really telephone

interviewing. Consider this as an important screening interview. From this contact you will

either be put on a shortlist for a face-to-face interview, or your application will be discarded.

Non-Traditional/Creative Recruitment Methods Here are a few alternatives to the usual

sourcing methods. Famous article & column writer Kevin Wheeler in this article-

Non-Traditional Recruiting Methods, Revised: Some Ideas and Examples

classified advertising, employee referral, and Internet searching and job boards inthe

traditional category. According to him some of the non-traditional things may requireyou to

stretch your corporate policy a bit may even require you to ask for forgivenessinstead of

permission but may land you that great candidate you need.

1. Event Recruiting.

Cisco pioneered this approach and it has brought them success. It is very simple: go to the

events that the people you are seeking go to. In the case of programmers in Silicon Valley, the

choice spots have been microbreweries, marathons, and bike races. When you go to these

events, become involved in some way that promotes your name and cause. Sponsor or co-

sponsor the event. Pass out refreshments. Give away a prize. Give a gift to everyone who

participates. Just be sure that they KNOW you are recruiting and have a good idea of what you

are looking for. This is where you build a brand and create animage of the kind of company

you are.

2. Re-Recruiting. Again,

a simple concept: find those reasonably good people who left your company for a new

challenge, more pay, or whatever, and try to recruit them back. HR Magazine just had an article

with a graphic depicting an office with a velvet rope across the door carrying a sign that said

RESERVED. This was to indicate how many firms are telling employees who leave that they


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are always welcome back. Employees who leave and come back are good contributors and stay

longer than many of those hired for the first time. They produce quickly, are familiar with the

environment, require less assimilation time and effort, and may already have an internal

network of associates in place.

3. Make Every Employee A Recruiter.

Many firms are enlisting the average employee to be a recruiter. This is not the same as asking

employees to refer friends to the company and this is not paid for. Rather, equip employees

with simple business cards that do not have any ones name on them. These cards just say

something like: We are always looking for great XXXXX. To find out more, log onto our

website at www.xxx.xxx These cards are given out at parties, sports events, family gatherings,

picnics, the park, or wherever an employee goes. They are used to let people know that your

company really does want people to apply. Employees can use the cards as a way to talk about

what they do and about how wonderful your company is to work for.

4. Cast A Wider Net.

Expand your recruiting to include some people who do not have all the skills you would like,

but who have potential to contribute if they are trained. Again, Cisco has an excellent trial

program underway called the IT Apprenticeship Program. This program

offers undergraduates with degrees in music or math an opportunity to learn HTML programmi

ng. They are hired as programmers, are given intensive training at the same time they are

handling basic customer service issues, and then are assigned a programming job. So far this

program has had superb results and success. If there was ever a time to look at a wider set of

skills and devote more effort to development, then this is that time. Recruiters need to be

strategic enough to suggest these programs to management and to push the traditional ideas of

what makes good recruiting. Of course we would all like to hire the cream, but reality says we

can only get a share of it. We will have to make some cream of our own and these kinds of

programs can work well. Hope that some of these will work for you!

Ritz-Carlton followed strategic approach to recruit and strategic recruitment means identifying

the real recruitment needs of an organization and fulfilling those needs. The needs were in

terms of number, quality, and specialized skills in every area of the organization's activities.

The HR director Marie Mia rich identified the real recruitment needs and a major challenge

that is recruiting to fill all ofthe positions. Additionally, Ritz-Carlton regarded employees as


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the cornerstone of its exceptional service culture. The company understood that, as a service

organization, the quality ofits end product was only as good as the people providing it.

Therefore it took care to see that it recruited the right kind of employees. According to Ritz-

Carlton, the company did not 'hire' its employees; it 'selected' them. The conventional recruiting

methods became less important than the creative methods as the organization planned for

expansion i.e. to open a new Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington D.C. And we know that under a

strategic recruitment approach, firm needs to link the business strategy to recruitment strategy.

So using creative recruiting methods to attain business goal at the time became crucial for Ritz-

Carlton. And we know that in tight labor markets with significant shortages of qualified

applicants, employers turn to more creative recruiting methods. Regardless of the methods

used, the goal is to generate a pool ofqualified applicants so that the positions in organization

are filled in a timely manner.

Recommendation and Conclusion:

From our case analysis, we can say that though Ritz Carlton Hotel followed manyrecruitment

approaches, they might follow the other recruiting approaches such as

Holding raffles & attractive price giving ceremony for employees who brought in skilled

candidates

Advertising for the positions at important locations in the city.

University fresher and graduate might be encouraged to apply for front desk, guest services,

maintenance etc. positions. So campus recruiting could be a good solution

Retired Govt. security forces might be encouraged for security position. After that the HR

Authority of Ritz Carlton Hotel might evaluate quality of recruitment to increase the

recruiting effectiveness. Ritz-Carlton Hotel followed the both conventional and creative

approaches for their successful recruiting process. The HR director took most effective

recruitment approach to recruit a good number of right people to the right place in a short

period. The recruitment was the main challenge for the HR director by which the

organization would gain core competencies over its competitors. Employees knowledge,

skill and ability (KSA) are the main factors for gaining competitive advantage of

an organization. For this reason the recruitment process was divided into many steps of

screening and short, in-depth interviewing. All these types of creative approaches helped

the organization successfully find out the right one.


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References:

Kevin Wheeler | Nov 29, 2000 | Non-Traditional Recruiting Methods, Revised:

SomeIdeas and Examples | http://www.ere.net/2000/11/29/non-traditional-recruiting-

methods-revised-some-ideas-and-examples/ Raymond A. Noe, John R. Holenbeck, Human Resource Management,4th

Edition,Page no: 40-44

Ritz Carlton Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritz-

Carlton

http://www.strategic-human-resource.com/strategic-recruitment.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recruitment

http://www.strategic-human-resource.com/

http://www.strategic-human-resource.com/strategic-recruitment.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recruitment

http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Human%20Resource%20and

%20Organization%20Behavior/HROB100.htm

http://www.proactivehrm.com/JobSearch/Recruitment_Methods.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resource_management

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