Bringing The Ritz-Carlton to the Maldives with Stewart Fu

Welcome to Sangu Stories!

Today I have a very special conversation with Stewart Fu, our Complex Director of Learning and Development for The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore and The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands (Pre-Opening), about bringing The Ritz-Carlton brand to the Maldives.

We will be sharing insights on the legendary service of The Ritz-Carlton and bringing the distinct culture to the Maldives.

For an overview of The Ritz-Carlton brand's Gold Standard, please find the web link: www.ritzcarlton.com/en/about/gold-standards

For any further information or assistance, please contact Aminath.Haadhee@ritzcarlton.com , Marketing Communications Manager.

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For more information about The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands, visit our website

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Transcript

Mark Hehir: 0:00

Welcome to Sangu Stories. As we are counting down to the opening of The Ritz-Carlton in the Maldives, we are excited to share more about the brand and how it's being brought to life here in the Maldives. Today we have Stewart Fu, complex director of learning and development. Welcome Stuart.

Stewart Fu: 0:28

Good afternoon, Mark. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.

Mark Hehir: 0:31

It's indeed. It's great to have you here. And of course, we're looking forward to your arrival into the Maldives in the coming months. I know that we've been working for nearly a year now, uh, remotely, but it's been, um, a really, uh, challenging year, but we've all come a long way. And, um, I'm very excited that the people that have joined us thus far have really started to understand the brand. And that's really, what I want to talk about today is how we're bringing the brand to the Maldives tell us about the history of The Ritz-Carlton, Stewart.

Stewart Fu: 1:06

Well, the history of The Ritz-Carlton is to me very interesting because it can date back as far as the late 18 hundreds, starting with Cesar Ritz, which not many people know about because most of them are focused on the modern day history. So I think in 1983, which makes us thirty eight years old as of this year, right? I think from the very humble beginnings, the focus has always been on dedication, hard work, the pursuit of continued excellence. Um, I think one thing that will never change is the focus and attention on our guests.

Mark Hehir: 1:40

Wonderful. I believe, um, it really was instilled to me the first moment I met you and was staying at The Ritz-Carlton, Singapore, as I started to look from inside-out how it's coming alive. And, uh, the history was one of the biggest parts that really impressed me out still alive today and how we take it so seriously. Stewart, this is the first Ritz-Carlton resort in the Maldives. What are the key considerations when we bring the brand to life?

Stewart Fu: 2:09

Well, in this day and age, the current setting of the luxury hotels is actually quite competitive. There are many established brands. There are many of those who have come up in the recent years, right? If I think a very closely in this market. So the thing is, I, I feel that what will, uh, come to life very importantly, is actually how we pay attention to what we truly believe in, which is our common purpose, regardless of what function we perform, which is to provide genuine care for our guests. Right. I think the key to playing the game to be ahead of our competitors would be still trying to pay attention to, um, anticipate the needs of our guests. Because I think in this luxury setting, it's about very much the luxury of how do you make the person's life less stressful at every possible moment. And that can only be, um, surfaced when you truly care for the guests or the person, and also to anticipate two or three steps ahead of what you think they may want.

Mark Hehir: 3:15

Hmm, excellent. I really, uh, am enjoying our morning Line-up and how Ritz-Carlton installs that worldwide. And it's visible in every, uh, hotel or resort worldwide. The same messaging going worldwide is, is something that I didn't appreciate until I really got involved from behind the scenes and how we start to really start to feel the culture of the brand coming alive. Now, here in the Maldives um, it's super exciting. And one of the key messages is our motto. We are Ladies and Gentlemen, serving Ladies and Gentlemen is the brand motto. So what does this represent to us?

Stewart Fu: 3:52

Well, there are many brands and companies out there with their tagline or their unique motto, but I think ours is synonymous to our brand, right? It goes hand-in-hand when you say rich people. No, it's um, our motto of, uh, Ladies and Gentlemen, serving Ladies and Gentlemen, but the key thing here is when you are part of the brand, we will always emphasize of we being Ladies and Gentlemen, serving Ladies and Gentlemen. So what does this actually represent? First? It talks about our work environment or civility and graciousness. It actually dictates how we behave with each other. Right? Of course there are ranks and positions to be respected against, um, accountability and responsibility, but it sets us in this thing where like yourself, Mark, you have, you know warmly welcomed every team member, right? With no notion that I am your GM and you will have to listen to me, right? This is the environment where we have mutual respect. When it comes to delivering our service to our guests, we will never feel like we are servants to our guests. Instead we take pride in performing the craft, uh, that we do very well on a daily basis doing it, uh, near to perfection for our guests. So that's how we instill this, uh, environment of mutual respect between management, and Ladies and Gentlemen, we and our guests and we with fellow Ladies and Gentlemen.

Mark Hehir: 5:17

Right. Excellent. I really, uh, again, start to look from inside-out and, uh, viewed the motto before and, and, and felt then, you know, Ladies and Gentlemen, and being part of the team where, where do we w where, where does this really work is it's the reality. And it's really apparent inside as we work together. That that mutual respect is, is what this means. It's about. We work together as family, and that's a great reminder to all of the different levels as we work our way up and with your general manager or a manager of an outlet that you've got a reminding element every day, when we speak to each other from Ladies and Gentlemen point of view, it just puts that imprint in your brain. What does it take to be part of the Ladies and Gentlemen team?

Stewart Fu: 6:06

Honestly, it takes a lot, right? Um, it's no, no kidding. That will take a lot of pride in what we do, especially when we pride ourselves to be the top 1% in our industry, right? It takes a lot of passion that the things that you do that, um, people outside of the circle will never understand to the extent that they probably call us crazy for committing the level of, um, hours, the drive that we have, uh, spending additional hours, just because we want to go that extra mile for our guests, right? It's a lot of passion and it's about the dedication and the consistent pursuit of excellence. As I mentioned a while ago, and of course on a daily basis, everything that we do a commitment to quality, right? The most important ingredient is that we have to be caring, caring enough for others, right? When you genuinely care for our guests, for our Ladies and Gentlemen, this is where it takes a lot of effort and emotions in you. But if you do that right, it allows us to, again, anticipate the needs of our fellow, Ladies and Gentlemen, and more importantly, our guests.

Mark Hehir: 7:15

I definitely appreciate that. And what's really coming about as we get involved with the brand over the last year for me, is that these are the things we know from young coming up in the hospitality industry. But what's really apparent is that with Ritz-Carlton, it's alive and beseeching every single day through our Line-ups, through our additional trainings and responsibilities that are how the different levels to keep us aligned. Uh, and that's, maybe what's not apparent in other brands. And, and, uh, what would you say some aspiring Ladies and Gentlemen who have joined recently, or who would like to be part of the family in the future?

Stewart Fu: 7:55

Well, to both groups would say, we want you to start believing in our culture and philosophy, right from the start right from the start will be like now, right? As you, um, learn about the, Ritz-Carlton. The one thing that stands out when you talk about the Ritz-Carlton is our Gold Standards. It's the foundation and how we live on a daily basis and how we bring our brand to life. So right from the onset, you have to start to believe it for those of us who are already part of this, we have to embrace our Gold Standards on a daily basis, and then end, that's the only key way to strengthening The Ritz-Carlton mystique, right? Only when The Ritz-Carlton, uh, Gold Standards are brought to life, to every interaction with each other, with the guests, as you are carrying out your daily duty, you do your work and you perform your crust, right? That's the only way we can achieve our vision of creating indelible marks for our guests, right? So for all our Ladies and Gentlemen aspiring or currently on-board, or with extended tenure already, we look forward to partnering each other in creating this unique, memorable and personal experiences for our guests. They will stay with them for life when they come to The Ritz-Carlton, Maldives.

Mark Hehir: 9:10

Wonderful sentiments. And it's, it's truly an inspirational aspiration for everybody to, uh, aspire to. And I must say that through some interviews that we've done over the last few months where we're, we are recruiting new Ladies and Gentlemen, some people have taken the time to do the research. It's all available on, on online, uh, and, and quote it. And we get, uh, encouraged when we hear that people are already taking that interest because we do take it seriously every single morning in our Line-up and how it comes out in our Wow Stories and how we, uh, refer to our 12 Steps of Service. I think it's, for me, that constant reminder, where I start hearing it, uh, with our new Ladies and Gentlemen, who've just joined us where they referring to our Gold Standards. And I think that that's what really starts to build out the culture. And that's ultimately, if you think one of my most, and I've mentioned this to you before, one of the nervous points about being the general manager of bringing such a brand to the Maldives was can we bring the culture, will the culture be alive with our Maldivian Ladies and Gentlemen, and now international experts, because it's one thing to bring a logo, build a beautiful resort, but we've got to bring the culture alive. And it's these days. And these times right now in the pre-opening when we're having this conversation, is that where we put the work in the training, the development and the education around the importance of our culture. So thanks for your time today, Stewart, I really appreciate that. And any parting words for us,

Stewart Fu: 10:46

Um, definitely if I may, any new hotel with any new products will always come up tops because everyone likes something brand new, but the only thing that will stay with others is how you make them feel. So at The Ritz-Carlton is all about how we will treat our guests to make them feel that they are genuinely cared for that we can anticipate their needs before they express them. So it's all about being true to yourself and of course, delivering true service to our guests. Thank you.

Mark Hehir: 11:18

Thank you very much for being with us today. And we look forward to seeing you soon here in the Maldives.

Stewart Fu: 11:24

Definitely. Thank you.

Speaker 3: 11:27

Well, I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. Join me next time. When we discover more about The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands.