Vantaggi
Company values and culture is outstanding. They are alive in most of the employees unlike other companies where it is just lip service. Great sense of pride working for the best luxury hospitality company in the world (in my opinion). The challenge of meeting the extremely high standards of the clientele is something I enjoy. Creating "moments that matter" whether it be recognizing anniversaries, birthdays, etc., is a rewarding part of the job. The relentless promote from within structure creates a lot of opportunities if you are (and you must be) willing to relocate. Up-sell incentives are great because they benefit both the employee and the company and can in some cases double your salary. Most line staff, and a fair amount of managers, are friendly and a joy to come to work to be with.
Svantaggi
Staffing levels no longer allow service levels of old. Management of course knows the staffing levels are low or mediocre, but expects that miraculously the service levels can stay the same. This is an impossibility. Unfortunately, employees are then reprimanded for service failures, but they are most times the result of an insufficient supply of staff. MIT programs are great but they many times produce young middle managers that either lack the people management skills or on the job experience to be effective. Perhaps the strategy is to overwork them for less pay then more senior managers? Some people are not Four Seasons quality employees. Some of them do not possess the personal warmth and care to accept others and create bonds between employees. The Four Seasons Golden Rule is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Some employees don't have the personal ability to keep this in the forefront of their mind and demonstrate it day in and day out. From some you get arrogance, lack of eye contact, lack of conversation or interest in you. Behavior like this does not belong within the Four Seasons company. Training in many cases is a sink or swim situation without proper support or time invested in the training of technique and systems.