Dude Ranch Standards of Employment
Welcome to the Marble Mountain Ranch Team! In the spirit of open communication and to maximize your success with our small family run business, we are listing here our expectations of you. Nothing here is original material, and the principles here will be found in place at any well-run dude ranch. We thank those who precede us for clearly stating these and other similar ideas and making their employee codes public domain.
1. We treat each other, ourselves, and our guests, with respect, dignity and high esteem. We do not discriminate in the workplace or tolerate harassment of fellow employees. Any complaints of harassment or discrimination are to be directed to Doug or Heidi Cole in written form and may be initiated without fear of retaliation. We consider inappropriate behavior to be serious and should be reported immediately.
2. It is the ranch management’s job to create job descriptions and to make the rules. It is the ranch employee’s job to magnify the job description and to follow management’s rules.
3. Ranch employees work together as a team to care for guests and each employee takes care of other employees on the team.
4. Every ranch employee is responsible for cleaning up and picking up trash, including hay bale wires and empty drink containers. If you walk past the campfire ring and notice lariats left out from the last night’s events, and empty paper cups on the ground, we stop and quickly coil the lariats, replace them in their storage hanger, and remove the remnant trash. Our guests expect uncompromising levels of cleanliness, and we guarantee they find it here.
5. We are employed because of our guests. We are here to provide them with the best personal service that we can. Every employee is responsible for making every guest a happy and delighted guest.
6. We never loose a guest. The employee who receives a guest complaint will own it, tell the guest that he or she owns it, fixes it to the guest’s satisfaction, and reports it to the correct person in management. The employee is stubborn – she or he does not quit until the guest is thrilled and delighted.
7. We smile. We always maintain positive eye contact. We engage our guests with upbeat conversations. We use the proper vocabulary with our guests. We use phrases like “Certainly,” “Good Evening,” “I’ll be happy to,” and “It’s my pleasure.”
8. Job duties can be quite varied at Marble Mountain Ranch. We all take pride in, and care for our personal appearance regardless of the specific task at hand. A professional image with western dress should be conveyed in your general ranch presence and especially during equestrian events. Rafting events will of course dictate appropriate river attire. Modesty is a key standard at all times. We target families as our target audience, and your dress should not be offensive to this guest audience. Low-cut blouses, and saggy pants have no place at a family dude ranch. Jewelry and other adornments should not create an additional injury hazard while in the execution of your job duties and should not detract from your professional image in a dude ranch setting. In addition to ranch dress standards, each job position has specific personal gear requirements and these are outlined in our ranch employee gear list.
9. Safety is our prime directive. Fun and pleasure, for guests or for staff, never supercede the prime directive of safety. Each employee is responsible for creating a safe, secure and accident free environment for all guests and each other. Each of us is always aware of all fire and safety emergency operating plans.
10. All employees protect what we have, including the ranch assets and the animals. We conserve resources. We don’t waste assets. We maintain ranch equipment so it doesn’t get broken. Every ranch employee points out broken equipment to the ranch management or just fixes it. We treat equipment, especially tractors and vehicles with respect and treat them kindly.