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Hiring and Training for Hospitality
Medical school doesn't teach hospitality, and most job descriptions don't hire for it. The best service companies hire for attitude and train for skill. Here is how a membership practice can do the same, from the interview to the first ninety days.
Start here: the questions this brief answers
Tap a question for the short answer, then jump to the evidence.
You can teach someone your scheduling system in a week. You can't easily teach them to care. Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher is credited with the phrase "hire for attitude, train for skill," and the Ritz-Carlton trains every employee to see themselves as "Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen." Medical practice leaders responding to a 2025 MGMA poll said stronger screening, second interviews focused on cultural fit and longer orientation helped them keep staff. A concierge physician in Arizona put it simply: hospitality skills are not taught in medical school, so go get them. Hire people who light up around others, then train the specifics relentlessly.
“Every person you hire becomes a scene in your patient's story. Hire people who make others feel welcome without being told to. You can teach the software. You can't teach someone to care.”
What does "hire for attitude, train for skill" mean in a practice?
Prioritize warmth, reliability and service instincts when hiring, then teach the systems. The phrase is credited to Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher.
Go to the full answer ↓What are practices doing to hire better?
In a 2025 MGMA poll, leaders cited stronger screening, second interviews focused on cultural fit, and longer orientation and training.
Go to the full answer ↓What interview questions reveal hospitality?
Ask about real moments: a time they turned around an upset customer, or noticed something nobody asked them to do. Part 3 has a set.
Go to the full answer ↓What should the first 90 days include?
Greeting and phone standards, phrase swaps, the patient journey, privacy basics and shadowing. Part 4 has a plan.
Go to the full answer ↓Hire for attitude. Train for skill.
Most practice job postings list software, certifications and years of experience. Almost none ask: does this person make people feel welcome?
Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher is credited with a five-word hiring philosophy: “hire for attitude, train for skill.”1 Industry Research The Ritz-Carlton’s motto frames every employee the same way: “We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen.”2
A concierge physician in Arizona gave CMT the medical version: “Gain some customer service experience, try a service industry job, as these skills are not taught in med school.” Clients refer friends, the physician said, because of “the attention to detail, always delivering exactly what is promised and then some.”3
On Michael Tetreault’s first day working in a university president’s office, a woman named Lena told him that everyone who walks in is a VIP, “whether they’re a lost student with ripped up jeans or our largest donor.” That’s attitude. Nobody had to train it into her.
From Remark-ology (2025).3
What practice leaders say works
In MGMA’s May 2025 poll of 357 practice leaders, those working to keep staff described better candidate screening, second-interview stages focused on cultural fit, longer orientation and training, and broader sourcing that includes recent graduates and local training partners.4 Industry Research
They also named the roles with the most churn: medical assistants and front-office staff.4 Those are exactly the roles where attitude shows up first.
Interview questions that reveal hospitality
| Ask | Listen for |
|---|---|
| Tell me about a time you turned around someone who was upset. | Ownership, calm, specific actions, no blaming |
| What did you notice in our lobby or on our phone line before this interview? | Curiosity and an eye for detail |
| Describe a time you did something nobody asked you to do for a customer. | Initiative and generosity |
| A patient is 20 minutes late and angry about parking. What do you say first? | Empathy before policy |
| What would your last coworkers say you're known for? | Self-awareness; how they treat colleagues |
CMT original guidance. Use the same questions for every candidate, and have them reviewed for compliance with employment law. Evidence type: Practice Insight.
Some practices invite finalists to observe a few hours at the front desk. Ask your employment adviser about pay, confidentiality and HIPAA requirements before doing this; candidates should not access patient information.
A 90-day hospitality training plan
Your story and standards: why the practice exists, what members pay for, the greeting standard (Brief No. 59) and phone standard (Brief No. 60).
Shadow every scene of the patient journey (Brief No. 61). Practice the phrase swaps (Brief No. 63) in role-play.
Handle real interactions with a mentor nearby. Learn the recovery script (Brief No. 65).
Own a scene. Bring one improvement idea to a huddle. Write one thank-you note to a patient.
Review together: what's working, what's hard, what you'd change.
CMT original guidance drawing on CMT's books and the briefs in this series.5,
Remark-ology’s blunt advice for the whole team: “Send your team to customer service training, regularly.” Look outside healthcare, too. No More Waiting Rooms recommends service conferences and training programs from other industries, because they often teach practical hospitality better than medical meetings do.3,
Make hospitality part of the job
- Rewrite one job posting to describe the experience you want patients to have, not just the tasks.
- Add two hospitality questions to your next interview.
- Pick one outside-healthcare service training or book for your team this quarter.
Great hires make great ambassadors. Plan how your team will show up in your community.
Free. No sign-up. Your answers stay in your browser. Step 3 of CMT's Learn, Build, Lead tools. It helps you pick the patient segments that fit your practice, find where they are, plan conversations with local physicians, check that your message sounds like care rather than a pitch, and leave with a 90-day plan.
This brief is educational and is not legal or HR advice. Hiring, interviewing, background checks and pay must comply with federal, state and local employment laws; consult qualified advisers.
Attitude first
Hire people who make others feel welcome.
Train the specifics
Standards, scripts, scenes and recovery.
Keep training
Hospitality is a direction, not a destination.
How this brief was built
This brief draws on a 2025 MGMA Stat poll, the Ritz-Carlton's published Gold Standards, a trade article on Herb Kelleher's hiring philosophy, and CMT's books. Interview questions and the 90-day plan are CMT original guidance, not validated hiring instruments. Hiring practices must comply with employment and anti-discrimination laws.
How to read the evidence types
Every key finding is labeled by evidence type. Labels describe the type of evidence, not its value. Each type answers different questions. Funding is disclosed on every source.
Randomized trials and systematic reviews.Best for cause and effect.
Large observational studies and government data.Best for trends at scale.
Surveys, smaller studies and expert consensus.Best for real-world experience.
Company-sponsored or company-reported data that is not peer-reviewed.Best for early signals and operating data.
Statutes, regulation and official guidance.Best for what is required.
What we don't know
- Which hiring methods best predict service performance in small medical practices; no practice-specific validation study was found.
- How much membership practices invest in service training compared with other practices.
How to cite this brief
External review: this brief has not yet been reviewed by an outside expert. When review is complete, the reviewer is credited by name above with any conflicts of interest, and the version number is updated. Reviewers check accuracy and fairness; CMT is responsible for the final content.
Corrections policy: when an error is identified, CMT corrects it in the open and updates the version number above. Send corrections to the editor through conciergemedicinetoday.net.
Related CMT Research Briefs
References
- Dru JM. There may be turbulence (on Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher's "hire for attitude, train for skill"). The HR Director. November 28, 2019. www.thehrdirector.comFunding: not stated (news report)
- The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center. Gold Standards: Motto, Three Steps of Service and Service Values. Accessed October 2026. ritzcarltonleadershipcenter.comFunding: industry (Ritz-Carlton company publication)
- Tetreault M. Remark-ology: Creating a Remarkable Patient Experience Worth Remarking About to Others. Concierge Medicine Today, LLC; 2025.Funding: Concierge Medicine Today (self-published; no outside funder) CMT original
- MGMA. Can staff turnover continue to be tamed in medical practices into 2026? (MGMA Stat poll, 357 responses). May 14, 2025. www.mgma.comFunding: not stated (conducted and published by MGMA)
- Tetreault M. No More Waiting Rooms: A Customer Service Road Map to Help Remarkable Medical Offices Navigate Their Way Towards an Irresistible Practice Where Gratitude Is on Repeat. Concierge Medicine Today, LLC; 2024. Stories are the author's own experiences and accounts told to the author.Funding: Concierge Medicine Today (self-published; no outside funder) CMT original
Educational and informational only. This CMT Research Brief does not constitute medical, legal, tax, financial, accounting or other professional advice, and it does not create a professional relationship of any kind. Statements about laws, regulations, tax rules and payer policies are general, may not reflect the rules in your state, and can change after publication. Consult a qualified attorney, accountant, tax adviser, compliance professional or licensed clinician before acting on anything here.
Independence. Concierge Medicine Today is an independent publication. It does not accept payment for favorable coverage, and it does not favor one practice model over another. Company names and products are mentioned for context only and are not endorsements. Funding is disclosed for every source in the reference list.
Accuracy. CMT verifies figures against their original or best available sources at the time of publication. Where a figure is an estimate, an inference or a company-reported number, the brief says so. This content is not without possible error or omission.
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