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General Education Office IHM.316 / ILA2401 English for the Hotel Business Chapter 3: Staffing and Organization

"I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it." - Thomas Jefferson "The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity." - Ayn Rand

Objectives The objectives of this unit are…. 1. Language Focus: Staff Hierarchy 2. Vocabulary Focus: Hotel Organization The purpose of this unit is to ensure your familiarity with the titles and responsibilities of hotel staff, and the departments within a hotel.

Staffing Roles and Responsibilities Know the different types of hotel jobs and responsibilities. • General Manager • Oversees most or all of the hotel’s marketing and sales functions, as well as the day-to-day operations of the business. Also responsible for effective planning, delegating, coordinating, staffing, organizing, and decision making to attain desirable profit making results for an organization. • House Manager • Same thing as a General Manager, but used only in British English. • Resident Manager • While the General Manager is the person most responsible for the running of the hotel and its profit, the Resident Managers are a team of 2-3 managers who help the General Manager ensure the profitability of the organization. Typically, Resident Managers are second in command and handle all the little duties and responsibilities of the hotel employees. In many cases, one or more of the Resident Managers even lives in the hotel in case of emergencies.

Staffing Roles and Responsibilities • Personnel • Usually referred to as “Human Resources”, the personnel department/individual charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals. • Sales & Marketing • An individual or department within the organization responsible for increasing the customer base of the organization, and for improving the overall relationship between the customer and the company. • Purchasing • Purchasing refers to a business or organization attempting for acquiring goods or services to accomplish the goals of the enterprise. • Accounts • This department ensure that the organization’s bills are being paid, or that all money coming into the company is properly recorded for tax preparation.

Staffing Roles and Responsibilities • Head Housekeeper • The Head Housekeeper is responsible for ensuring the thoroughness and quality of work conducted by the housekeepers caring for the entire hotel and its appearance. • Housekeeper • The Housekeeper is responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the interior of a residence, including direction of subordinate maids. • Concierge • A concierge is an employee who either works in shifts within, or lives on the premises of a hotel and is similar to a manager directing the employees working the front of the hotel such as the front and night porters, bell persons, and door persons. • Clerks • A hotel may have many different types of clerks; front desk clerk; service desk clerk; cash register clerk, etc. Their duties vary based on their job title, and are usually limited to only their immediate duties that support the front office.

Staffing Roles and Responsibilities • Restaurant • The restaurant of a hotel is associated with that hotel as a business partner, not an additional component of the hotel organization. While most hotel restaurants will listen and cooperate with the hotel management, it is not uncommon for the hotel business to close or move and a new restaurant business take over its place. • Front Office Manager • This is an individual responsible for the departments within the hotel that come in contact with clients, including the marketing, sales, and service departments. The Front Office Manager’s main responsibility is ensuring the daily operations of these departments are functioning properly, reporting to the Resident Manager, and for making sure the customers coming into contact with these departments are happy. • Head Receptionist • The Head Receptionist is responsible for ensuring the thoroughness and quality of work conducted by the receptionists who are responsible for receiving or greeting any visitors or clients, and for answering telephone calls.

Staffing Roles and Responsibilities • Porters • Porters, Bell Persons, Bellhops, Door Persons… many names are given to these individuals, but typically they helps patrons with their luggage while checking in or out. • Chambermaids • Chambermaid, Maid, Cleaner… again, the names are many, with typical responsibilities pertaining to the cleaning, servicing, maintenance, and overall appearance of the hotel.

Staffing Hierarchy  Now look at this staffing hierarchy chart. Use the word list below to complete the chart… Housekeeper Resident Manager Head Receptionist General Manager Head Housekeeper House Manager Front Office Manager 4. 6. 2. 7. 5. 3. 1. “What about me?”- Food and Beverage Manager Listen and check……

Staffing Hierarchy Use the word bank and identify the hotel employees below. A. General/House Manager D. Head Receptionist B. Resident Manager E. Head Housekeeper C. Front Office Manager F. Housekeeper 5. 1. 3. D. F. A. 2. 4. 6. B. C. E.

Obligation (and responsibility) We use must, have to and should to talk about obligation: • The house manager ….. must make sure the hotel stays profitable. • I have to supervise Front of House operations. • He should ensure close liaison between Front of House operations and Housekeeping. • We use don’t have to to show that something is not necessary: • He doesn’t have to check with me about day-to-day issues. • We use mustn’t and shouldn’t to indicate obligation not to do something: • We mustn’t forget that our aim is to make money. • I know I shouldn’t say this but……….

Obligation (and responsibility) The housekeeper is explaining to a new chambermaid what her duties are. Select the most appropriate structure in the sentences below. • You (mustn’t/don’t have to) smoke in the bedrooms. • You (don’t have to / shouldn’t) work at night. • You (should/don’t have to) have a twenty minute break every two hours. • You (don’t have to/must) make sure you are ready to start work at 8.15am. • You (have to/shouldn’t) be finished by about 2pm most days. • You (shouldn’t/don’t have to) make it clear you want a tip.

Obligation (and responsibility) Decode the anagram adjectives to find words used to describepersonality and write them in the table on P33 • ricesen • cultunap • blareeli • utocusero • carticlap • lebelfix • suiteachtins • usitomabi • nicefitfe • nitfecnod sincere punctual reliable courteous practical flexible enthusiastic ambitious efficient confident sincerity punctuality reliability courteousy practicality flexibility enthusiasm ambitiousness efficiency confidence S P R C P F E A E C

Support Staff (Back Office) Match the staff group to it’s function Attendants Oversee the hotel’s physical plant, buildings, and grounds HumanResources Maintain and upgrades the exterior of the facility by landscaping the property Groundskeepers Oversee recreational facilities such as pools, tennis courts, and golf courses Sales andMarketing Persuades guests to stay at a particular property or chain Oversees recruiting, selecting, training, and compensating hotel employees Engineers

Support Staff (Back Office) Match the staff group to it’s function Attendants Oversee recreational facilities such as pools, tennis courts, and golf courses Oversees recruiting, selecting, training, and compensating hotel employees HumanResources Groundskeepers Maintain and upgrades the exterior of the facility by landscaping the property Sales andMarketing Persuades guests to stay at a particular property or chain Oversee the hotel’s physical plant (pumps, generators, pipework - MES) buildings, and grounds Engineers

Sales & Marketing Support Staff The sales force of a lodging business may include different types of sales personnel • Sales representatives • Technical-support staff • Sales assistants • Telemarketers

Housekeeping Often, the housekeeping department will employ 50% of the hotel staff!!

Food & Beverages

Staffing Requirements Make a list of staffing requirements each accommodation requires. General/House Manager Resident Manager Restaurant Head Housekeeper Clerks Personnel Purchasing Front Office Manager Housekeeper Porters Sales Accounts Head Receptionist Concierge Chambermaids ALL ALL A, B, I, J, L A, B, F, G, I, L Boutique Hotel 1. B-&-B 2. Hostel 3. 4. Resort A, B, D, E, F, G, I, K, L, M, O A, E, I, J, K, L ALL I Self- Catering A, D, E, F, G, H, L, M, O Guest House Lodge Private Home 5. 6. 7. 8. Hotel 9.

The Concierge’s Job Listen to Christopher Lloyd, the Personnel Director of a large hotel, describing the job of a concierge. • As you listen, tick the items below if you hear Christopher Lloyd talk about them. personality required  working hours  duties  uniform  2 Listen again and take more detailed notes about the items you ticked.

Concierge service phrases • Without listening again, match the halves of the phrases below: 1 provide for a a guest’s request 2 contact b a courteous manner 3 make c guests’ needs 4 display d supply of stamps 5 maintain e external companies 6 keep f guest satisfaction 7 fulfil g bookings for tours, etc. 8 maximise h a log-book

Communication What the Dishwasher knows………. The Art and Science of Hospitality Management Vallen & Abbey, Managing HR, P158 General Manager Food & Beverage Steward Dishwasher Busboys Server http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busboy

Communication What the dishwasher knows… For three dollars an hour should I look at every fork when they come out? If I did, the steward would tell me to quit wasting time. Sure, I know the silver isn’t soaked long enoughand the scrapers overload the garbage disposal. But they have to hurry or the dishes won’t be out soon enough to go up fast enough. And the dishes aren’t separated and stacked right when they come down, so it takes me longer to get them into the machine. I tell the busboys, but they say they’re in too big a hurry to have time to fool with arranging dishes for the dishwashers. It doesn’t make much difference. The dirty stuff will just be sent back for us to do over again.

Communication What the dishwasher told the steward… The washer doesn’t spray hard enough and the soap isn’t strong enough to clean the dishes unless I put them through twice. Then I am slowed down too much. What the steward told the food and beverage manager: These guys just don’t care. Unless I watch them every minute they just let the stuff slide by. The best thing to do would be to appoint a head dishwasher so he/she could watch the rest, if I could find one I could trust. But for now I’ll just have to check them myself.

Communication What the Server knows… I noticed the dishes were streaked and the silver still had food stuck on it, but there’s no use bothering the steward. I just set the bad stuff aside and got others from the pantry myself. Those dishwashers just put in their hours. They don’t care about the customers. What the Food and Beverage Manager reported… The steward will check the dishes and silver after they have been washed. He’ll push the dishwashers to work faster and more carefully. We haven’t enough workers.

Communication What the General Manager concluded…. You can’t get good help in the pantry and scullery. Those people just don’t care! They have no idea of the effect of their work on the customers’ attitudes and opinions!!! Who uncovered a problem? Who covered a problem? Who reported a problem? “80% of the staff knew about a quality control problem, but only 20% of them passed the information along”

Pareto Principle Pareto Principle also known as the “80–20 rule” or the “law of the vital few” states that, for many events: roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed in 1906 that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population he developed the principle by observing that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas

Pareto Principle In business: • 80% of the work is usually done by 20% of the people. • 80% of the crashes are caused by 20% of the bugs • 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers • 80% of your complaints come from 20% of your customers • 80% of your profits come from 20% of the time you spend • 80% of your sales come from 20% of your products • 80% of your sales are made by 20% of your sales staff

Generic Employment Terms Application Staff Turnover Person Specification Appraisal Disciplinary Orientation Empathy Probation Motivation Mentoring Leadership Empowerment Tribunal Supervision Job Description Management Terms & Conditions Interview

Interview Activity • Work in Pairs • You are Senior Managers at a large, busy hotel in the heart of Toronto. • One of you is the Front of House Manager • One of you is the General Manager • Read the Job Advertisement (on P38) and the qualities from your Concierge notes • Read the 3 Interview Notes (on P39) • Decide who is going to get the position of Concierge (10 Minutes) • Join another pair, Discuss your decision and CONFIRM • Indicate on the white board whom you will APPOINT

Summary Today we have: • Identified staff positions, responsibilities and organization in hotels • Used must, have to and should to describe obligation and responsibility • Discovered Adjectives/Nouns for key characteristics of Hotel Service staff • Familiarized with the qualities of a Concierge • Discussed the importance of effective communication • Described the relevance of Pareto’s Principle in Business • Reviewed terms related to employment • Made informed decisions about suitability of personnel for job positions

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