Hotel Front Office Management, 3rd Edition

TYPICAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES OF DEPARTMENT MANAGERS 49ating statistics but also to assist the general manager in determining the effectiveness ofeach department manager. Often the general manager relies on the controller to providefinancial insight into the operations of the property. These include cash flow, discounts,evaluation of insurance costs, fringe-benefit cost analysis, investment opportunities, computertechnology applications, banking procedures, and more.This department processes accounts payable—amounts of money the hotel owes tovendors; accounts receivable—amounts of money owed to the hotel by guests; the generalledger—a collection of accounts that the controller uses to organize the financial activitiesof the hotel; statement of cash flows—a projection of income from various incomegeneratingareas of the hotel; the profit-and-loss statement—a listing of revenues andexpenses for a certain time period; and the balance sheet—a listing of the financial positionof the hotel at a particular point in time. It is a busy department that providesfinancial information to all department directors.The general manager of a limited-service property acts as the controller with the assistanceof the night auditor. (In some properties, the night audit is performed during theday, and the night auditor is replaced with a lower-salaried front desk clerk for late-nightcoverage.) Also, the ownership of a limited-service property hotel may be a part of alarger financial portfolio of a business, which assists the general manager to perform thecontroller’s responsibilities.Director of SecurityThe director of security works with department directors to develop cost-control proceduresthat help ensure employee honesty and guest safety. This person supervises anongoing training program in cooperation with department directors to instruct employeesin fire, job, and environmental safety procedures. Fictional stories often depict the securitydirector as someone who investigates crimes after the fact. On the contrary, this person’sprimary responsibility is to implement programs that make employees “security-minded,”helping to prevent crime from occurring.Unfortunately, the lodging industry has always been involved in lawsuits, which havemultiplied in both number and cost in recent years. A substantial body of law providesregulations under which properties must operate. Preventive security precautions are thecentral theme of the security department today. The director of security’s background isusually in police or detective work or in security or intelligence in the armed services. Heor she has usually developed an understanding of the criminal mind and the practices ofcriminals. This person is constantly on the lookout for suspicious people and circumstances.This necessary position in a limited-service property is shared by the front office managerand the general manager. Outsourcing of security services for on-site and parkinglotpatrol is also used. The outsourcing of this vital guest service does not relieve thegeneral manager of the need to develop and provide ongoing procedures to train employeesto become security-minded.TLFeBOOK