Hotel Front Office Management, 3rd Edition

54 CHAPTER 2: HOTEL ORGANIZATION AND THE FRONT OFFICE MANAGERFigure 2-7. The front office staff in a limited-service hotel includes a minimal number ofemployees.Function of the Front Office ManagerA successful front office manager conveys the spirit of a particular lodging property tothe customer. By applying management principles, he or she works through the frontoffice staff to communicate feelings of warmth, caring, safety, and efficiency to each guest.The front office manager must train personnel in the technical aspects of the propertymanagement system (PMS), a hotel computer system that networks the software andhardware used in reservation and registration databases, point-of-sale systems, accountingsystems, and other office software. He or she also must maintain the delicate balancebetween delivery of hospitality and service and promotion of the profit centers, and maintainthe details of the communication system.The front office manager has at his or her disposal the basic elements of effectivemanagement practice: employees, equipment, inventory (rooms to be sold), a budget, andsales opportunities. This manager is responsible for coordinating these basic elements toachieve the profit goals of the lodging property.Front office employees must be trained properly to function within the guidelines andpolicies of the lodging establishment. The front office manager cannot assume that anemployee knows how to do certain tasks. Every employee needs instructions and guidancein how to provide hospitality; front office employees’ attitudes are of utmost importanceto the industry. To ensure that the proper attitude prevails, the atmosphere in whichemployees work must motivate them to excel and nurture morale and teamwork.The equipment available to the front office manager is varied. With the advent ofcomputers, the property management system has provided the front office manager withan unlimited opportunity for managerial control. He or she can now easily track informationsuch as zip codes of visitors, frequency of visits by corporate guests, and amountof revenue a particular conference generated and pass this information on to the marketingand sales department.An unsold guest room is a sales opportunity lost forever. This is one of the majorTLFeBOOK