Hotel Front Office Management, 3rd Edition

DEVELOPING A SERVICE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 321To have a high standard of service, it is necessary to create and maintain a motivatingenvironment in which service people can find personal reasons for committingtheir energies to the benefit of the customer. People commit their energies tothe extent that what they do brings them what they want. What they want may bepsychological—a feeling, a status, or an experience. Or it may be material—greenbacksare an excellent form of feedback. In any case the job of management is toengineer a motivating environment. 15John W. Young, of the Four Seasons Hotels, echoes their ideas: “The challenge is tomotivate your employees to deliver the required level of service to your customers, anddo it consistently. ...Ifwearetosucceed in delivery of exceptional service, we have toconvince every new employee of the benefit of ‘buying in’ to our philosophy and standards.”16In short, a consistently high level of service will be provided only by employees whoare committed to the service management program. This commitment is fostered by management.It is such commitment that allows the front desk clerk to tell the newly registeredguest about the special musical combo group playing in the lounge or to ask how thetraffic coming in from the airport was or to suggest consulting the concierge in the lobbyfor directions to points of interest in the city. Chapter 12 further discusses employeemotivation, and those concepts are crucial to the development and administration of aservice management program.Consider each employee in each hotel and determine how to stimulate their commitmentto service. If money will motivate them, financial incentive programs that rewardpositive expressions of hospitality are in order. Employee stock ownership programs alsoprovide an incentive for employees to realize financially the importance of delivering aconsistently high level of hospitality. Other reward systems may include preferential treatmentin scheduling shifts, longer vacations, and extra holidays. Long-range rewards mayinclude promotion opportunities.Screening Employees Who Deliver HospitalityAnother factor to consider in developing a service management program is the employeecharacter traits needed to provide hospitality. When evaluating candidates forfrontline service positions, interviews should be structured to screen out employees whoare not able or willing to deal with the demands of guest service. Albrecht and Zemkeoffer these considerations for choosing frontline employees: “A service person needs tohave at least an adequate level of maturity and self-esteem. He or she needs to be reasonablyarticulate, aware of the normal rules of social context, and be able to say anddo what is necessary to establish rapport with a customer and maintain it. And third, heor she needs to have a fairly high level of tolerance for contact.” 17 And John W. Young,of the Four Seasons Hotels, notes:TLFeBOOK