JOB DESCRIPTION - FRONT OFFICE MANAGER

POSITION TITLE: FRONT OFFICE MANAGER

REPORTS TO: Assistant manager or General Manager

POSITION SUMMARY:

Directly supervises all front office personnel and ensures proper completion of all front office duties. Directs and coordinates the activities of the front desk, reservations, guest services, and telephone areas. Prepare monthly reports and budget for front office department.

FRONT OFFICE MANAGER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Trains, cross –trains, and retrains all front office personnel.
• Participates in the selection of front office personnel.
• Schedules the front office staff.
• Supervises workload during shifts.
• Evaluates the job performance if each front office employee.
• Maintains working relationships and communicates with all departments.
• Maintains master key control.
• Verifies that accurate room status information is maintained and properly communicated.
• Resolves guest problems quickly, efficiently, and courteously.
• Updates group information. Maintains, monitors, and prepares group requirements. Relays information to appropriate personnel.
• Reviews and completes credit limit report.
• Works within the allocated budget for the front office.
• Receives information from the previous shift manger and passes on pertinent details to the oncoming manager.
• Checks cashiers in and out and verifies banks and deposits at the end of each shift.
• Enforces all cash-handling, check-cashing, and credit policies.
• Conducts regularly scheduled meetings of front office personnel.
• Wears the proper uniform at all times. Requires all front office employees to wear proper uniforms at all times.
• Upholds the hotel's commitment to hospitality.
• Prepare performance reports related to front office.
• Maximize room revenue and occupancy by reviewing status daily. Analyze rate variance, monitor credit report and maintain close observation of daily house count. Monitor selling status of house daily. I.e. flash report, allowance etc.
• Monitor high balance guest and take appropriate action.
• Ensure implementation of all hotel policies and house rules.
• Operate all aspects of Front Office computer system, including software maintenance, report generation and analysis, and simple configuration changes.
• Prepare revenue and occupancy forecasting.
• Ensure logging and delivery of all messages, packages, and mail in a timely and professional manner.
• Ensure that employees are, at all times, attentive, friendly, helpful and courteous to all guests managers and other employees.
• Monitor all V.I.P’s special guests and requests.
• Maintain required pars of all front office and stationary supplies.
• Review daily front office work and activity reports generated by Night Audit.
• Review Front office log book and Guest feedback forms on a daily basis.
• Maintain an organized and comprehensive filing system with documentation of purchases, vouchering, schedules, forecasts, reports and tracking logs.
• Perform other duties as requested by management.

 PREREQUISITES:

EDUCATION: Minimum two-year college degree. Must be able to read, speak, write, and understand the primary language used in the workplace.

EXPERIENCE:

Minimum of one year of hotel front desk supervisory experience, experience handling cash, accounting procedures, and general administrative tasks.

 

Sections of Front Office Department

Reservation

Reception

Registration

Bell Desk

Concierge (Information Desk)

Lobby

Front Office Cashier

Night Auditor

Telephone Operator

Business Center

Door Man

Valet

Chauffeur and Car Valet

Lift Attendant

Parking Area

Left Luggage Room

Guest Safety Locker

Travel Desk

Front Office Department

The "Front Office Department" is the major department in a hotel which is situated at the front part of the hotel and its duty is to sale the rooms of the hotels after registration and hand over key to the guest.

In other word, it is "Show Case Window" of the hotel which reflects the image of a hotel. It is the back bone as well as the "Nerve Center" of a hotel from where all the information and messages are communicated to the different department or personnel. The front office department of a hotel holds first important in view of the nature of a business in a hotel.

Importance of Front Office Department:

Each department plays an important role in order to get a complete task to get the main thing that is the satisfaction of the customer. Sequentially to carry out its mission, worldwide and departmental goals and objectives, every company shall build a formal organization depicting different hierarchy of managing, supervision, and employee or the staff levels. All hotels mission is to make the hotel success by satisfying the customer need. If the hotels fail to do so, it means that they have failed everything. This is because we have to be humbled to the guest and respect the guest although they are wrong. The statement saying that “guest will always be right” is the rules showing that everything that the guest do and say, we have to give and take. The main department that is front office management has to play the important role as they are the one that will communicate with the guest from the guest check in until they will check out. Smile and greet the guest politely will make the guest feel happy and hoping that they will see us again.

Introduction to various Departments in Hotel

There are various departments in hotel which helps in smooth and efficient operation. First four department are the core of or important department in hotel, which are directly responsible for day to day operation, front of the house and back of the house plays significant role to insure general administration of Human Resources Department, financial, engineering, sales and marketing, planning etc. Each department in a hotel has its specific function to perform. The functions of various departments within the room are given below:

1.     Front Office Department

Front Office Department includes all the office which is situated in near of the front hall and lobby of the hotel. It is considered as the "Nerve Center" of the hotel. It is also said that hotel is wheel of Front Office.

2.      House Keeping Department

House keeping department is regarded as back bone of the hotel. This is another important department under the room division. It is responsible for the cleanliness of occupied guest room and prepares the room for another guest in case or vacant room.

3.     Food and Beverage Department

Food and beverage generally range second to the room division in term of its revenue turnover. There are many types of food and beverage department and outlets in large hotel. Food and beverage manager is the head of this department. In large hotel he is responsible for the controlling all food and beverage outlets. There are outlets such as production, dinning service, bath ODC, banquet restaurant, bar, discotheque, and clubs.

4.     Production Department- Kitchen

Kitchen is the place where food is prepared. The term kitchen is derived from the French word “Cuisine” which literally means Art of cooking or food preparation in the kitchen.

5.     Supporting Department

a.)  Purchase and store: the main function of this department is to purchase required materials example good stationary etc. under the condition of annual rate, contract or periodic rate.

b.) Engineering Department: This department better known as maintenance departs in all most hotel.It is responsible for any maintenance and repairs of equipment and furniture and fixtures in the hotel. In it plumbing, refrigerator electrical work, air conditioning and heating, carpeting are lies. The chief engineer is head of this department.

6.     Account Department

Accounting department is the internal part in the business and it holds prime importance in hotel well. This depart maintains in trial financial activities of the activities of the property. The head of this depart is chief accountant officer or financial officer.

7.     Sales and maintenance

This departs market the hotel production to the perceptive client and identifies new market segment having further details. It does the advertising and promotional cam pin in large hotel.

8.     Personal and Human Resource Department (H.R.D)     

Personal and Human Resource Department is responsible for human resources planning, requirement and selection of staff. Motivation performance, rewarded manages system. Training and developments plays a vital role in many hotels. The personal manager most is familiar with the international local lever market and labor law. The hotel manager also looks upon the personal department for advice and suggestion and the latest development in the areas of wages, salary, job, employee-welfare medical, health and security.

9.     Security Department

The primary of the security department may includes the proper monitoring surveillance equipment and insuring that the guest, employee and the properties are safe and secure all the time.

Hotel Organization Chart

Hotel Mission and Goals

Organizational Missions: Every organization has a reason or purpose to exist. This forms the basis for the organization’s Mission statement. An organization’s mission can be expressed in a mission statement, which defines the unique purpose that sets one hotel from another.

From the mission statement hotel employees should be able to derive a sense of purpose and direction to hotel policies.

For Example, a hotel’s mission may be to provide the finest facilities and services in the market while providing a good place to work for its employees and a reasonable return for the investments by its owners.

Mission statement should address the following three main constitutes:

1. Guests
2. Hotel Management
3. Employees

1. Guests: Mission statement should address the basic needs and expectations of their guests. We can assume that all guests will have the basic expectations:

• Safety and security of the hotel.
• Clean, comfortable rooms and public areas.
• Professional and friendly staff.
• Well maintained facilities and equipment’s.

2. Hotel Management : Hotels mission statement should reflect its management philosophy. Since styles of operation differ, mission statements will very from property to property. A mission statement guides managers in their jobs by identifying the hotels basic values. Above all the hotel’s mission is one of the principle means; it uses to distinguish itself from other hotels.

3. Employees : Mission statement should help the hotel employees meet or exceed the expectations of both guests and management. A mission statement can also serve as a basis for job description and performance standards and as an introduction to the property for new employees. This should also appear in the employee’s handbooks and training manuals along with the job description.

Example of a mission statement:

“The mission of our hotel is to provide outstanding lodging facilities and services to our guests. Our hotel focuses on individual business and leisure travel, as well as travel associated with group’s meetings .we emphasize high quality standards in our rooms and food and beverage divisions. We provide a fair return on investment for our owners and recognize that this cannot be done without well-trained, motivated and enthusiastic employees.”

Goals: Goals are those activities and standards and organization must successfully perform or achieve to effectively carry out its missions. A Goal is more specific than a mission; it requires a certain level of achievement that can be observed and measured.

Measurable goals encourage hotel employees to perform effectively while enabling management to monitor employee progress. Management can determine whether goals are being achieved or whether corrective action is necessary.

Classification of Hotel

Hotels are classified according to the hotel size, location, target markets, levels of service, facilities provided, number of rooms , ownership and affiliation etc.

• Size – Or number of rooms

According to Tarmoezi (Tarmoezi, 2000:3), from the number of rooms available, the hotel can be divided into:

1. Small – Number of rooms available a maximum of 28 rooms.
2. Medium Hotel – Number of rooms provided between 28-299 rooms.
3. Large Hotel – Number of rooms provided by more than 300 rooms.

• Target Markets

Hotel targets many markets and can be classified according to the markets they attempt to attract their guests. Common type of markets include business, airport, suites, residential, resort, timeshare, casino, convention and conference hotels.

1. Business Hotels: – These hotels are the largest group of hotel types and they primarily cater to business travellers and usually located in downtown or business districts . Although Business hotels primarily serves business travellers , many tour groups, individual tourists and small conference groups find these hotels attractive. Guest amenities at business hotels may include complimentary newspapers, morning coffee, free local telephone calls , Break fast etc.
2. Airport Hotels: – These type of hotels typically target business clientele, airline passengers with overnight travel layovers or cancelled flights and airline crews or staff. Some hotels might give free transport between hotel and airport . Some airport hotels also charges the guest by hour instead of normal daily night charges.
3. Suite Hotels: – These kind of hotels are the latest trend and the fastest growing segments in the hotel industry . Such hotels have a living room and a separate bedroom. Professionals such as accountants, lawyers, business men and executives find suite hotels particularly attractive as they can work and also entertain in an area besides the bedroom.
4. Extended Stay Hotels: – Extended stay hotels is somewhat similar to the suite hotels , but usually offers kitchen amenities in the room . These kind of hotels are for longstayers who wants to stay more than a week and does not want to spend on hotel facilities.
5. Serviced Apartments: – Serviced Apartment / Residential hotels provide long-term or permanent accommodation for Guest. Usually guest makes a lease agreement with the hotel for minimum of one month up to a year. Rooms generally include living room , bedroom, kitchen , private balcony , washing machines , kitchen utensils etc. Unlike normal hotels Serviced apartment only provide weekly one housekeeping service.
6. Resort Hotels: – Resort hotels are usually located in the mountains, on an island , or in some other exotic locations away from city’s . These hotels have recreational facilities , scenery , golf , tennis , sailing , skiing and swimming . Resort hotels provide enjoyable and memorable guest experiences that encourage guest to repeat to the resort.
7. Bed and Breakfast / Homestays :- These are houses with rooms converted into overnight facilities , this can size up to 1 to 10 guest rooms . They are also known as ‘Home Stay’s’. The owner of the B&B usually stay on the premises and is responsible for serving breakfast to guest .
8. Timeshare / Vacation Rentals: – Another new type or segment of the hospitality industry is the timeshare hotels. These are sometimes referred to as “Vacation-interval” hotels. Timeshare hotels are where the guests who purchase the ownership of accommodations for specific period.These owners may also have the unit rented out by the management company that operates the hotel.
9. Casino Hotels: – Hotels with gambling facilities are called Casino Hotels .Although the food and beverage operations in casino is luxurious their functions is secondary to and supportive of casino operations.
10. Conference and Convention Centers: – These type of hotels focus on meeting and conferences and overnight accommodation for meeting attendees. They also provide video conferencing facility, audiovisual equipment, business services, flexible seating arrangements, flip chart etc. These hotels mostly located outside the metropolitan areas and have facilities like golf, swimming pools, tennis courts, fitness centers, spas etc.

• Levels of service

1. World class service: – These are also called luxury / Five Start hotels , they target top business executives, entertainment celebrities , high ranking political figures, and wealthy clientele as their primary markets . They provide upscale restaurants and lounges, Valet, concierge services and also private dining facilities .
2. Mid-Range Service: – Hotels offering mid-range or otherwise 3 to 4 star hotels service appeal the largest segment of the travelling public . This kind of hotels does not provide elaborate service and have an adequate staffing . They also provide uniformed service , food and beverage room service, in room entertainment’s and also WI-FI etc.
3. Budget / Limited Service: These hotels provide clean , comfortable , safe , inexpensive rooms and meet the basic need of guests . Budget hotels appeal primarily to budget minded travelers who wants a room with minimum services and amenities required for comfortable stay, without unnecessary paying additional cost for costly services.

• Ownership and Affiliations

1. Independent / Single Owner Hotels :- They do not have identifiable ownership or management affiliation with other properties. Example for the same would be family owned and operated hotel that is not following any corporate policies or procedures.
2. Chain hotels :- Hotels which are part of a hotel chain and these kind of ownership usually imposes certain minimum standards, rules , policies and procedures to restrict affiliate activities . In general the more centralized the organisation the stronger the control over the individual property .

Characteristic of Hotel

The difference between the other industries is:

1. The hotel industry is relatively capital-intensive industries and labor-intensive, which means in its management requires a large capital with labor force that much anyway.
2. Influenced by the state and changes in the economic, political, social, cultural, and security where the hotel is located.
3. Produces and markets its products in conjunction with a place where its services produced.
4. Operates 24 hours a day, without a day off in service to the hotel customers and society at large.
5. Treating the customer like a king but also treat the customer as a partner in the business for hotel services is highly dependent on the number of customers who use the hotel facilities.

Definition of "Hotel"

Hotel is a form of the building , emblems , corporate or business entities that provide accommodation services, food and beverage providers, and other service facilities in which all service was intended for the general public, whether they are staying overnight at the hotel or those who simply use of certain facilities owned by the hotel . Understanding this can be inferred from some definitions such as the following:

• One type of accommodation that use part or all parts for an accommodation , food and beverage providers , and other services for the general public commercially run.
• Commercial buildings managed by providing accommodation facilities to the general public with the following facilities:

1. Specialty services
2. Food service and beverages
3. Service luggage
4. Washing clothes
5. Use of facility furnishings and decorations in it.
6. Public housing facilities to travelers by providing room services, food and beverage providers and accommodation with the payment terms.