Taledo, Jimmy (2015), entitled “Level of Performance of HRM Students in Front Office”

Abstract

Front Office has always been a particular issue in the hospitality industry. In particular, the focus

has always been on the frontline employees, who are constantly facing the pressures of being

able to respond promptly. In fact, they interact face-to-face and in real time nature with

customers; therefore, their attitudes and reactions can strongly influence their performance. To

better understand (1) the main causes of stress for front-office employees and (2) explore

whether these pressures can jeopardize the performance, a questionnaire survey was conducted

in four-star hotels belonging to the same hotel chain based. Through this study, it is possible to

understand whether and how work-pressures are able to compromise frontline employees’

performance. The outcomes are relevant for the management since they will suggest specific

solutions to be implemented in order to facilitate the interaction between employees and guests.

Questionnaires were administered to 127 frontline hotel employees. From their responses, it

emerged that they suffer from work-related stress mostly due to the lack of control, support and

for the amount of job-demands. However, the stressors are not sufficient to jeopardize their

performance.

Keywords:

Front office; hospitality frontline employees; job performance

INTRODUCTION

The term

hospitality industry

refers to a business whose aim is to offer accommodation and serve food and beverage for a

lucrative purpose (Lucas 2004). These different kinds of operations are personally handled by the

employees who make sure that the guests feel welcome and comfortable. For this reason, human

resources are actually the most important asset for all the organisations in tourism and hospitality

since they are the first point of contact between the company and its clients (Ivanovic and

Blazevic 2009). In recent years, the hospitality industry is benefitting from a continuing growth

due to the numerous people that are travelling (Ernst and Young 2015). Nevertheless, the more

the players in the market, the more the competition (MaketLine 2015). As a result, in order to

stay competitive, hotels need to develop their human resources; in fact, providing better service

experiences compared to the competitorsÕ increase customer loyalty (Kim et al. 2009).

Nevertheless, as specified by Baum (1995), the majority of the hospitality environments are

characterised by low payment, high turnover, difficulties in recruiting skills, poor status and

absence of professionalism. In addition, employees in this industry work during weekends, at

irregular hours and are expected to be friendly and pleasant. Indeed, the product of this industry

is first and foremost the guestsÕ experience (Barrows and Powers 2008). Despite technical

improvements, the relative status for workers in the industry has not recovered. Therefore, high

turnover rate and low service standards are just two of the consequences that an organisation has

to face (Boella and Gross-Turner 2013). In addition, considering the 24/7 nature of hotel industry
business and the Ôreal-timeÕ culture, it can be posited that hospitality jobs are stressful

(Sampson and Akyeampong 2014). In particular, the prime candidates for experiencing negative

feelings are the frontline employees who are required to respond promptly (Zhao et al. 2014).

Many researches have demonstrated that any time the frontline employees suffer from work-

related stress, the job performance and the customer satisfaction tends to decline (OÕNeill and

Davis 2011). As a consequence, the companies have to understand the causes and the

consequences of work-related stress in order to minimise them (Boella and Gross-Turner 2013)
3-Well Performed 2-Performed 1- Not Performed

RECEIVE AND RESERVATION 3 2 1

1.Acknowledge customer making a reservation using property
standards
2. Determine request availability of room
3.Offer alternatives, including waitlist options, if requested
booking is not available
4. Answer inquiry regarding rates and other product features
accurately

5.Record complete customer details in the system accurately

6. Check and use guest profile/history if available in making the
reservation
7.Record special request clearly in accordance with
establishment requirements
8. Complete, explain and confirm reservation details of customer
booking
9.File reservation according to property standards.
10.Prepare and issue documents and other materials to the
customer in accordance with the requirements of the specific
11.Record or update reservation payments and deposits of the
reservation accurately in accordance with the property standards
12. Receive, process and record amendments and cancellations
of reservations in accordance with customer request and
property standards.
13.Communicate general and specific customer requirements
and reservation details to appropriate departments and
colleagues.
14. Address follow up on customer requests and ensures that all
specific requirements in his reservation details are prior to guest
arrival
15.Access and accurately interprets reservation system
16. Use all system features to access a range of information
17.Check availability of the required booking in accordance with
the system functions and requirements
18. Create new reservations using the format required by the
computerized system.
19.Retrieve bookings using the format required by the computer
system
20.Record, update and store amendments
21.Download and prints reservation details.
22.Create internal communications using the required features of
the system
PREPARE RECEPTION AREA FOR GUEST ARRIVAL
1.Prepare and checks functionality of reception area and all
necessary equipment.
2.Check and review daily arrival details prior to guests arrival
3.Allocate rooms in accordance with guest requirements
4.Follow up uncertain arrivals or reservations in accordance with
standards
5.Compile and distribute arrival list to relevant personnel.
6.Inform colleagues on special situations in a timely manner.
7.Welcome guests
8.Confirm reservation details with guest
9.Register guests with or without reservations according to
establishments terms and procedures
10.Apply correct accounting procedures
11.Issue room key electronic cards, guest mail and messages to
guest. .
12.Follow procedures where rooms are not immediately available
or overbooking has occurred Monitors and reports discrepancies
in guest arrivals.
13.Monitor and reports guest arrivals and discrepancies between
actual and expected arrivals are reported in accordance with
property standards.
14.Address all guest requests during in-stay according to
property standards.
15.Respond promptly to inquiries to guests' satisfaction
16.Review and check departure list.
17.Gather information on departing guests from other
departments to facilitate the preparation of account
18.Facilitate information of departing guest from other
departments.
19.Generate and explain guests' accounts
20.Recover key electronic card from guest
21.Act or refer guest request to appropriate department
22.Process express and group express check outs
23.Prepare and updates front office records.
24.Follow establishment policies with regards to room changes,
no shows, extensions and early departures
25.Review expected daily arrivals and departures and requests
for major guest movements
26.Direct guest to appropriate area for registration.
27.Assist guest on luggage
28.Escort guest to rooms and where appropriate courteously
shows/explains the establishment/room features
29.Transport and delivering guest luggage to correct location
within appropriate timeframes
30.Operate luggage storage systems
31.Mark and store luggage to allow for easy retrieval
32.Place luggage within the storage system
33.Provide concierge services promptly
34.Liaise with colleagues and other departments to ensure
effective response to guest request.
35.Distribute reports and record to appropriate departments.
PROCESS INTERNAL FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS
1.Double check transactions to ensure that they have been
posted in the property's computerized system.
2.Identify and reconcile financial and systems discrepancies
according to property standards
3.Verify and reconcile room rates and room status.
4.Suggest internal financial system and control for improvements
in the property's operation
5. Complete routine and report within designated timelines
6.Forward reports to appropriate persons and department
PROVIDE INFORMATION ON CLUB SERVICES AND PROCESS
MEMBERSHIPS
1.Provide accurate advice and information on club services and
facilities to customers and club members as required according
to established standards.
2.Explain club membership and club rules to the public and
members following the standard procedures
3.Explain membership application forms; completely filling it out
in accordance with enterprise standards
4.Record and maintains membership records according to
standard procedures
1.Check membership badges/cards in accordance with
established cards
2.Assist guest to "sign in" accordance with government and
enterprise requirements
3.Check compliance of members in accordance with established
policy and procedures
4.Refer disputes over entry to club to security, supervisor or
other relevant person according to enterprise policy
PREPARE GUEST FOLIO
1.Check and post late charges and unposted checks with other
departments.
2.Print and ready guest folio to be presented to guest.
3.Present guest folio for review and approval.
1.Accept and counts cash in front of the customer
2.Process credit cards or debit cards according to property
standards.
3.Accept payment of foreign currency according to property
standards.
4.Process traveler's check is processed according to property
standards
5.Process other billing settlement using property standards.
1.Process cash, cash equivalents or non-cash transactions
received from guest is accurately processed according to
property standards
2. Receipts are correctly issued and presented to guest
3. Record transactions to guest account in the computerized
system. Process check out guest based on property standards.
4. Perform transactions to the satisfaction of guest and according
to property standards.
1.Perform balancing of cash float in accordance with property
standards
2.Segregate and count cash, cash equivalents and non-cash.
3.Determine, tally and balance between computerized system
and sum of cash and non-cash transactions.
4.Record and process transactions according to property
standards.
5.Close cashier's account based on property standards.
6.File and store source documents