Hospitality managers want every employee to provide high-quality service to every guest, every time. Just as with other companies in other industries, hospitality companies are under pressure to be profitable and to keep costs down. A big challenge, however, is ensuring effective communication, establishing a common understanding among their teams and the ability to maintain service standards throughout their organizations, 24/7.
Hotel employees hear all about quality standards from the general manager and other managers, but if the managers do not demonstrate and live out those standards, the employees will not commit themselves to delivering quality service, no matter how much investment goes into training.
Employees more closely observe the behaviors of their managers than the managers may realize. If a manager primarily exhibits negative attitudes, his or her subordinates are more likely to have negative attitudes as well. Unfortunately, this often manifests in subordinates’ performance. The behavior of managers, therefore, largely determines how their employees behave. The best efforts of quality service by staff in such environments usually result in inconsistencies in service delivery.
We tend to forget that our employees are the ‘face of management’ in the hospitality industry.
Do you realize that it is the overall service experience which created the memorable and excellent guest experience? This requires all hands on deck, owner/managers to casuals!
Quality involves improving everything an organization does. Ordinarily, managing for high quality is stressful, demanding, and loaded with surprises and problems and it is constantly changing. You can imagine how much more challenges we create for ourselves when we allow ‘square pegs in round holes’!
With service excellence, there are no losers. Customers win. Employees win.
Management wins. The organization wins.
Take note: There will be two publications next week in recognition of NAKOFEST, the National Customer Service Festival; a special edition on Monday 3rd October and our Thursday publication which will wrap up our series on ‘Questions of service’.