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General Education OfficeIHM.316 / ILA2401

English for the Hotel Business

Chapter 3: Staffing and Organization

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"I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it."- Thomas Jefferson

"The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity."- Ayn Rand

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ObjectivesThe objectives of this unit are….

1. Language Focus: Staff Hierarchy

2. Vocabulary Focus: Hotel Organization

The purpose of this unit is to ensure your familiarity with the titles and responsibilities of hotel staff, and the departments within a hotel.

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Staffing Roles and ResponsibilitiesKnow the different types of

hotel jobs and responsibilities.General Manager• Oversees most or all of the hotel’s marketing and sales functions, as well as the day-

to-day operations of the business. Also responsible for effective planning, delegating, coordinating, staffing, organizing, and decision making to attain desirable profit making results for an organization.

House Manager• Same thing as a General Manager, but used only in British English.

Resident Manager• While the General Manager is the person most responsible for the running of the hotel

and its profit, the Resident Managers are a team of 2-3 managers who help the General Manager ensure the profitability of the organization. Typically, Resident Managers are second in command and handle all the little duties and responsibilities of the hotel employees. In many cases, one or more of the Resident Managers even lives in the hotel in case of emergencies.

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Staffing Roles and Responsibilities

Personnel• Usually referred to as “Human Resources”, the personnel department/individual

charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals.

Sales & Marketing• An individual or department within the organization responsible for increasing the

customer base of the organization, and for improving the overall relationship between the customer and the company.

Purchasing• Purchasing refers to a business or organization attempting for acquiring goods or

services to accomplish the goals of the enterprise.

Accounts• This department ensure that the organization’s bills are being paid, or that all money

coming into the company is properly recorded for tax preparation.

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Head Housekeeper• The Head Housekeeper is responsible for ensuring the thoroughness and quality of

work conducted by the housekeepers caring for the entire hotel and its appearance.

Housekeeper• The Housekeeper is responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the interior of a

residence, including direction of subordinate maids.

Concierge• A concierge is an employee who either works in shifts within, or lives on the premises

of a hotel and is similar to a manager directing the employees working the front of the hotel such as the front and night porters, bell persons, and door persons.

Clerks• A hotel may have many different types of clerks; front desk clerk; service desk clerk;

cash register clerk, etc. Their duties vary based on their job title, and are usually limited to only their immediate duties that support the front office.

Staffing Roles and Responsibilities

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Restaurant• The restaurant of a hotel is associated with that hotel as a business partner, not an

additional component of the hotel organization. While most hotel restaurants will listen and cooperate with the hotel management, it is not uncommon for the hotel business to close or move and a new restaurant business take over its place.

Front Office Manager• This is an individual responsible for the departments within the hotel that come in

contact with clients, including the marketing, sales, and service departments. The Front Office Manager’s main responsibility is ensuring the daily operations of these departments are functioning properly, reporting to the Resident Manager, and for making sure the customers coming into contact with these departments are happy.

Head Receptionist• The Head Receptionist is responsible for ensuring the thoroughness and quality of

work conducted by the receptionists who are responsible for receiving or greeting any visitors or clients, and for answering telephone calls.

Staffing Roles and Responsibilities

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Porters• Porters, Bell Persons, Bellhops, Door Persons… many names are given to these

individuals, but typically they helps patrons with their luggage while checking in or out.

Chambermaids• Chambermaid, Maid, Cleaner… again, the names are many, with typical

responsibilities pertaining to the cleaning, servicing, maintenance, and overall appearance of the hotel.

Staffing Roles and Responsibilities

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Staffing Hierarchy Now look at this staffing

hierarchy chart. Use the word list belowto complete thechart…1. Housekeeper2. Resident Manager3. Head Receptionist4. General Manager5. Head Housekeeper6. House Manager7. Front Office Manager

4.

6.

2.

7.

3.

5.

1.

“What about me?”- Food and Beverage

Manager

Listen and check……

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Staffing HierarchyUse the word bank and identify

the hotel employees below.A. General/House Manager D. Head ReceptionistB. Resident Manager E. Head HousekeeperC. Front Office Manager F. Housekeeper1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

D.

B.

A.

C.

F.

E.

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Obligation (and responsibility)

We use must, have to and should to talk about obligation:

• The house manager ….. must make sure the hotel stays profitable.• I have to supervise Front of House operations.• He should ensure close liaison between Front of House operations and

Housekeeping.

We use don’t have to to show that something is not necessary:

• He doesn’t have to check with me about day-to-day issues.

We use mustn’t and shouldn’t to indicate obligation not to do something:

• We mustn’t forget that our aim is to make money.• I know I shouldn’t say this but……….

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Obligation (and responsibility)

The housekeeper is explaining to a new chambermaid what her duties are. Select the most appropriate structure in the sentences below.

a) You (mustn’t/don’t have to) smoke in the bedrooms.

b) You (don’t have to / shouldn’t) work at night.

c) You (should/don’t have to) have a twenty minute break every two hours.

d) You (don’t have to/must) make sure you are ready to start work at

8.15am.

e) You (have to/shouldn’t) be finished by about 2pm most days.

f) You (shouldn’t/don’t have to) make it clear you want a tip.

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Obligation (and responsibility)

Decode the anagram adjectives to find words used to describepersonality and write them in the table on P33

a) ricesen

b) cultunap

c) blareeli

d) utocusero

e) carticlap

f) lebelfix

g) suiteachtins

h) usitomabi

i) nicefitfe

j) nitfecnod

S

P

R

C

P

F

E

A

E

C

sincere

punctual

reliable

courteous

practical

flexible

enthusiastic

ambitious

efficient

confident

sincerity

punctuality

reliability

courteousy

practicality

flexibility

enthusiasm

ambitiousness

efficiency

confidence

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Support Staff (Back Office)

Engineers

Groundskeepers

Attendants

Sales andMarketing

HumanResources

Oversee the hotel’s physical plant, buildings, and grounds

Maintain and upgrades the exterior of the facility by landscaping the property

Oversee recreational facilities such as pools, tennis courts, and golf courses

Persuades guests to stay at a particular property or chain

Oversees recruiting, selecting, training, and compensating hotel employees

Match the staff group to it’s function

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Support Staff (Back Office)

Engineers

Groundskeepers

Attendants

Sales andMarketing

HumanResources

Oversee the hotel’s physical plant (pumps, generators, pipework - MES) buildings, and grounds

Maintain and upgrades the exterior of the facility by landscaping the property

Oversee recreational facilities such as pools, tennis courts, and golf courses

Persuades guests to stay at a particular property or chain

Oversees recruiting, selecting, training, and compensating hotel employees

Match the staff group to it’s function

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Sales & Marketing Support Staff

The sales force of a lodging business may include different types of sales personnel

Sales representatives

Technical-support staff

Sales assistants

Telemarketers

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HousekeepingExecutive

Housekeeper

Assistant Exec

Housekeeper

Floor Housekeeper

Housekeepers

Housemen

Contract Cleaning

Laundry Manager

Laundry staff

Uniforms Supervisor

Often, the housekeeping department will employ 50%of the hotel staff!!

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Food & BeveragesFood &

Beverage Director

Administrative Assistant

Room Service Manager

Order Takers / Servers

BeverageManager

Bar Persons

Chief Steward

Stewards

Executive Chef

Sous Chef

Cooks

CateringManager

ServicesManager

Servers

Housemen

RestaurantManager

Captain Servers

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Staffing RequirementsMake a list of staffing

requirements each accommodation requires.

A. General/House ManagerB. Resident ManagerC.RestaurantD.Head HousekeeperE. Clerks

1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

B-&-B HostelBoutique

Hotel Resort

GuestHouse

Lodge PrivateHome Hotel

Self-Catering

F. PersonnelG.PurchasingH.Front Office ManagerI. HousekeeperJ. Porters

K. SalesL. AccountsM. Head ReceptionistN. ConciergeO. Chambermaids

A, B, I, J, L A, B, F, G, I, LALL ALL

A, E, I, J, K, L

ALL I A, B, D, E,F, G, I, K,

L, M, OA, D, E,F, G, H,L, M, O

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The Concierge’s JobListen to Christopher Lloyd, the Personnel Director of a large hotel, describing the job of a concierge.

1 As you listen, tick the items below if you hear Christopher Lloyd talk about them.

personality required working hours duties uniform

2 Listen again and take more detailed notes about the items you ticked.

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Concierge service phrases3 Without listening again, match the halves of the phrases below:

1 provide for a a guest’s request2 contact b a courteous manner3 make c guests’ needs4 display d supply of stamps5 maintain e external companies6 keep f guest satisfaction7 fulfil g bookings for tours, etc.8 maximise h a log-book

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CommunicationWhat the Dishwasher knows………. The Art and Science of Hospitality Management Vallen & Abbey, Managing HR, P158

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busboy

Dishwasher

Steward

Busboys Server

Food & Beverage

General Manager

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CommunicationWhat the dishwasher knows…

For three dollars an hour should I look at every fork when they come out? If I did, the steward would tell me to quit wasting time.

Sure, I know the silver isn’t soaked long enough and the scrapers overload the garbage disposal. But they have to hurry or the dishes won’t be out soon enough to go up fast enough.

And the dishes aren’t separated and stacked right when they come down, so it takes me longer to get them into the machine. I tell the busboys, but they say they’re in too big a hurry to have time to fool with arranging dishes for the dishwashers.

It doesn’t make much difference. The dirty stuff will just be sent back for us to do over again.

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CommunicationWhat the dishwasher told the steward… The washer doesn’t spray hard enough and the soap isn’t strong enough to clean the dishes unless I put them through twice. Then I am slowed down too much. 

What the steward told the food and beverage manager: These guys just don’t care. Unless I watch them every minute they just let the stuff slide by. The best thing to do would be to appoint a head dishwasher so he/she could watch the rest, if I could find one I could trust. But for now I’ll just have to check them myself.

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CommunicationWhat the Server knows…

I noticed the dishes were streaked and the silver still had food stuck on it, but there’s no use bothering the steward. I just set the bad stuff aside and got others from the pantry myself. Those dishwashers just put in their hours. They don’t care about the customers. What the Food and Beverage Manager reported…

The steward will check the dishes and silver after they have been washed. He’ll push the dishwashers to work faster and more carefully. We haven’t enough workers.

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CommunicationWhat the General Manager concluded….

You can’t get good help in the pantry and scullery. Those people just don’t care! They have no idea of the effect of their work on the customers’ attitudes and opinions!!!

Who uncovered a problem?

Who covered a problem?

Who reported a problem?

“80% of the staff knew about a quality control problem, but only 20% of them passed the information along”

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Pareto PrinciplePareto Principle

also known as the “80–20 rule” or the “law of the vital few”

states that, for many events:

roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes

named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed in 1906 that

80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population

he developed the principle by observing that

20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas

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Pareto Principle

• 80% of the work is usually done by 20% of the people.

• 80% of the crashes are caused by 20% of the bugs

• 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers

• 80% of your complaints come from 20% of your customers

• 80% of your profits come from 20% of the time you spend

• 80% of your sales come from 20% of your products

• 80% of your sales are made by 20% of your sales staff

In business:

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Generic Employment Terms

Appraisal

Orientation

Staff TurnoverDisciplinary

Tribunal

Motivation

Empowerment

Empathy

Leadership

ProbationMentoring

ManagementTerms & Conditions

Job Description

Person Specification

Interview

Supervision

Application

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Interview ActivityWork in Pairs

You are Senior Managers at a large, busy hotel in the heart of Toronto.

One of you is the Front of House Manager

One of you is the General Manager

• Read the Job Advertisement (on P38) and the qualities from your Concierge notes

• Read the 3 Interview Notes (on P39)

• Decide who is going to get the position of Concierge (10 Minutes)

• Join another pair, Discuss your decision and CONFIRM

• Indicate on the white board whom you will APPOINT

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SummaryToday we have:

• Identified staff positions, responsibilities and organization in hotels

• Used must, have to and should to describe obligation and responsibility

• Discovered Adjectives/Nouns for key characteristics of Hotel Service staff

• Familiarized with the qualities of a Concierge

• Discussed the importance of effective communication

• Described the relevance of Pareto’s Principle in Business

• Reviewed terms related to employment

• Made informed decisions about suitability of personnel for job positions