THE FUNCTIONS AND DEPARTMENTS

OF HOTEL
 THE FUNCTIONS AND DEPARTMENTS OF HOTEL
The primary function of a hotel is to provide lodging accommodation.
A large hotel is run by a General Manager (GM) and an Executive Committee that
consists of the key executives who head the major departments:
Rooms division director
Food & beverage director
Marketing & sales director
Chief accountant or controller
Chief engineer or facility manager

A hotel is made up of several businesses or revenue centers and cost centers

Hotels are places of glamour that may be awe-inspiring
Hotels have been described as people palaces
Hotels are meant to provide all the comforts of home to those away from home.
 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
Management structure differs among larger, midscale and smaller properties.
The midscale and smaller properties are less complex in their management
structures than are the larger one.
However, someone must be responsible for each of the key result areas that make
the operation successful.
 ROLE OF THE HOTEL GENERAL MANAGER
They must provide owners with a reasonable return on investment, keep guests satisfied
and returning, and keep employees happy.
The GM not only focuses on leading and operating the hotel departments but also on
aspects of the infrastructure, from room atmosphere to security.
The GM is ultimately responsible for the performance of the hotel and the employees.
The GM is the leader of the hotel.
Held accountable for the hotels level of profitability by the corporation or owners.
To be successful, GMs need to have a broad range of personal qualities, which are the
ffg.
Leadership
Attention to detail
Follow-through-getting the job done
People skills
Patience
Ability to delegate effectively
ROLE OF THE HOTEL GENERAL MANAGER
Selects and trains the best people.
Sets the tone- a structure of excellence and others try to match it.
Need to understand, empathize, and allow for the cultures of both
guests and employees.
Empower associates to do anything legal to delight the guest.
 THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Makes all the major decisions affecting the hotel
Includes the Directors of Human Resources, Food and Beverage, Rooms Division, Marketing and
Sales, Engineering, and Accounting, compile the hotels occupancy forecast together with all
revenues and expenses to make up the budget.
They generally meet once a week for one to two hours to cover some of the following topics:
Guest satisfaction
Employee satisfaction
Total quality management
Occupancy forecasts
Sales and marketing plans
Training
Major items of expenditure
Renovations
Ownership relations
Energy conservation
Recycling
New legislation
profitability
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHART
General Manager

Director of Director of Director of

Director of Director of Director of
Human Food and Marketing and
Rooms Division Engneering Accounting
Resources Beverage Sales
 THE DEPARTMENTS
In larger hotels, the rooms division has several departments that all work together to
please guests.
ROOMS DIVISION
- The rooms division director is held responsible by the GM for the efficient and effective leadership and
operation of all the rooms division departments. They include concerns such as the following:
Financial responsibility for rooms division
Employee satisfaction goals
Guest services
Guest relations
Security
Gift shop
 THE DEPARTMENTS
The Rooms Division consists of the following departments: Front Office, Reservations,
Housekeeping, Concierge, Guest Services, Security and Communications
FRONT OFFICE
The front office managers (FOM) main duty is to enhance guest services by constantly developing services to meet
guest needs.
Guest service associate (GSA), greet guest as they arrive at the hotel, escort them to the front desk, and then
personally allocate the room and take the guest and luggage to the room. Each guest associate is cross trained in all
aspects of greeting and rooming the guests.
The front office manager and his or her associates perform the following duties:
Check night clerk report
Review previous nights occupancy
Review previous nights average rate
Look over market mix and determine what rooms to sell at what price
Handle checkouts and check-ins
1. To sell rooms
THREE MAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE FRONT OFFICE
Upselling occurs when the guest service agent/front-desk clerk suggestively sells the features of a larger
room, a higher floor, or perhaps a better view
Demand- the number of people needing rooms
Supply- the number of available rooms

2. To maintain balanced guest accounts

Begins with advance deposits, opening the guest folio (account), and posting all charges from the various
departments
Most hotels have PMS and POS
Payment is either received on guest check out or transferred to the city ledger (a special account for a
company that has established credit with the hotel)
 THREE MAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE FRONT OFFICE
3. To offer services such as handling mail, faxes, messages and local and hotel
information
Front-desk employees need to be knowledgeable about the various activities in the hotel.
The evening 9shift duties include the following:
Check the logbook for special items
Check on the room status, number of expected checkouts still to leave, and arrivals by double-checking
registration cards and the computer so that they can forecast of the nights occupancy
Handle guest check-ins
Take reservations for that evening and future reservations
A hotel is one of the few businesses that balances its accounts at the end of each business
NIGHT AUDITOR
day.
The Night Auditor and his or her team wait until the hotel quiets down at about 1:00 am
and then begins the task of balancing the guests accounts receivable.
The process of night auditing is as follows:
1. Runs a preliminary reconciliation report
2. All errors on the report are investigated
3. All changes are posted and balanced with preliminary charges
4. A comparison of charges is carried out, matching preliminary with actual charges
5. Totals for credit card charges, rooms operations, food and beverages, and incidentals are verified.
6. The team rolls the date they go forward to the next day.
The Daily Report contains key operating ratios such as room occupancy percentage (ROP), which is
the number of rooms occupied divided by the number of rooms available.
Rooms Occupied
Rooms Available
Thus, if a hotel has 850 rooms and 622 are occupied, the occupancy percentage
is 622 divided by 850 = 73 percent
The Average Daily Rate (ADR) is calculated by dividing the rooms revenue by the number of rooms
sold:
Rooms Revenue
Rooms Sold
If the rooms revenue is 75,884 and the number of rooms sold is 622, then the
ADR is 114.63. The ADR is together with occupancy percentage, one of the key
operating ratios that indicates the hotels performance.
 REVENUE MANAGEMENT
Is used to maximize room revenue at the hotel.
It is based on the economics of supply and demand, which means that prices rise
when demand is strong and drop when demand is weak
Allocate the right type of room to the right guest at the right price so as to
maximize revenue per available room.
The purpose of revenue management is to increase profitability
 ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Technology is used to extend guest in-room comfort by means of an energy management system.
Passive infrared motion sensors and door switches can reduce energy consumption by 30 percent
or more by automatically switching off lights and air-conditioning, thus saving energy when the
guest is out of the room.
Additional features include the following:
Room occupancy status reporting
Automatic lighting control
Minibar access reporting
Smoke detector alarm reporting
Central electronic lock control
Guest control amenities
CALL ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS
Track guest room phone charges.
Software packages can be used to monitor where calls are being
made and from which phones on the property.
Call accounting systems today can be used to offer different rates
for local guest calls and long-distance guest calls.
 GUEST RESERVATION SYSTEMS
Airlines were the first industry to start using global distribution systems (GDS) for
reservations.
Global distribution systems are electronic markets for travel, hotel, car rental, and
attraction bookings.
Central Reservation System (CRS) houses the electronic database in the Central
Reservation Office (CRO)
Hotels provide rates and availability information to the CRO usually by data
communication lines.
With such a system, hotels can avoid overselling rooms by too large a margin.
BILLING GUESTS
Hospitality businesses today seek to obtain the most high-speed and reliable computer systems they can
afford that they can use to bill their guests without delay.
Billing guests has become much easier with the aid of computers. Billing guests can be a long process if
information technologies are not used to complete transactions.

SECURITY
Peace of mind that the hotel or restaurant is secure is a key factor in increasing guest satisfaction.
Security is one of the highest concerns of guests who visit hospitality businesses.
Hospitality information technology systems include surveillance systems in which cameras are installed in
many different areas of the property to monitor the grounds and help ensure safety.
Recent technological advances have produced electronic door locking systems
In-room safes can now be operated by key cards.
 GUEST COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE
Hotels provide guest comfort and convenience to maintain a home-away-from-
home feeling for their guests.
Hotels receive recognition when they provide many additional in-room services
and amenities for their guest, such as dining, television, telephones, internet
connections, minibars, and hygiene products.
Many other services can be provided outside of the rooms, such as swimming
pools, massages, fine dining, postal services, and meeting space.
Sprint states, Build loyalty and promote business retention by enhancing the
overall quality-of visit for your guest.
 RESERVATIONS
The Reservations department is headed by the reservations manager who, is on the same level as the front-office
manager and reports directly to the Director of Rooms Division or the director of sales.
Reservations is the first contact for the guest or person making the reservation for the guest.
Because of this, exceptional telephone manners and telemarketing skills are necessary.
It is essential to sell the hotel by emphasizing its advantages over the competition.
The desired outcome of the reservations department is to exceed guest expectations when they make reservations.
Reservations originate from a variety of sources:
The Internet
Corporate
Travel Agents
Telephone to the same property
Fax
Letter
cable
Meeting planners
Tour Operators
Referral from another company property
Airport Telephone
Walk-in
 RESERVATIONS
Confirmed reservations are reservations made with sufficient time for a
confirmation slip to be returned to the client by mail or fax
Confirmation is generated by the computer printer and indicates confirmation number,
dates of arrival and departure, type of room booked, number of guests, number of
beds, type of bed, and any special requests.
Guaranteed reservations are given when the person making the reservation
wishes to ensure that the reservation will be held.
The importance of guaranteed reservations is that the guest will more likely cancel
beforehand if unable to show up, which gives more accurate inventory room count and
minimizes no-shows.
 HOUSEKEEPING
The largest department in terms of the number of people employed is housekeeping.
Up to 50% of the hotel employees may work in this department.
The four major areas of responsibilities for the Executive Housekeeper are as follows:
1. leadership of people, equipment, and supplies
2. cleanliness and servicing the guest rooms and public areas
3. Operating the department according to financial guidelines prescribed by the general
manager
4. keeping record
 HOUSEKEEPING
Productivity is measured by the person-hours per occupied room.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) whose purpose is tto ensure safe and
healthful working conditions, sets mandatory job safety and health standards, conducts compliance
inspections, and issues citations when there is noncompliance.
The Executive housekeeper must also minimize loss prevention.
SECURITY/LOSS PREVENTION
Providing guest protection and loss prevention is essential for any lodging
establishment regardless of size.
The security/loss division is responsible for maintaining security alarm systems and
implementing procedures aimed at protecting the personal property of guests and
employees and the hotel
A comprehensive security plan must include the following elements:
Security Officers make regular rounds of the hotel premises, including guest floors, corridors, public
and private function rooms, parking areas and offices. Observing suspicious behaviour and taking
appropriate action.
 A COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY PLAN MUST
INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS:
Equipment
Two-way radios between security staff
CCTV cameras are used
Smoke detectors and fire alarms
Electronic key cards

Safety Procedures
Front-desk agents not allowing guests to re-enter their rooms once they have checked out.
Security officers should be able to gain access to guest rooms, store rooms, and offices at all times.
Security staff develop catastrophe plans to ensure staff and guest safety and to minimize direct and
indirect costs from disaster.

Identification Procedures
Identification cards with photographs should be issued to all employees
Name tags fro employees
 TRENDS IN HOTEL AND ROOMS DIVISION
OPERATIONS
Courtesy of Dr. Greg Dunn, Senior lecturer & Managing Director, University of Florida.
Diversity of work force projecting a substantial increase in the number of women and minorities
Increase in use of technology- reservations are being made by individuals over the Internet
Continued quest for increases in productivity hotel managers are looking for innovative ways to increase
productivity by sales per employee.
Increasing use of revenue management used to increase profit by effective pricing of room inventory
Greening of hotels and guest rooms recycling and the use of environmentally friendly products, amenities, and
biodegradable detergents will increase
Security guests continue to be concerned about personal security.
Diversity of the guest more women travellers are occupying hotel rooms
Use of hotels websites hotel companies will continue to try to persuade guests to book rooms using the hotel
company web site
In-room technology upgrades some hotels are now offering personal iPads for use while staying in guestrooms,
some of which act as the guests personal concierge
Television service upgrades some hotels are offering technology featuring free HD movies and television, as
well as the ability to connect to the Internet over the television screen.
CAREER INFORMATION
The most popular career choice among seniors
LESSON 3- IDENTIFYING WORKPLACE CONFLICT
Welcome Conflict Resolution
- conflict recognition and resolution is an important part of the daily role of a
supervisor or manager.
- Some conflicts are minor irritations that take two minutes to resolve and conflicting
parties can quickly forget them.
-Others are major damage to work relationships or customer service standards, unless
dealt with in a skillful and professional manner.
-- learn to identify potential conflict situations so that you can act quickly to resolve
them, learn some skills that you can used to resolve conflicts, and look at customer
complaints and appropriate ways to respond to those.
IDENTIFYING WORKPLACE CONFLICT
CONFLICT exists when two or more parties have differing needs, wants, goals or
values and express those differences. It may or may not result in an argument, dispute
or quarrel.
-In the workplace, conflict may result in effort being purposely made by one person or
group to block the efforts of another, or in one person or group getting what they
want at the expense of another.
-Conflict which is allowed o go out of control and is not handled correctly may lead to
resentment, quarrels, clashes of will and even power struggles within the work team.
--Conflict leads to anxiety, anger and frustration and loss of productivity. It lowers
morale.
HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF CONFLICT YOU
MIGHT ENCOUNTER
-Staff/team members will argue when one person perceives that another is not doing
their share of the work.
-Conflict may occur when poor communication within the workplace leaves individuals
unsure of what is happening.
-Conflict may occur when tips are not shared.
-Conflict may result when one person feels that favouritism is occurring.
-Conflict may result if staff members are not treated equally.
- is conflict a bad thing? Not necessarily. If employees do not care about their
workplace and working conditions, there will be no conflicts. The fact that
people argue means they have a stake in the issue and care about the results
of other peoples action.
- as a Supervisor or manager, you will be responsible for dealing with
workplace conflict. It will be least damaging and may even improve
relationships or workplace procedures, if conflict is dealt with early.
oBe aware of what is happening around you.
oIdentify signs that problems are developing and conflict may arise from
those problems.
oBe assertive when communicating with members of the team.
SIGNS OF POTENTIAL WORKPLACE CONFLICT
Team members may start having minor disagreements
Individual team members may start arriving late to work
Customers may become agitated while waiting to be served or when talking to
staff.
STAGES OF CONFLICT
- The Conflict Resolution Network (PO Box 1016, Chats wood, NSW, 2057) describes five
stages of conflicts:
1. Discomforts things dont feel right; you feel uncomfortable but may not be sure why; it
may be difficult to identify the problem.
2. Incidents short sharp exchanges occur without lasting internal reaction; something has
occurred that leaves you feeling irritated or upset or with a result you did not want
3. Misunderstandings motives or facts may be confused or misconceived; your thoughts keep
retuning to the problem.
4. Tension negative attitudes and fixed opinions weigh down relationships; there are likely to
be significant changes in the way you react to or feel about others; the workplace relationship
is a source of constant worry and concern.
5. Crisis behaviour is affected; normal workplace functioning becomes difficult even
impossible in some instances; extreme gestures may be used; you are dealing with a major
event such as a team member resigning or being fired.
- Conflicts generally progress through these stages unless they are resolved early on.
- Look out for signs of the early stages of conflict discomfort, incidents or
misunderstanding, and you will have a better chance of successful resolution and
improved workplace relationships.
CONFLICT AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE INDIVIDUAL
How can you as an individual react to conflict which has a major
effect on the outcome and the degree of the conflict situation.
Attitudes
Ifyou are Aggressive thinking that you will lose anyway, the crisis may
develop especially if your team members need you to intervene. You will
probably avoid dealing with the issue altogether. Even if you avoid dealing
with the conflict, it will not help in the long term, with relationships being
negatively affected. This is often called a Lose-Win Attitude you are going
to lose and you expect the other party to win.
if you are Assertive you are seeking for both parties to win, you will use
mutual problem solving techniques and tension will lessen. Crisis may be
avoided. Being assertive means taking into consideration your own rights of
the party, and communicating clearly. An assertive attitude is often called
Win-Win, as you wants and expect all parties involved in the conflict to win.
ATTITUDES, VALUES AND BELIEFS
Each individual within the team will have their own set of values, attitudes and beliefs.
These will be based on their cultural, religious and educational backgrounds.
- When you have team members from different cultures, backgrounds and even
educational levels, these differences can potentially cause conflict.
- An attitude is our way of thinking and how we assess and approach life and work
on a daily basis. Attitudes can change fairly easily.
- Our values are our personal principles and standards that follow fairly consistently
as values are more deeply held than attitudes.
- Beliefs may be based on our culture and religion.
WORKPLACE FACTORS IN CONFLICT
- It is not the differences in the team members individual behaviour and beliefs that cause
conflict in the workplace. There are other factors that cause conflict that the supervisor must be
aware of. By reducing these factors you will be providing your team members with a good
work environments and will ensure that they are not contributing factors to conflict.
Some of these factors are:
Poor workplace layout, lighting or temperature
Lack of equipment to do the job
Poor maintenance of equipment and workplace
Lack of training and skills of team members
Understanding
Inadequate breaks
 ACTIVITY
- Think of a conflict that you have been involved in or that you have closely observed.
You may focus on what happened when it reached crisis or tension, but it is likely that
when you think back over the situation, you can identify earlier stages.

Briefly give some background of the conflict.

___________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Describe the conflict in the stages described above.
1. Discomforts ____________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. Incidents _______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. Misunderstandings ________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. Tensions ________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
5. Crisis __________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
LESSON 4 RESOLVING CONFLICT
Even the best plans dont get the intended result for resolving conflict, thats why
controls have to be put in place.
- At same time control helps the hotel managers monitor environmental changes in and
out the establishment and its effect on the companys progress.
- Resolving conflicts to ones hotel establishment needs a careful and thorough process
so that it would not be destructive and cause distrust in the operation.
CONSTRUCTIVE RESPONSES
- if we respond constructively to conflict situations in the early stages we can often
resolve conflict.
- the grounding for all of the skills that you can draw on to resolve conflict is your
attitude.
- an attitude of Lets resolve this so it is best for everyone or This shows that some
people may not like how we are doing things perhaps theres a better or different
way will result in a different response to an attitude of oh no, they are arguing. Im
going to have to shut them up again.
EXAMPLES OF CONSTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOURS ARE:
1. looking for mutual goals, showing empathy, showing mutual respect.
2. keeping calm
3. opening the verbal communication such as How can we resolve this?
-if we allow the conflict to continue, either by ignoring it or by simply brushing it away.
The following may assist with conflict resolution.
1. Questioning- by asking open questions one can fully explore the issue and its raminifications.
2. Listening- by listening actively and paraphrasing you can demonstrate that you can
understand
3. Finding Mutual Goals by identifying areas of agreement you may find mutual goals
4. Reaching Agreement once you have agreed goals you may be able to agree on actions
to be taken by one or more parties.
5. Confirmation and Ongoing Support the issues and the agreed actions should be
summarized and ongoing support provided.
SELF-TALK
Learning about self-talk and how to control it can be of enormous benefit in conflict
situations as you will better be able to control your unhelpful emotions in the conflict
and your attitude to the conflict. Sometimes this is all that you need toresolve the
conflict effectively.
- Self-talk is the chatter that goes on constantly in our minds. It is what you tell
yourself about what is happening around you.
- By realizing that our self-talk is what causes our feelings and our reactions to
events, we have more control. We can change our feelings and reactions by changing
our self-talk.
To change your self-talk, you must first identify unhelpful and unrealistic self-talk. This is usually easiest
to do by:
1. thinking of times when you feel strong, negative, unhelpful emotions.
2. identifying what situation happened just before the emotion.
3. working out what youre self-talk is about that emotion.
ACTIVE LISTENING
Active listening is made up of two main parts:
Non-verbal communication
Non-verbal communication that shows that you are really listening to someone, and that actually helps
you to listen, includes:
Leaning toward the person
Good eye contact
Nods and other encouragement
Moving to a location that is free of distractions

Reflecting
When you use reflective listening, you paraphrase what the person has just said to you.
REFLECTING
What Reflecting does?
Clarifies meaning
- stops misunderstanding from occurring or growing
Helps the Speaker
- helps the speaker think about the real issues and feelings
- Encourages the speaker to think deeper
- reminds the speaker what has been said and shows connections
- helps the speaker feel listened to and understood
Helps the Listener
- helps the listener o understand things from the speakers point of view
- helps the listener to concentrate and focus on the speaker
Helps the conversation to keep moving forward
- this can be particularly useful if the speaker just keeps going over old ground. Sum
up what has been said and then they often move on.

CONFRONTING
When somebody is doing something that infringes on your rights, it is important to be
able to confront them about it in an assertive way. This means that you need to take
into consideration both their rights and your rights and you need to communicate
clearly.
THE PROCESS
Most of the time, when you confront somebody even if you do it in the possible nicest
way, they will get defensive. It is important, therefore, to see confronting as a process.
1. Preparation and Timing
when you first start trying out assertive confronting, it will be quite difficult. It can take a while to plan
a sentence that doesnt generalize and to be clear about how you feel. This is particularly important if
you have strong feelings about the situation or it has been a problem for a while. So you should:
Plan what you will say
Practice it
Think about how the other person may respond

Make sure that you choose an appropriate time to approach the other person about the situation. It can be very helpful to make a
time with the other person ahead. You could say something like: The situation is getting very difficult. Could we please talk
about it after you finish your shift? Lets seeif we can resolve it.
2. Say your Prepared Sentence
When the time comes for your discussion, dont heat around the bush or make small talk, just say your
prepared sentence. Then be quiet. Dont try to justify it just say it and leave it at that. Taking too long
to get around to it, or nervously justifying yourself after saying it, will take value away from what you
have said.

3. Be quiet and Listen

give the other person a chance to respond. There is a good chance that the response will be defensive,
so you need to give the other person a chance to get this out and to show that you are willing to listen
to his point of view. Listen carefully, focusing on reflecting to show that you understand. Keep the focus
on the other person and really try to understand his point of view.

4. Go back to your prepared sentence and listen

Repeat your prepared sentence. Change the wording a little, but keep the essence of your message
the same. Dont add in extra justification or get drawn into an argument. This shows that what you have
asked is important to you and you believe that it is right.
Of course after listening to the other person, you may decide that the other person is right or that the
issues have changed. If so, be prepared to back down. Repeat the cycle as many times as is necessary.

5. Focus on the solution

Almost always the other person will suggest a solution. Make sure it meets your needs. Reflect back to
be sure it is clear and you both understand it the same way. Then say thanks
SAMPLE CONFRONTING ROLE-PLAY SCRIPT
A: when you dont do the washing up as we agree. I feel annoyed because it makes more
work for me.
B: (defensively) I do the washing up normally, it was just that last night I was too tired.
A: So, youre saying that it was only last night that you missed.
B: Well, last week I missed a couple of nights too, but mostly I do it.
A: So generally youve been doing your agreed chores.
B: Well
A: okay, but the times that you dont do the washing up I fell annoyed because I have to do the
extra work
B: Im trying
A: yes but when you dont do it I dont have time to do the extra work
B: how about if we worked out the roster again? I think these nights dont work
A: okay
COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
When using the collaborative problem solving, you work with the other person to
solve the problem rather than trying to win the argument or convince the person to
accept your view.
o it focuses on solving the problem rather than attacking the person
o it involves working together rather than against each other
oIt looks for a solution that all parties can be happy with
oIt means being open to creative solutions
oIt involves exploring the needs and interests of all people involved
oIt avoids either/or, preferring to come up with many solutions
COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING
1. Define the problem in items of needs
Most of the time in conflicts we focus on what we want the solution to be. In collaborative problem
solving, you even avoid thinking about solution until you have looked at the needs of all parties.

- Writing the needs down can be useful

- Generate options
- Brainstorming is a useful way to generate many ideas without evaluating them. Write down all ideas
in random positions on a sheet of paper or a board.
2. Select the Solution
- This is probably only relevant if you use brainstorming. If using what ifs you have already chosen a
solution. By the time you finish branstorming it will probably be pretty clean which ideas will satisfy the
most needs of all the paries: all thats left is to choose between those.
3. Plan the solution and carry out
- Planning will stop it from being all talk. It can sometimes be useful to also plan to check up whether its
working out all right. Say something like: lets try that for a month and agree that well talk about it
again then. Just check if its working out okay.
DEALING WITH ANGER OR OTHER HIGH EMOTIONS
You need to deal with any strong emotion before you can actually get down to
resolve a conflict. Dont try to solve poblems until motions are diffused.
Use reflective listening to understand people and to make them feel understood. If
they are being unreasonable, they will usually show that too.
Dont give your opinion until you feel like you really understand them (and they feel
that you do)
If they are standing up, try to get them to sit down-its hard to saty as angry when
youre sitting down
Sit beside them rather than across from them. Dont have abything dividing you
If they get derogatory or hateful to you, you can tell them to come back later when
they have calmed down
Sometimes when it appears hat there is a problem, just listening reflectively may
show that you really agree.
POINTS TO REMEMBER WHEN RESOLVING
CONFLICT
Dont worry about assigning blame. Its a waste of time, it only creates bad feelings,
and sets you up for a competition rather than collaboration
If possible, take the time to plan the process- think through needs and rights of both
parties, work out what youll say, think about what response you might get, etc.
Remember that conflicts can be destructive or constructive. Have a positive attitude
of working out how to solve a problem together and youre halfway there.
 LESSON 5
RESPONDING TO CLIENT COMPLAINTS
Our guests are our most important asset
Managers acknowledge the important role of handling client complaint in the
hospitality industry.
Hotel managers interview guests, evaluate and gather feedback to improve the guest
satisfaction when it comes to products and services.
- Customer complaints are a special type of conflict situation.
- Many of the skills in dealing with conflicts between employees in your workplace
will apply.
-Customers usually tell others about their bad experience- word of mouth creates
significant market damage.
- sometimes when customers get prompt attention to a complaint they become even
more loyal than customers who have had no problems at all.
- Dealing effectively with customer complaints is essential
STEPS TO RESOLVING CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
The following steps will help you to resolve customer complaints in almost every situation.

1. Listen to the Customer use active listening skills, reflecting to draw out all the relevant information.
Ensure that the customer feels that you are interested in their concern.
2. Summarize the Problem summarize back to them what their problem is, this will check that you
have understood properly and show them that you have been listening.
3. If possible, Offer them two alternative solutions to choose between for example, if a customer in a
restaurant complains about the food, you could offer the choice of a replacement meal or a
discount. This helps the customer to feel in control of the situation, and is also more likely to accept
something that will satisfy them.
4. Follow through and follow up make sure that solution is carried out. Check the customer later that
they are happy.
POINTS TO REMEMBER
Dont take comments or anger personally. The customer may be emotional and
angry, but it is not helpful for you to respond emotionally.
Make sure that the customer feels as though you are interested in them, listening to
them and trying to understand them.
If the customer is emotional you may need to spend some time just listening to help
them clam down.
Offer options that are fair to both your organization and the customer.
Dont blame other in the organization. In fact, laying blame at all. As with conflict
situations, it usually serves no purpose.
LESSON 6 SECURITY IN HOTEL
-One of the most critical issues in managing hotel is the safety and security of the
guest, staff, assets as well as the whole environment.
- the main reasons are the change brought about by forces and pressure that are
involved in the operation in hotel establishment.
- Providing security in a hospitality environment is the broad task of protecting:
- People
- Guests
- Employees
- Assets
- Cash
- Valuables
- Property
- How each of these security areas is protected is a policy issue for individual enterprises.
SECURITY ISSUES
Protecting the two primary players People and Assets become a major
responsibility.

Major security considerations include:

Emergency evacuations- bomb threat, fire;
Theft (money, vehicles, goods);
Security staffing;
Suspicious people
Control of access to certain areas
Disturbances
Financial control and record keeping
SECURITY ISSUES
Developing a Security System
Any security system should have prevention as its primary objective although not all potential crime is
preventable.
The involvement of the staff in identifying potential security issues and developing procedures is
encouraged because I is a member of staff that will most likely be the first to spot the problem, be the
one to implement and follow the procedures and finally, report the incident.
A well-planned and effective security system will include:
Written procedures
Staff training in prevention and procedure in the event of a security breach or emergency situation
Regular review of existing systems
Clearly defined lines of authority in the event of an emergency;
Reporting systems/evaluation after an event.

security measures are for everyones protection.

BOMB THREAT PROCEDURES
The reality is with hotels (and other organizations) do receive bomb threats, which can
be taken seriously; more often than serious fire occur.
A standard procedure for dealing with bomb threats follows three steps:
1. Receiving the Threats it is generally believed that the actual bombers are quite
specific with detail when they make a bomb threat.
Attempt to gain as much information about the threat as possible
Type of bomb, location, time due to explode, callers name, reasons for planting the bomb.
2. The Search it is necessary to be systematic and thoroughly look in places which could
be accessed first. If a suspicious package or bomb is found, do not touch it but report
immediately to the head warden or person in charge.
3. The Evacuation the decision to evacuate may be taken immediately upon
receiving a threat or after it has been determined that a bomb actually exist
THEFT
Theft and pilferage can occur in every department of an organization.
Theft by employees is an expensive cost incurred by almost every establishment,
although much of it is preventable.
A prevention procedure sets out how each asset money, food, beverage, linen,
utensils equipment Security issues, furnishings is to be accounted for, by whom, how
and when.
The types of measures used include stock requirement and transfer forms, stock
auditing and ordering controls, access restrictions, accounting systems and many
others.
Another security issues is theft by someone other than employees.
Robbery can include theft by guests of items in their room or other public areas, or a
hold-up with the sole intention of obtaining money or assets
ROBBERY PREVENTION STRATEGY
In developing a strategy for the prevention of robbery, and a strategy in the event a
robbery does occur, the primary focus must be of human safety.
Financial losses can be made up, but human life cannot be replaced.
A robbery prevention should, as a minimum, include:
A written, detailed description of all valuable property
An alarm system
Effective lighting and other security aids, for example closed circuit television monitors
Staff training
A standard procedure for the recovery of the property removed by guests from guestrooms
A procedure for transfer of money around the hotel
A standard procedure for staff to observe in the event of a robbery and
A reporting and accountability procedure after a robbery.

if a hold-up occur, always cooperate. Do not enter into a discussion or argument and do not refuse to give the
perpetrator what they want.
SECURITY STAFFING
The size and design of a particular establishment, its service and facilities, location and
available resources will determine the need for and use of security staff.
- while it is an effective strategy for staff to be aware of potential security issues, there may
be valid reasons for specialist security staff.
Options include:
In-house security department
Contract services; or
Security company patrols.

- Before the decision can be made, the following must be considered:

- Likely effectiveness;
- Training
- Expertise
- Financial resources available
- Physical demands
SUSPICIOUS PEOPLE
- Most hospitality organizations have public access irrespective of whether the person
is a customer or not.
- A suspicious person can be an employee or guest or other person.
- What to do about Suspicious People
Of course some people may simply be lost, or waiting for someone, or just looking around,
but if you feel someone genuinely looks suspicious
Alert your Supervisor
Approach only and offer assistance if you feel comfortable doing so.
Dont just ignore him watch him carefully
Be observant of his actions, clothing, manner, where he goes and what he does
ACCESS CONTROL
- Restricting access is concerned with security and safety.
- Access control deals with restricting access to the propertys entrances, specially
those that lead to guest and public areas, and employee-only area.
- The main tools of access control are keys, locks, monitoring systems and physical
barriers.
- Restricting access to certain areas helps reduce the incidence of loss and as a safety
measure, can prevent accidents.
GUEST ROOM SECURITY
- the security of guests and their valuables are the responsibility of the hotel
irrespective of the location of the guest (when on the property).
- If the guest is off-property, but has his personal belongings in the room, he has a
right to assume they are safe.
- This safety can be assisted in a number of ways:
Advise the guests of security options of their valuables
Good lighting in all public access areas
Strict key control procedures
Locks, latches, chains
In-room safe
Peepholes in room doors
Telephone and emergency numbers directory in room
Emergency procedure (posted in-room-required by law)
Restriction of information about guests
SAFETY DEPOSIT BOXES
- Safety deposit systems range from the installation of an in-room safe to a security
room requiring double key access-one key held by the guest and one by a staff
member, usually in the front office- o simply leaving valuables at reception for
safekeeping.
- Inn-keepers legislation severely limits the liability in the event of theft of guests
personal property when in a guest room.
- An Inn-room safe protects the valuables of the guests. The guest are able to access
their valuables at their convenience and are able to select their own code for the
safe.
- The most common system used for securing guest valuables with the front desk
requires the guest to sign a form that limits the hotels responsibility and indicates
what is actually in the safety deposit box.
KEYS AND LOCKS
- Keys and locks ensure guest privacy, safety and security.
- Strict control of issuing keys, and procedures for the changing of locks, are important crime
prevention tools.
- The introduction of computer-generated plastic key cards, with a magnetic strip, fro guest
room access, has contributed to a reduction in theft from guest rooms, and reduced the cost of
replacing locks and lost or stolen keys.
- As a means of protecting people and assets a few simple measures can easily be put in
place. The following are the procedures that can be followed in hotels.
When guest register, dont say the room number out loud.
When returning to the hotel, guests will usually ask for their key by room number. Ask guests their
name, to check against registration, before issuing the room key.
Dont stamp room numbers on actual keys
Dont identify the hotel on the key tag
Change locks if keys are misplaced or stolen
Never issue a master key to a guest
At check out, ask the guest for the key
OTHER SECURITY MEASURES
Security issues can appear in the mist unlikely places. We need to alert on this and
put in place security measures accordingly, such

Check signature on credit cards against signature on the voucher/docket

Issue identify cards with a picture to staff
Conduct regular physical checks of the premises
Screen trades people before giving access to restricted areas
DISTURBANCES
A disturbance is usually any event or occurrence that interrupts normal activities within
an organization.
This may be brief, non-violence encounters or it may pose a serious threat to health,
safety and security risk
Some likely disturbances include:
Unruly behaviour in a public place or a guest room (that affects other guests)
Attempt to break in to a guest room or car
Intoxicated people
Loud arguments
Violence
Emergencies
Accidents
Vandalism
FINANCIAL CONTROL AND RECORD KEEPING
Large sums of cash pass through hospitality operations every day. Equally valuable
are credit cards, vouchers and cheques.
- All money is handled several times within the operation before it reaches a bank;
therefore control procedures must exist for the handling of all transactions, stock
movement, payroll, banking and cashiering.
- The Accounts department is responsible for maintaining the final accountability of
all money. They control credits and debits, payroll, issue of floats and finalize all
banking transactions.
INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
Insurance is a way of protecting the interests of a business if anything goes wrong fire, theft,
injury, damage.
Insurance takes the form of a policy, which is a contract between the insurer and the policy holder,
whereby the insurer guarantees to compensate, financially or otherwise, the other party, should
something ever happen to the insured item.
Insurance can be bought for almost every contingency arising out of the day to day running of a
hospitality business.
As a minimum, all hospitality operations should have the following insurance policies:
1. Liability Insurance
Employees are covered under workers compensation, which is a compulsory insurance scheme that protects employees in the
event of an accident.
Public liability is also compulsory and will cover the public in the event of an accident on the insured premises as a result of
negligence by the owner, or an employee
Personal insurance is a good idea for the self employed.

2. Property Insurance
If your claim is accepted, you are entitled to reasonable, medical and treatment costs.

Work Cover aims to help injured workers return to work as soon as possible.