Attributes
required for Front Office Personnel
Front office is a department where guest comes in first
contact with the employees of the hotel. Employees of front office department
are the mirror image of the hotel. They reflect the standards of the
establishment. Therefore, it is very essential for front office department
professional to be competent. Competencies are a set of behavioural traits and
technical abilities that are suitable for a job. It has been observed that the
role of front office professional has changed dramatically. They are empowered with more
responsibilities. Therefore they require certain attributes. Attributes means,
the quality of Front office staff to achieve more productive work and accomplish
maximum guest satisfaction, as well as to create competitive advantage to an
organization.
Attributes may be defined as: “a set of personal and professional etiquette and mannerism
that front office staff needs to be followed while dealing with guest”
Front office personnel require a set of knowledge and skills.
If the staffs are well trained and efficient, they can, to a certain extent,
make up for other shortcomings in the service provided. All Front office staff
should be aware of the attributes cited below and it is their individual
responsibility to ensure that they are put into practice.
6.1 ATTRIBUTES
REQUIRED IN FRONT-OFFICE PERSONNEL ARE:
1. Smiling
Face: Smile is the most enduring
competency required by front office personnel. As simple as it may seem, it is
the most effective way of dealing with guests. A smile gets a smile in
response. It immediately breaks down several barriers of a guest including fatigue,
low spirits, doubt, anxiety etc. Always try to maintain a smile while talking
to a guest. Smiling while speaking on the telephone, is a powerful way to
convey tone and intention to customer who judges the caller by the voice.
2. Sense of
grooming and hygiene: How you
look and the first impression you create on others matters a lot. The front
office personnel are the first point of physical contact for a guest with the
hotel. Well groomed front office staff represents qualities of hygiene,
professionalism, management style, reliability etc.
3. Punctuality: It is a hallmark of good front office staff. The front desk employee
should be punctual in reporting for their shifts, as well as in the discharge
of their duties and responsibilities. The punctuality of employees reflects
their commitment to their work.
4. Courtesy: The
hospitality industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the past decade. Whoever the guest one faces; one must
be calm, patient and not be arrogant at all.
This is supposed to be the basic quality that
should be imbibed in all the staff of the hospitality industry. He/she should
be courteous on all occasions and at all times not only towards guests but also
towards colleagues and other people. The advantage and necessity of being
courteous should be emphasized as it not only help operations but also
ensures better relationship.
Courtesy is generally revealed by:
a) Using magic words like Thank you, Sorry, Please, “May I
assist you?” I beg your pardon, Pleasure and many more. Using these words puts
a great impact on the guest and makes him to feel special for an organisation.
b) Greeting the guest as per the time of the day.
c) Addressing the guest by his name as this gives him/her
recognition and guest gets the feeling of personalised service
5. Voice
Clarity:
Voice shows the reputation or personality of the person as well as of the
hotel. Cultivate voice with a smile. Tone of the voice should be cheerful,
natural and unhurried, should be able to vary the pitch from time to time to
lean to put warmth in voice by responsive, enthusiastic, helpful, interested
and attentive.
6. Physical
fitness: There
are no fixed working hours in this field. One must be ready to work for round
the clock and even on night shifts. Physical
fitness is the utmost requirement for all the staff of hotel industry
especially for front-office department because they need to stand for long
hours. If an employee is physically fit it translates into energy, enthusiasm,
lightness, ability to cope, youth and joy and able to serve the guest with
smile and pleasure.
7. Guest
oriented: Front office staff needs to
be sensitive to guest’s needs and demands. They should respond to them in a
timely manner. Staff must put the customer as their main focus and put all
thoughts and actions towards creating positive customer experience. If, the staff
is not customer oriented the business of the hotel is likely to decline.
8. Disciplined: Disciplined staff
provides a great support to the smooth operations of the department as well as
of the hotel. Disciplined personnel properly follows house rules and
regulations, tries to bring reputation and recognition to the property with his
disciplined behaviour.
9. Honesty and Responsibility: There are many
temptations in a hotel and provides many opportunities to front office
personnel for theft of hotel and guest belongings such as money, hotel
belongings (stationery items, artifacts, linen items etc. It is the moral
responsibility of the employee to be loyal towards the guest and the
organisation. They are responsible for not provide hotel’s confidential information
to other people or competitive hotels.
10.Basic etiquette: Immense
work pressure, long hours of work and maintaining harmony with the clients
forms an essential part of the department. All
front line personnel are required to have the ability to communicate or act
effectively with certain etiquette and manners.
Basic etiquettes front office personnel
should exhibit includes:
a)
Greet to
the guest with a smiling face as per the day
b) Attend to guests as soon as they approach and if busy
acknowledge his presence and assure him to be attended shortly
c)
If front
office staff know the guest in that case address the guest with his surname
(Mr. /Ms. Kapoor). It provides the feeling of personalised service to the
guest.
d) Talk politely to guest and use magic words while conversing
with him/her
e)
Avoid
playing with pen, hair or any other item
f)
Do not
scratch oneself or picking the nose or ear etc.
g) Do not move hands too much while talking to guest
h) Stand erect
i)
Listen
guest carefully and then assist him accordingly
j)
Avoid
getting indulge into arguments with a guest
11.Ability to
work in a team: Teamwork is one of the
essential competencies. Results are the responsibility of the entire team and
not the team leader alone. Team dynamics have changed over the years. A poor
team performance can severely damaged the reputation of the establishment while
good team performance directly enhances it
12. Good
technical knowledge:
Professionals can call themselves as such only when they show some physical
proof of their knowledge. Employees with
their knowledge and skills form the backbone of successful business. Organisations expect the true professional to convert ideas
into business opportunities for the hotel. Good technical knowledge and skills
makes the guest satisfied and allows hotel to get repeat guests.
13.Well Organised: Front desk and lobby are the first areas of contact of guest
with the property. Guest evaluates the status of a property by seeing the
arrangement of things at these areas. Therefore, front office personnel must
have the habit of keeping items in an orderly fashion in order to create good
impression on a guest.
It can be done by following ways:
a) Arranging old forms and formats
b) Litters must be thrown only in dustbin
c) Books/registers must be placed properly
d) Pens and pencils must be in holder
e) Front desk counter must be dust free and free from unnecessary accumulation of
articles
f) While presenting a bill to the guest, bill folder having a
pen must be used
g) Door to access back office must be closed at all times.
