Attributes required for Front Office Personnel

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.