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DELIVERING GUEST SERVICE THROUGH EMPLOYEES
After viewing a video emphasizing quality service, one manager was heard saying to
another, “I wish my hotel had staff like those in the video.” The video showed a series of
situations in which a trained front desk agent (1) provided a hospitable greeting, (2) sug-
gested an upgraded (and higher priced) room that improved the guest’s experience,
(3) displayed knowledge of the hotel, (4) answered all the guest’s questions, (5) helped
peers when they became especially busy, and (6) met or exceeded guests’ service expec-
tations. Why couldn’t (didn’t) the manager viewing the training video employ, train, and
enable staff members who consistently performed these relatively simple and common-
sense actions? What kind of service was the manager’s staff providing if they did not do
what was shown in the video? People who stayed at this lodging operation might also be
asking these questions: “What’s wrong with the staff? Why does their supervisor allow
these things to happen? If I as a guest know the negative impact that a staff member’s
actions (or inactions) have on business, why can’t those who work here and who have a
vested interest in the business’s success see it as well and do something about it?”
As noted in Roadmap 4, this last section of the chapter addresses the delivery of
service. This is important because the quality of service provided to guests in every
hospitality operation is affected most by the staff members who provide the service.
They, in turn, use work processes that, traditionally, have been developed by man-
agers. (However, hotel employees are increasingly being asked to contribute to
process development and are more frequently empowered to make decisions in non-
routine situations.) If the employee’s role is critical in service delivery, what role does
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the manager play? It has been said that most problems in lodging operations are
caused by the manager. Can this be true? The observation runs contrary to the think-
ing of the traditional manager who believes, “I wish I could find good employees.
Then my operating problems would be solved, my guests would be happy, and my
business would be profitable.” In fact, the manager effectively (or ineffectively)
recruits, orients, trains, motivates, and empowers staff members to serve guests. The
manager establishes and maintains (or does not establish and maintain) the philoso-
phy about the critical importance of guest service.
Managers cannot delegate the accountability they receive from their own boss
to their subordinates. Instead, managers are held responsible for the extent to which
the property is successful. As emphasized throughout this chapter and this book,
service is an essential ingredient in the success of all lodging organizations.