Pearson New International Edition International pcl tp indd 1

OVERVIEW OF THE FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT
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FRONT OFFICE SEMANTICS
Induction:
Process of informing new employees about matters related to the department in which they
will work. Induction is done after the orientation process is completed.
During induction, the new employee meets his or her peers, obtains a more
detailed tour of the front office (e.g., front desk area and workstations), and learns about
policies and procedures unique to the department (e.g., policies about work-schedule
requests and procedures to follow when calling in about an assigned work shift).
After the induction process is completed, training can begin. On-the-job train-
ing is a common method to prepare new front office employees for their positions. It
also can be a useful technique to retrain and provide new information and skills to
experienced employees. For example, a currently employed front desk clerk may need
to learn how to use new equipment, or an experienced reservations agent may need
to learn revised procedures to handle reservations made by third-party agents.
The concept of on-the-job training is excellent: A knowledgeable and trained per-
son teaches another person how to correctly perform job tasks. In practice, however, the
training method is widely misused. Common sense suggests that (1) even an experi-
enced employee needs to learn how to train; (2) training takes time away from other
activities the trainer would do; and (3) preparation must be undertaken to plan and
organize the training and how it will be delivered. Unfortunately, some FOMs perceive
on-the-job training to be tag-along training. In other words, they believe that any
employee who knows how to perform required job tasks can train others, because train-
ing merely involves showing the trainee how to do the required work.
A well-designed training program for front office personnel, or for those in any
other department of the hotel, involves the steps identified in Figure 11. Let’s look
at Figure 11 more closely:
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Step 1: Define tasks for which training is needed. Tasks to be performed by a per-
son working in a position should be identified in a current job description. The
job description is a selection tool should be explained to job applicants so that
they know the details of the work they will be doing if they are selected.