Local community
The local communities have a very considerable interest in a business. They are interested in jobs environmental and social issues. The holiday inn is a big business to the surrounding area as a lot of jobs will be related to the hotel, a local firm cleans the windows, local buses deliver staff to the hotel gates, and finally local caters may be asked to cater for special occasions. The holiday inn provides a great number of jobs, so if it closed, or even just a cut back the impact would be serious. The local community must always be kept informed to the changes a business can have because if the local community oppose then the business will be under immense pressure to try and keep a good image. They will also be interested in finding out where the holiday inn disposes of their rubbish and how they intend to keep down the pollution. The local community will want noise levels kept to a minimum level; they wouldn’t want delivery trucks delivering 5’oclock in the morning. The holiday inn must ensure they are happy at all times as they might start complaining to the local council and to newspapers this will create a negative image on the company. If the holiday inn decides to expand the hotel the local community will support them and they might even sponsor them in local events. If the holiday inn started to deliver raw materials to the hotel late in the evening, the local community might set up an action group to stop this because the noise upsets householders and makes it difficult for them to sleep. Their action might include writing to the local MP and the city councillors, leafleting local houses and blocking road with street protests. Another major issue could be pollution; this is a big issue for many large companies like the holiday inn. Many people are concerned about the health risks from pollution.
Managers
Managers get well paid with businesses they often get paid bonuses; this is so they are motivated to do their job to the best of their ability. If they didn’t then the holiday inn would have a bad atmosphere and as one of the duties of the manager is to look after a group of staff there motivation will be lessened. They must share out work between the members of the department so that everyone is as happy as possible. Managers must have good communication skills and listening skills. Managers must produce good products in the most professional and profitable way. They want the company they are working for to do well so that they get their salary or wage so this is why they do everything they can to ensure the company is at its best.
Pressure groups
Pressure groups are independent organisations that fight for different environmental and social issues for one example of a pressure group is Greenpeace they fight for global warming, nuclear power mainly environmental issues. Most business are affected by pressure groups. The hotel industry isn’t yet unionised. A trade union is a group of workers who agree to negotiate with employers as a group as a group rather than individual people. If someone is a member of a trade union they can get there union to fight for them if they are not happy with something whereas if you are not then the case is not likely to be followed up. The holiday inn must cooperate with the local pressure groups so that a negative image isn’t given out, this could affect them in the future because they start protests about the company and this will affect them with a fall in customers. If the holiday inn started to dump food waste in a nearby river, a local environmental group would almost certainly complain to the national rivers authority, this would lead to the criminal prosecution of the holiday inn, meaning a large fine for the company this may almost certainly leading to bad publicity, once again.
Shareholders
A shareholder is a person who has bought a financial share in a business. They are interested in the profit made and the share paid. In the holiday inn people are interested to buy shares for two main reasons, they get income from the shares, known as a dividend and secondly they can make money if the shares go up. If shareholders in the holiday inn are not happy, they may decide to sell their shares and in the long run this will have a negative effect on the company. However if the company is doing well their share prices will increase and their shareholders may decide to sell them to make a profit. Shareholders are interested to see how the business is because there dividend paid will only be paid if the business is making enough money. The public can own shares in the holiday inn, they expect the business to act in a politically correct way. If the business, for example were dumping their rubbish on wasteland, the shareholders and probably the newspapers would make their own opinions recognized and this in return will give them bad publicity. The latest share price for the holiday inn is at 703.50p. A dividend of 4.30p per ordinary share was paid on 18 October 2004 to shareholders on the register at the close of the business
Government
The holiday inn is very important to the government because it provides local jobs. If these jobs weren’t provided the government would have to pay out money in jobseekers allowance to more unemployed people. The holiday inn pays taxes to the government. Employees have laws to protect them whilst they are working in firms, such as the holiday inn. As a stakeholder in the organisation, the government must ensure that employees get all the rights they are entitled to. They will also want employees to know what they can do, and whom they can go to if they are not given their legal rights. The holiday inn must go by the regulations that the government sets, because if they fail to do so the government have the power to shut down the business. The holiday inn must ensure that all guests and staff are seen to properly.
Conflict within stakeholders
Stakeholders will always be in conflict. Conflicts can occur between the local community and employees. Employees want good pay and bonuses, they want safety in the workplace. If there is disruption in the holiday inn the employees’ will not know whether to stand up for their job or to agree with the community, because maybe the community the company is in, is in conflict with the community where the employee lives. This will prove a difficult situation, as the employee doesn’t know want to loose their job but they also don’t want to go against their community. Another disagreement can be made between pressure groups and the business. For example in the holiday inn business might be doing something to disturb the wildlife, so an organisation will go against the business and try to convince members of the public to also fight with them. This can put a business in an uncomfortable situation. Disagreements can occur between banks and business. If for example the holiday inn borrows a loan and they aren’t paying the regular amounts then the bank will be forced to take action. Customers are always top priority in any business, but if they aren’t pleased then arguments can occur leading to a bad reputation of the business so this is why good customer care is essential. Shareholders may be in conflict with the business as they might feel they are not getting an appropriate dividend, because the main aim of shareholders is to invest, so it would be pointless if the business is not reaching their targets. If this does happen then shareholders may decide to sell their shares and this will have a negative effect on the business.
Customer service
Customer service is the areas of activity in which a business deals with and meets the needs of customers. Customer service is more than just an information desk in a shop. It also involves all the areas in which a business meets the needs of its customers. In customer services there is a range of activities involved. If there is no customers then there is no business, so good level of customer can ensure good level of business.
Customer service is the way in which employees put customer service into action. Customer care involves:
- Making sure you know about the available product range
- Making sure the product is safe and reliable
- Providing information about products and giving advice
- Providing credit facilities (finance) where appropriate allowing, the customer to pay over a period of time
- Providing after sales services – guarantees, spare parts, help lines.
It is the aim of every business to provide the highest level of customer service. Many businesses have a laid down policy of customer care that involves putting the customer first in all situations. Businesses need their customers to buy their products or to use their services in order to survive and make profit. So they way they treat their customers is very important.
Many business collect data to see weather there customer service is improving or not.
If a customer service is good then there will be an increased in the number of enquires this shows whether people are interested in a product or service if there is a fall in the number of complaints and returned products. If the business has good customer service then there may be an increase number of sales – people buying more products this means an increased number of customers, existing customers are recommending it to their friends, and also that advertising and marketing campaigns are working.
If customer service is poor in the holiday inn then there will be a decrease in sales and an increase in- complaint. More items being brought back maybe with faulty or maybe the customers are just not satisfied with the product. A fall in customer numbers means that bad word is getting around just how bad the customer service is.
The holiday inn staffs are trained to do all of the above. They have got to be helpful, polite, reliable people in order to give the hotel a good name e.g. if the receptionist hands the customer their rooms key the customer may ask where their room is if she replies back “I don’t know follow the signs” it will give the hotel a bad name because word of mouth will spread and it will result in a decrease of customers on the other hand if the receptionist was helpful and polite there may be an increase of customers which will give the hotel a good name. The decrease in customers can also have an effect on the business financially; there annual profits will be decreased.
For every business it is important to research into customer satisfaction so they can see their strengths and weaknesses of their customer service. If they get the feedback then they know ways in which to improve their service. The holiday inn service can be improved. In my opinion, the holiday inn website provides information concerning how the customers stay will be enjoyable however there is too much focus on the family stay. There is no information regarding disabled, or elderly customers and how there stay can be made pleasurable. If the holiday were to change this, they should state information such as, how rooms for them can be available on the ground floor and how the rooms are made to fit wheel chairs. This will make the website less bias and more comforting for such customers.
In the holiday inn staff gets trained to the highest possible standards to provide customers with good value products or services. Customers expect the staff to know about all the offers available on the products. The holiday inn always gives their suppliers specific instructions as to what they require.
A customer expects problems and enquires to be handled quickly and by people who know what they are doing. Customer complaints that are dealt with quickly and efficiently will make the customer feel special. Any delay will add to their frustration. In the holiday inn pay a lot of attention into getting the right king of staff who are bright, polite and friendly and who have the right attitude to customers, and are prepared to train to get the right skills and whoa re keen to learn about the products they are handling.
Employers should always give good product training to staff selling high quality products.
Customers like to be told exactly what the real situation is. Many employees do not like to be too honest because they are scared of what the customer reaction will be. In the holiday inn staff are trained to be honest and reliable. This is also to good customer service if customers experience bad customer service it will have a negative effect on the business. To ensure customers are kept happy, the holiday inn supplies gift vouchers to unhappy customers.
For any businesses feedback is very important because it shows them how well their customer service is. In order to get more through view, many business use customer service questioners. Well-organised businesses will provide attractive leaflets and forms for customers to complete. Nowadays it is very easy for customers to enter their comments onto a feedback page on a company website. The one below is a customer feedback sheet for the holiday inn.
The online booking system is a good way to attract customers. It allows any type of customer to make reservations for their stay and if they wish to they can pay online. The intercontinental hotels have a priority club. This is a club where any one can join and earn points and then stay at different hotels. On the website there is a window for customer service, this is good because any customer who feels let down or has a complaint can automatically do it via the email or telephone system. The online complaints system makes the holiday inn open to complaints; this shows that the business is open to ideas on improving their service. However, if you need help there is assistance on the web. They have a feedback system; this is an advanced way to get honest reliable feedback. However, prior to the departure of guests the hotel should hand out simple questionnaires that ask customers about their stay. This should be only available to leisure customers, as corporate customers don’t want the hassle. Holiday Inn presents a wide variety of meeting venues from “comfortable and practical to luxurious”. They holiday inn website provides a professional planner and an occasional planner; this allows the leisure customers to easily book their holiday; I believe that this good as leisure customers want their holiday arranged step by step.
The priority club also gives exclusive offers to priority club members. The priority club is another way to draw in customers as they have a wide range of hotels to stay at. After redeeming a certain amount of points you can have discounted room rates and discounted stay at hotels. In my opinion, the help on the website is reasonable; although the information is there it isn’t hat accessible. Plus, it is hard to understand what the priority club is about. I would recommend that the holiday inn narrows down the information to make it more understandable. For some people, surfing the web is hard so all they want is the information laid out. If the holiday inn were to improve their service they should rethink the layout and the priority club wouldn’t be much use to a leisure customer that doesn’t stay at hotels often so maybe they should run another smaller scheme where those customers can benefit. For instance they could discount their next stay. Also, this scheme will ensure customers one-day return.
The holiday already provides small children’s clubs but in my opinion the holiday should provide crèches. This can be a good investment made into any business. It keeps children amused and safe while parents can enjoy a nice evening meal. In order for this to become reality the holiday inn would have to be provide specially trained employees who know exactly how to deal with children.
How the law protects the customers
A customer is a person who buys goods and services, a consumer is a person who is the user of goods and services. The main law that protects consumers is the sale of goods act 1979. This says that goods sold should be ‘as described’ this means that the goods sold should be the same as in the description. For e.g. in the holiday inn if they are selling a CD in the gift shop it should be the one they have advertised.
The goods should be of ‘satisfactory quality’ they should meet the standard that a reasonable person would expect. For e.g. in the holiday inn the gift shop should sell reasonable quality goods.
Finally they should “fit the purpose they are intended”, this means that the product should do what it is supposed to, and like in the holiday inn they may sell a souvenir like a watch, which should tell the time.
If any of the above isn’t met the consumer is entitled to a full or partial refund. If they do not refund or give credit to the consumer this will make the company or business look bad. The buyer can accept a replacement, but they can also insist on a refund. Some shops offer credit notes the consumer doesn’t always have to accept this. The shop is not entitled to put up notices saying “no refunds”
The supply of goods and services act 1982 protects the consumer when a service is provided by a business like the holiday inn. This act states that anyone who supplies a service should carry out the work with reasonable care, reasonable time and at a reasonable price. For example, in the holiday inn a wedding coordinator should have some kind of skill for having to deal with wedding, they should organise with reasonable time so it shouldn’t take two years to organise a wedding and it needs to be one with a reasonable price so they can’t overcharge. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish what is ‘reasonable’. Does it matter if the holiday inn is next to a building site?
If in the holiday inn, the restaurant is making false statements about the goods offered for sale, or they make misleading statements about the service then the trade description act 1968 states that this is a criminal offence. Another example is in the holiday inn if there is a picture of a juicy meat pie on a packaging then there is little resemblance to the real thing this is a criminal offence.
Any business or workplace must have a safe and healthy environment. The health and safety at work act 1974 requires this. This also protects visiting customers. For instance, if the cleaning department cleans the floor and a customer slips on a wet floor. The customer can be compensated if there was no sign warning him or her. There are two other laws that protect customers from being harmed
The first is the consumer protection act 1987, which makes it a criminal offence to supply unsafe goods. The meaning of “unsafe” is if a business breaches any safety regulations. For example in the holiday inn the electrical equipment must have safe switches and insulation. The British standards institute provides safety standards for products. Most products have a kite mark to symbolise this.
The restaurants and any food places in the holiday inn require regulating by the food safety act 1990. This means that the food contents must not contain any harmful substances. The food must be labelled with ‘best by’ and ‘sell by date’; the ingredients should be listed just in case the consumer has any allergies.
Another law is the data protection act 1998. In the holiday inn a lot of consumer information is held, consumers do not expect their information to be shared but it may be shared for marketing purposes.
The weights and measures act 1986 requires that the weights and quantities. An example in the holiday inn is in the bars. The alcohol drinks cannot be sold without the quantity or weight, as this is an illegal offence. A trader who sells ‘short’ can be prosecuted. In the holiday inn, if they buy in alcohol that has been diluted they can be fined thousands. An inspector will come regularly to check that this isn’t a problem.
Job Roles and working arrangements
General Manager
The general manager has is the most important person in the running of any hotel or business. The manager must keep to a set budget that is given by the head office. In order to do this he must talk to key people within the hotel to make sure targets are being met.
Everyday at the hotel there is a meeting in the hotel. All senior staff meet up with the manager to discuss financial issues, any guest comments and the day ahead. This meeting also allows communication to happen between all departments, which are critical in the running of the hotel.
The hotel must also communicate with the local community; they play a major part in the profits made by the hotel. The hotel is one of the biggest employers in the local area; the general manager must also cooperate with the police relating to licensing laws. He must meet health and safety requirements within the hotel.
Holiday Inn is an American brand and therefore requires all the hotels to be standardized. This means that no matter which country you are in, your stay should basically be the same as any other hotel with the same décor, staff uniform, fixtures and fittings and general facilities. The General Manager must make sure that the hotel meets these requirements.
Finally, as customers become more demanding, so the standards and level of service which is given to the guest must be impeccable. Again the General Manager must work hard to ensure that this is maintained.
The skills required for the reservation manager is to attended and contribute to all daily and weekly and team meetings. He must ensure that each new member of the team receives a depatemental induction in their first week of training and that they attened a company orrientation within their there forst four weeks of employment.
Operations manager
The operations manager has the responsibility of managing the hotel on a daily basis. He is deputising the general manager when he is away. He is the key link between the staff and general manager.
The operations manager will arrive very early in the morning, often before guests are waking up. He will make sure that the hotel is generally clean and tidy, by walking around all the areas of the hotel. Any problems from the night before will be addressed and during breakfast he may meet with some guests to ensure that they have had a comfortable and pleasant stay. If the General Manager is away, he will take charge of the morning meeting, after which he will have lunch and go ‘off shift’ where a duty manager will take responsibility for the hotel.
Following his return to work in the afternoon, he will again walk around the hotel, he will receive a ‘handover’ from the duty manager who will discuss any problems that they have had. In the early evening, he will meet the guests as they check in and again ensure that they are having a comfortable stay. Should a guest have any queries, he will be able to communicate with the necessary department to try and meet the guests’ needs. This is very important; as it shows that the hotel will meet and exceed the expectations of the guest.
Duty Manager
A Duty Manager will be one of the Heads of Department who manages the hotel. This shift is covered 24 hours a day 365 days of the year. It is important that if there should be an emergency such as a fire evacuation, and both the General Manager and Operations Manager are not at the hotel. It is important that the Duty Manager takes charge of the situation and may be required to liaise with the Emergency Services when they arrive at the hotel.
Front office Manager
The required skills of a front office manger are
- excellent communiction skills
- must have convincing attitude
- must be able to stay calm under pressure as they will be dealing woth customers and guests
- good personal presentation
- must be able to work flexible working hours.
- Experience in the role of a FOM preferred or, 2years experience in a similar role within a similar sized business.
Food and Beverage manager
The food and beverage manager often shortened to F&B has an important role to play in the hotel. Apart from the general manager and the operations manger, he manages the largest number of staff in the hotel. This is because he has to manage 3 different departments.
- Restaurant- serves all meals also for any functions the hotel may have like parties or weddings.
- Room service – They are responsible for taking the order, placing the order with the kitchen and delivering the food to the guests’ room.
- Bar- the bar staff serve all beverages in the hotel. This can be to guests who just want a drink in the hotel lounge, to guests who are sitting at a table in the restaurant, or for a room service order.
During a shift on a daily basis there can be an average of 30-40 people working in F&B. They will be overseen by at least 3 supervisors, who will report to the F&B manager.
The F&B manager and his supervisors undertake all training they do for their job.
During the day there are 2 shifts. There is an early shift, which is from 6am to 3pm, and a late shift which runs from 2pm to 11pm. For supervisors and managers working in the department they do not have to work particular shifts and may have to work long hours on a busy day.
The food and beverage manager is responsible for all the food, he has to order stock for all his departments such as all the beverages for the bar (alcoholic and non alcoholic) he must also order any working replacements, which are items that become damaged to normal wear and tear such as tables, chairs and cutlery. He must communicate with the maintenance manager to have items repaired.
Other responsibilities which the F&B manager will have will be to complete are staff rota’s which ensure that in his department, depending on the business needs (which will change daily) there is enough staff working in the hotel to run his department efficiently. He must further ensure that he is not over-staffed so that there are not too many people working his department which means he is wasting money. This is critical for the General Manager to control so that he does not overspend and therefore miss his budget.
Staff working in a hotel is the most expensive cost, and will account for 25% of the total money being spent.
Head Chef
The head chef is responsible for all the food, which is prepared in the hotel. This can be for conferences, weddings or the daily breakfast, lunch dinners and daily room service orders.
The head chef does not prepare the food, he is in charge of the kitchen brigades, who prepare the meals, and I think this is highly important because without the head chef there would be no running in the kitchen. The chefs that work in the kitchen are usually junior and trainee chefs who have just left school. This is an apprentice position while they are learning skills to become a chef.
The Head Chef must communicate with the Conference and Banqueting staff, (C&B staff) and especially the F&B Manager to make sure that they are preparing the right meals for the right occasions. This requires a lot of advance preparation as the Head Chef will order all the raw ingredients of food which the kitchen will cook and prepare for all the guests whether they are wedding, conference guests or simply eating in the hotel restaurant. It is very important that they order the right food because if they don’t then the customers will complain ultimately giving the hotel a bad name.
Head Receptionist
The Head Receptionist’s role and that of reception is very important to the successful running of a hotel, as this the last and the first person any guest will communicate with. They are also the location where all messages will be past either to staff or guests via a manner of different methods including the telephone, memo, fax, email, between departments, or between staff and guests.
They perform many functions on the reception desk:
· Checking guests into the hotel
· Checking guests out of the hotel
· Deal with guests comments and complaints
· Preparation of guests bills
· Complete foreign exchange
It is important that they communicate very closely with the housekeeping staff, this is because during a very busy weekend guests may want to check in before other guests have checked out. Therefore, it is important to confirm that a room is clean and vacant before a new guest can go into the room, this is very important because no guest wants a untidy or unsafe room.
It is also important that any specific guest requirements are placed in the room, such as flowers or champagne for residents enjoying a special occasion. It is the reception who will inform the housekeeping staff that this must be completed.
Should any guest have a complaint, this will be dealt with by the reception team, however if it is serious then it will be passed to the duty manager, Operations Manager or General Manager. Again the reception team must be aware of who is in the hotel so that the appropriate member of staff can be contacted quickly. A good receptionist is required to have good communication skills, organization, computer skills; they must be a good team worker and also be compromising.
The required skills for a head recptionist are that they just provide a positive “can do” attitude, the require to have excellent telephone manners, a lot of the time the head receptionist will working under immence pressure so they must have the ability to stay calm. A head receptionist must have at least 6 months experience as a recptionist leader or 2 years as a receptionist. She will be the first person the customers meet so she must set a good impression.
Head housekeeper
The house keeping is managed by the head house keeper who is supported by the deputy house keeper.
In the hotel there are many different standards of rooms including:
- Single
- Double
- Twin
- Executive
- Disabled
It is the responsibility of the head housekeeper to ensure these rooms are cleaned appropriately for each guest staying at the hotel, and any guest requirements are met like laptop connection. The information will be passed down from reception.
Cleaning hotel bedrooms to a high standard is key to the hotels success because customers expect tidy rooms or this will give the hotel a bad reputation. And this must be completed quickly and efficiently as there are 107 bedrooms, which must be cleaned and refreshed everyday.
The housekeeping staff are also responsible for the public areas of the hotel, which includes the reception area, lounge, and bar. This must be constantly be monitored and cleaned when necessary.
The Head Housekeeper is responsible for managing her stocks of cleaning materials, bed linen, and must maintain constant communication with the maintenance department for anything broken or damaged in the rooms such as light bulbs, broken furniture. This will reduce guest complaints and improve the guest satisfaction.
The Department must also complete their own training of new maids and update existing staff on any new procedures.
Sales Manager
The sales manager is a critical role to ensuring the success to the hotel.
When the hotel is full the sales manager must communicate with local businesses and maintain a high level of leisure travelers using the hotel so that the occupancy levels remain high.
When occupancy levels start to fall, it is the responsibility of the sales manager to communicate with the General Manager so that strategies can be put in place to improve the situation and invite customers to come and use the hotels.
This can be done by advertising in the local and national press using special offers for leisure travelers. Working with local businesses to offer special rates, which will encourage them to use the hotel for meetings or overnight accommodation for anyone visiting their company. Or simply promoting the brand name ‘Holiday Inn’ so that people are aware of the hotel and that it is in a good location for visitors to London.
The Sales Manager will receive a basic salary and will receive a bonus if they achieve a level of occupancy in the hotel. This will keep them focused and always working hard to reach their goal.
To be successful when undertaking this role the slaes manager must have previous sales or hotel experience, they must have the ability to demonstrate exsisting and new business skills.
Accounts manager
The accounts manager deals with the money flow in and out of the hotel.
The accounts manager is helped by four other assistants, they have to order new stock, which must be done properly as every other department will also be ordering, so they must make sure payments are made on time.
Some guests that stay at the hotel, mainly corporate customers will have made arrangements where the company that has booked the room will be paying the guest bill. The accounts department has the job of making sure that the bill invoices are sent out on time.
The accounts department will prepare figures on a daily basis for the general manager, so he can see how the hotel is managing financially. He can then see what money needs to be spent on improvements to meet the guest’s needs or what money can be saved in order to reach his budget. Saving money to reach his budget is mainly necessary if the hotel has a low tenancy level.
Managing the accounts for the hotel requires a lot of communication between the general manager and accounts manager on an every day basis.
The accounts assistants work alongside the accounts manager there required skills and experience are:
- Accounts assistant is required to perform daily banking reports, balance postings and must certify that all revenues are balanced and accurately reported.
- The role will also involve producing an audit pack, which reports all revenue balancing, and discrepancies and you will be required to identify, investigate and resolve these variances.
- Petty cash postings must be checked to ensure they have the correct backup and floats must also be checked on a weekly basis.
Accounts assistants work as part of a team and this role requires the basic computing skills and you need to be experienced with general accounts procedures. Within the time they work there the accounts assistant will be offered short courses to enhance the ability to handle guest enquires and interact with guests. The accounts assistant supports the reception desk, and they will learn how to improve their role with direct customer contact at reception.
Maintenance Manager
The candidate will have previous experience in Hotels or parallel structure, with preferably a formal qualification in electrical, plumbing or mechanics.
In addition, you should have a general all round knowledge in the other areas, gained through experience, you should have confidence to diagnose day to day problems and issues and to have an action plan of how to move forward and resolve things.
Due to being a busy and varied role within the Hotel, you must be very industrious and able to manage a team of two to ensure all bedrooms are maintained at a very high standard, seven days per week. You must have experience in organising and prioritising the workload in an efficient and effective manner.
By taking on project work, you must be capable of meeting deadlines and recording the progress of work undertaken.
You will interact with guests and should know the importance of delivering excellent customer care skills from your department.
You will have gained knowledge and experience of health and safety, fire and other legal responsibilities for maintenance issues and procedures throughout the hotel.
You will be a team player with leadership qualities and excellent interpersonal skills.
The maintenance manager must ensure the holiday inn is cared for over a 7-day period; maintenance manager is expected to cover shift work and weekends on a rota basis. As the manager of the department, a 40-hour contract is required which means the manger must work for a minimum of 40 hours. He must work a total of 5 days out of a 7-day working shift.
You will be responsible for the general upkeep and improvements of all maintenance throughout the property, ensuring health & safety needs are met at all times.
You will be in charge of two staff, which each complete day to day repairs and fixings at the hotel. The role will include training and leadership responsibility towards the team.
You will be involved in ensuring project work; quotes and contracts are managed according to company standards and regulations.
Reporting directly to the General Manager, you will need to have excellent communication skills.
A diverse and difficult role that requires an all round knowledge of maintenance including plumbing, electrical and carpentry skills at general levels.
Conference Manager
The conference manager’s main responsibility is to take bookings for the meeting rooms which the hotel has. In order to make sure that they work as efficiently as possible, they must maximize the use of the space by ensuring that all the available rooms are in use as much as possible.
The Academy Conference Centre has a reception desk just the same as the main hotel reception and works in the very same way. However, rather than checking guests in and out of the hotel, they check conference guests into and out of the conference centre.
They must communicate very closely with the F&B Manager to ensure that any food and beverages which are ordered are delivered on time, and to the exact requirements which the conference guests want.
They take on a small role similar to the Sales Manger by showing the facilities to prospective customers who may be thinking about booking a conference or meeting at the hotel in the future.
Food and beverage
The food and beverage manager is responsible for all the recruitment of bar people and floor staff. Generally in this area the employees are unskilled except for the head chef he is a very highly skilled and will recruited by the operations manager or the general manager and also the intercontinental website, the food and beverage manager recruits from a variety of places such as job centre, schools, universities, shop windows, local newspaper or the manger can take out the CVS he or she has received to see if anyone fits the description. The assistant shefs are semi skilled workers who have probably done short courses to get to their position. Bar people, in the holiday inn are best workers for the holiday inn as they are cheap labour and they are happy to work unsociable hours. If the food and beverage manger wants to promote any of his staff they must notify the operations manager.
Cleaning Department
Cleaning staff are recruited in the same ways as bar staff. Like the bar staffs the cleaning staff are unskilled workers who are also cheap to employ because they are prepared to work. Cleaners are mostly workers from abroad, I think this is because this is because they are enthusiastic to have jobs as they have no qualifications or training and also they have very poor levels of English. This was evident from our trip to the holiday inn. The head cleaner is in charge of recruiting in this department, and to recruit cleaners they must look in the job centre and the CVS that they receive. The cleaning staff works day shifts starting early morning, so that the hotel is clean and ready to go before guests wake up.
Reception staff
Reception staffs are semi skilled workers; they have had some training either in previous jobs or short courses. Most of the staff within the holiday inn have some level of administrative or computing skills. When recruiting reception staff the holiday inn must look beyond a potent ional candidate’s qualification, there are many other attributes that a receptionist must have as they will be working upfront and at times they may have to deal with difficult customers.
The holiday inn leaves the recruitment to the head receptionist when a position needs to be filled the head receptionists will need to recruit in the following ways, first he or she will sift through the cvs, which she has received. If possible candidates cannot be identified then she will resort to advertising in the local colleges because here students will do short courses and they will be looking for jobs so here would be a good place to advertise.
Senior Chef de partie
The senior chef must assist the head chef and sous chef, the senior chef must contribute to the smooth running of the hotel by preparing and presenting foods to a high standard, and also he must make sure that he is following all rules and regulations.
Reservations Manager
The purpose of the reservations manager is to run the reservations department. He is responsible for making sure that all chances of making a booking like for weddings or parties is fulfilled to ensure the maximise sales are made. He must liase with reception and house keeping making sure that all customer needs are met.
The main responsibilities of the reservation manger are:
- Making sure that the day to day running of the hotel is done smoothly
- He must ensure that the department provides a high level of customer service as this is the key priority in making that customers come back and make reservations
- To ensure that your team advise housekeeping or operation to advise them of any special requirements and any VIP guests in their daily or weekly communication meetings to make sure that all guest requirements are met.
Heads of department
Heads of department are mostly highly skilled workers. The general manager from places like universities notice boards will recruit them. Heads of departments include, the accounts manager, sales manager, conference manager. The general manager will recruit the heads of departments from places like universities as they are well trained professions, but firstly the general manager will look to promote people lower down that are already in the holiday inn business as they will have high-quality experience and are already familiar to their surroundings.
Front office Manager
The role of the front office manager is to make sure all guests receive a “warm welcome” but they should still check the in and out as fast as possible. The front office manager must be highly motivated to do his job; he has the full responsibility for the running of the full 24hour hotel. They must be fully familiar in the use and purpose of the Front of House technology, and property management system. The front office manger must always demonstrate the skill and expectation to guests and customer needs, while dealing with all requests verbal or written, then the manager must make sure that all requests are dealt with quickly and efficiently while making sure that they are dealt with a respectable manner.
Head Receptionist
The main priorities working as a head receptionist are that they must make certain that they check in guests, fast and efficiently and friendly. Whenever possible they must see to guests requests and then to carry out these needs in a suitable manner. The head receptionist must be fully conversant with front office equipment like the computer, telephone, guest register etc. Also they must be aware of hotel availability and if any opportunity should arise, they can maximise hotel sales. The head receptionist must take on the role of supervising the reception department, during their specified shifts; furthermore they should assist the reception/ deputy reception manger in the development of the reception team and enthusiastically coach them on department procedures.
Head housekeeper
The purpose of the head housekeeper is to make sure the high standards of
Cleanliness of the holiday are maintained at all times whilst meeting the needs of the
business. Also the head housekeeper must ensure that there team is developed to
deliver the brand standards outlined in the hotel functioning manual.
Waiting staff
The waiting staff are people that work in the restaurant. The main job they do is to describe menu and daily specials, they take orders, serves food and they make sure that customers have everything they need to enjoy their meal. They process guest orders and they ensure that all items are prepared properly and on time. They must open and pour the wine when serving guests. They must observe the guests to see if guests like the food and also they must ensure that all items of food are prepared properly. They then have to pour the wine whilst the guest is present. Any other j-responsibilities for waiting staff are given out by the food and beverage manager.
Holiday inn organisational chart
The organisational chart starts at the bottom with the unskilled workers. These workers have the lowest income however despite this they are still important the holiday inn. Their job roles are mainly clerical and administrative. Like the managers they still have targets to achieve, in quantity and quality terms. In recent years the job roles of assistants and support staff have been badly affected. New technology has made redundant many of the lower grade clerical jobs. In the holiday inn these include, reception staff, cleaning staff and waiting staff. The next in line is the supervisors more recently known as line manager. The manager is in charge of looking after a group of people. In the holiday the managers have a small team that they have to look after. For instance the food and beverage manager will be in charge of the team of F&B supervisors and the assistant chefs. A line manager or supervisor in a manufacturing company will have a number of employees called operatives working under them. In the food and beverage department they may have operatives as they are making large amounts of food. The job of the line manager is to ensure that:
- The operatives reach their production targets
- The operatives produce the right quality all the time
- Those operatives who are not doing a good job are dealt with so that they can improve their skills, this can be done by additional training
The general manager and the operations manager have the highest job role in the company. They direct the running of the company. The general manager has a personal assistant to assist him with his job. In the holiday inn this is Christine. The companies act 1985 require that all limited companies must have at least two directors to:
- Make long term plans for the organisation
- Appoint the right managers to ensure that these plans work properly
- Keep control of the companies finances
- Look after the shareholders interests
- Ensure that the company is able to achieve its main aims
Employee recruitment and training
A major job in the human resources is recruitment and selection of new employees. Recruitment is very important in any organisation because it allows the business to bring in new people, with specialised skills. Recruitment starts from the point where the organization decides it needs to employ somebody up to the point where a pile of completed applications form has arrived in the post. If unsuitable staff are recruited then this can have bring a cost for the business involved, so this is a very important stage. The consequences that occur could be the staff that they have hire may not have the right skills and the may not do the job properly, poor attitude will affect the business a great deal because this will affect the staff already working there and possibly customers. If staff do not settle in then the recruitment process will have taking place all over again therefore it is important that the human resources department recruit the right employees.
The next stage will be to look for candidates there are two types, internal and external.
Internal candidates are people who already work in the place of work and they are interested in a vacancy because it is a promotion. There are many advantages for internal candidates the benefits are that other staffs are pleased to see there is a chance of promotion in the future. The organisation will attract better applicants if they see they see they have a chance of promotion. Another reason is that the internal candidates know the organisation, so they can learn the new job very quickly. The disadvantage of interior employees is that other employees working in the organisation will get jealous or maybe they know the job to well.
Employing people from outside the organisation brings many advantages; firstly the employer will have a much wider variety of individuals to choose from, which will show everybody that the organisation is an equal opportunities employer. Employees from the outside will also bring in new ideas and skills from previous jobs.
When an organisation is advertising a job the company has to first make a decision to what exactly the job is. A job description is an accurate picture of the kind of person needed to carry out a job. The two documents used in the procedure are the job description and the person specification. When a company is advertising the applicants may be asked to bring in a CV, a CV stands for curriculum vitae. This document includes information about you. It tells your employer your skills and previous working history. A good CV can make you stand out from other candidates and give you a better chance of getting the job you have applied for.
A job description describes what the job involves. A person specification describes the type of person who is needed to take out a particular job. There are a few essential points which are needed in a job specification they are, the main purpose of the job, a detailed list of the main tasks required in the job and lastly the standard that the job applicant will be required to achieve. When a person specification is written there is usually a seven-point plan. The few essential points that are necessary are appearance, attainments, intelligence, personality, interests and circumstances. Writing a person specification will enable the employer to think about the best type of person who is best for the job.
Once the employer has written the job description the job has to be advertised. A well-written advertisement is likely to attract more people. Most job adverts are put in newspaper, specialist magazines or with online recruitment site. Before writing the advertisement the employer must establish exactly what is required. Job advertisements are usually drafted up from information given in the job description and person specification. Applicants may be asked to send in a CV, complete an official application form and they may call in to the human resources department in person.
Shortlisting applicants are a procedure where the employer is narrowing down applicants. It is important that short listing is done alongside the criteria set out in the person specification. Short listing is usually done in stages:
- Applications are checked to see which have the fundamental characteristics; those that do not are discarded at this stage.
- Applications are then checked to see which applications have the desirable characteristics, which are outlined in the specification. Applicants that have the right characteristics are more likely to go forward.
- At this stage of short listing the employer may take into consideration things like neatness of the application form.
The next stage of recruitment is to interview the applicants. Each organisation and business have their own different styles of interviewing. Job applicants can have one or more interviews.
These could be ‘one to one’ or panel interviews. Some organisations may want the applicants to take out a practical test where the employer can see if the employee has the ability to do the job applied for. This will give the employer a better picture. ‘One to one’ or one-stage interviews are usually undertaken by the human resources department and are mainly for junior vacancies for a medium and larger size company. In the holiday inn this type of interviewing will take place for vacancies such as cleaners, bar staff, porters, and washers.
In the holiday in interviews are firstly taken by Human resources and then by the manager of the department where the employee is applying to work This two stage interview is usually only undertaken for higher level or higher skilled vacancies. In the holiday inn this type of interview is done for the vacancies, like the general manager.
A panel interview is interview is where a group of people interview the candidate. This is mainly done for senior vacancies as they will lead a more important role in the running of the holiday inn.
In the holiday inn there are workers that are skilled; these are like the general manager, or the operation manager. Semi skilled workers are workers that have done short courses in college to train for their chosen job.
Unskilled workers will be recruited from place like the local job centre. This is the responsibility of department managers for the recruitment of unskilled workers. Some students may build up a CV and send it in to local businesses, like in this case the holiday inn. The organisation will store the CVS and when it comes to vacancies they will pull them out and search for the right person. This option will save the holiday inn time and money, as they will not have to advertise. Another way to recruit unskilled workers is to advertiser in a local newspaper, shop windows, local colleges or notice boards.
Formal workers are people that have studied for degrees in universities, and then have trained for their chosen carers. Informal workers are employees that have trained through a job and have not really gone to university to train for the job they will undertake. For e.g. a business teacher will have gone to university to train for a degree but someone else that has been working in business for number years may do the job just as well.
Explanation of training and types
Training can be divided into two main categories:
‘On the job’ training
This means that the employee is trained in the workplace. This can be done by observing somebody, preferable someone that is undertaking the same job you will be doing. Observation is a good way of getting to know your job by somebody who is already experienced. Many people enjoy this direct link with their job.
‘Off the job training’
This means that they will be in a college or a training centre away from
workplace. In the holiday inn staff that are looking for a promotion will generally
observe the new role they will be undertaking.
Training is all about getting new skills. Skills can be non transferable or non transferable. Non-transferable skills are very specific to then job held. Most skills in the holiday inn are transferable skills. Transferable skills can be used in a wide variety of other jobs, now and in the future. In the holiday in the unskilled workers who are young pick up skills such as communicating verbally and in writing, numeracy and ICT. These skills can be used in other jobs. People with transferable skills are more useful to employers because they can use them in different jobs. Employers want their employees to be multi skilled.
In the holiday inn all new employees are given an induction. This is where the new employees are introduced to the organisation and how the organisation works. A successful job candidate should be provided with an induction training of some kind. In the holiday inn it is the job of the human resources department to recruit new staff. An induction day is also important to any business as the applicants are given health and safety issues of their job. They are also shown different points such as fire exits and they are also told whom they should go to if they need some advice or need to make a complaint.
Multi skill training means that employees are trained to do several jobs rather than just one. This is common in the holiday inn as sometimes when the general manager is off sick the operations manager is trained to take over. This is beneficial to the employer, as the flexibility will save the hotel money as the total number of employees can be reduced. Employees become more motivated because doing several jobs is usually more interesting than doing just one.
The holiday inn train and develop their staff so they can reach their full potential. However, it is most likely that they only offer development to those employees that are looking for promotion and want to move up to a higher post. Employee development can be described as: helping the employee by setting targets for improving performance and arranging the necessary training.
If an organisation doesn’t help employees become more successful they will go somewhere where this opportunity is available. As a result the organisation will loose some of it best people.
Employer and employee rights and responsibilities
Employee responsibilities
Employers are entitled to expect things a certain way from their employees. Employees need to be capable to work, they must be able to mentally or physically be able to do their job. Otherwise they may be forced to give up their job. Employees also need to take care when they are doing their job. The people that are experienced should know what they are doing and they should be aware of any hazards their are in the workplace and they should how to avoid getting hurt or injured. As well keeping themselves out of danger employees should look out for their work mates. They must not ignore safety requirements when doing a job, for instance in the holiday inn the maintenance may be involved using a drill, he or she should wear safety goggles to protect themselves from getting injured.
Most jobs require skill. Employers expect the employees to be skilled enough to carry out the job they are paid to do. In the holiday inn a chef is required to have cookery skills, the chef is trusted to fulfil his or her job description to the best of their ability and at the same time be aware of safety precaution they need to take like when using sharp knifes, they are also expected to work competently and independently without much supervision.
Most employees work around equipment. If an employee loses or damages the equipment in any way they can loose their job. The rule is that the employee should take a considerable amount of care to when using the equipment and treat it as if it were theirs.
Employees must obey reasonable orders. They must do work which is written in their contract. A contract sets out the terms and conditions of employment. For instance in the holiday inn, if a scenario occurs that a child has been sick the waitress must clean it up and should not call upon a cleaner to do it.
Employee rights
Employees have the right to read their own contract. The contract must state the rights of the employee such as the hours of work they will do. Some employees are asked to work overtime but if it isn’t stated in their contract they take it at their own discretion. It tells them their pay rate; the contractor must pay the employee the minimum wage set by the government. Some employees may get bonuses for working longer hours. They are also allowed to know their holiday and sick pay. The contract must say if the employee is entitled to sick pay and how many holidays they are allowed. Finally it must state the period of the contact. Nowadays short-term contracts are common. In the holiday most of the unskilled workers are issued with short term as the employees are there only for a short while because they are young workers and wanting to find suitable career paths.
Employees have the right to work in a health and safe place. In the holiday inn when a new employee is starting they are given a induction days where tours are given so the new employees will feel comfortable with safety in their workplace.
Employees must be properly trained to do the job they are given; most good employers give their employees a chance to widen their work experience or to get extra qualifications. This will help them getter better jobs in the future. This is called staff development.
In general employees are legally entitled to join any trade union. A trade union is an independent organisation, which represents the interests of employees. Employers see trade unions as troublemakers because if their employees aren’t happy the business can be given a negative image, as the trade unions will highlight the trouble. The holiday inn members can join trade unions because the hotel industry is not yet unionised.
Employees now have the right to see their employment records. This means that employees can see disciplinary records and any job references that have been written. This means that employers have to be careful about what information they keep about their employees. Employers don’t generally write “bad” comments. If they do have negative things to say they write little about the person.
There are a number of acts of parliament, which protect the rights of an individual. These laws originated from the E.U as directives. A directive is a set of regulations issued by the EU, which are then to be incorporated into the laws of the member states, including the UK.
The Employee Rights Act
- The employer must be given an itemised pay statement stating all deductions
- An employment tribunal decides that an employee has been unfairly dismissed the employer must pay them compensation, or give the employee their job back
- Employees must get compensation payments if they are made redundant.
National Minimum Wage Act
It is now a legal requirement to pay all employees a minimum hourly rate. From October 2002 this was £4.20 per hour for anyone over 21 and £3.60 for anyone between 18 – 21 years. This is what the young employees of the holiday inn get paid but the more skilled employees have higher wages.
Dealing with industrial disputes
There are two types of workplace disagreements, collective disagreements and individual disagreements. Collective disagreements occur when there is a dispute between an employer and employee. The main causes of disagreement are pay settlements, redundancies and changes in ways of working. These problems can be sorted out without any major dispute. This could be in the form of an overtime ban or a strike. Employees will sometimes have their own disputes this can happen for two reasons one, disciplinary problems or secondly grievance problems. Both are dealt with by what are called procedures.
A disciplinary procedure taken against the employee could be because
- They are lazy
- There not being properly trained
- They have been ill
- Or they may be having personal problems
A disciplinary procedures is as follows
- Situation, the employer finds that the work of the employee is not up to standard
- Informal discussion
- Formal verbal warning if there is no improvement
- Formal written warning if there is no improvement
- Notice of dismissal, if there is no improvement the notice sets out reasons for dismissal and period of notice given.
A grievance problem can include, unfair treatment by managers, unfair pay or sometimes even unfair dismissal.
A grievance procedures is as follows:
- Situation, the employee thinks he has being discriminated in the workplace
- Informal discussion with line manager
- Formal complaint to a senior manager or director if the matter is not resolved
- If the employee is still unhappy he can take the matter to an employee tribunal.
If the employee is a trade union member, the union will be able to give help and advice in every stage of the process however holiday employees will be unable to do this, as the hotel industry is not yet unionised.
An employment tribunal is an informal court consisting of a lawyer and employer and employee representatives. They offer employees the chance to win financial compensation from their employers, or in cases where they have been sacked , they can sometimes get their job back. Before the employee goes to an employment tribunal they will have to deal with the ACAS
The ACAS stands for the ‘advisory, conciliation and arbitration service’ there main aim is to prevent and resolve problems that occur in the work place. An ACAS officer is totally independent and will point out the weak and strong points of an employee’s situation and they will tell them weather they have a good chance of winning a case, they will also tell them if they feel the case it completely hopeless.
Health and safety issues in a business
Employees expect to work in a safe environment when they are at work. They don’t want to be falling over wires or chairs. The law requires that both employees and employers abide by legislations because if they don’t and fall over then it will not be the fault of the company. These are the two main acts that govern health and safety in the workplace the first is the health and safety act 1974, this act states that employers must
- Provide safe entrances and exits.
- Safety equipment
- Training to ensure that all staff work safely
- A system of recording accidents
- Written statements of health and safety policy
- This statement should be continually updated and dispersed to employees.
The second act requires employees to:
- Take reasonable care of their own safety and that of others who maybe affected by their activities.
- Co-operate with their employer or anyone acting on their behalf to meet health and safety requirements.
The Health and Safety Act 1974 applies to all work premises to anyone on the premises is covered by and has responsibilities under the act. For e.g. supervisors, visitors, customers, directors, E.T.C
Health and safety and welfare 1992
This is the second piece of legislation by the government to improve health and safety and welfare in the workplace.
In the holiday inn making sure there are enough windows, air conditioning, and fans ensures effective ventilation.
In the holiday inn this is done by making sure that the central heating is on in the winter and air conditioning in the winter.
- Emergency and adequate lighting and certain lights to keep on.
Certain lights need to be kept on all time just in case there is a fire or a blackout and people need to guide there way out.
- Sufficient space and sufficient workstation
If there is not enough space to work in then it is uncomfortable.
- Protection from adverse weather
Safety
- Traffic routes for pedestrians and vehicles to circulate in a safe manner
This must be done for safety reasons if their pedestrians and vehicles all going in the same way there is bound to be a fatal accident.
- Properly constructed and maintained floor
In the holiday inn maintenance is kept to a very high standard because there is a whole maintenance and house keeping team. If for e.g. there is a raised bit on the floor a guest can fall over and then the customer will sue the hotel.
Windows, sky lights and window clips are fitted so that children can’t fall out. This is a big safety precaution that must be taken because for example if customers have had too much to drink then they can accidentally trip and fall so cages surround the window.
- Safely constructed doors, escalators and gates.
- Adequate seating
- Provision for non smokers
Non-smokers don’t want to be seated with people who smoke. In the holiday there is a area where smokers and non smokers can be separate. In the hotels restaurants there is also a smoking area and a non-smoking area.
- Suitable storage of clothes
- Adequate facilities for those who want to eat
House keeping
- Proper maintenance of all work places, equipment and facilities.
- Cleanliness of the work place.
In the holiday inn maintenance should be to a very high standard as the holiday inn employs a whole team of maintenance staff. If cleaning is not done to the best of their ability then customers will be put off coming back to the company.