Hotel Management: Essential Skills and Functions for Success

1. Unit 3 Becoming a Leader/Manager in the Travel Industry By Allison Bentley

2. The Role of Managers • Management: the effective coordination of individual efforts to achieve established goals.

3. Management Functions Four basic functions of management: • Planning • Organizing • Directing • Controlling

4. Planning • The process of examining the future and establishing goals for an organization. Short-range Goals: a term used to describe goals that are to be achieved in the very near future. Long-range Goals: a term used to describe goals that are to be achieved over an extended period of time.

5. Organizing • Actions designed to bring together and arrange the resources of a group to help it achieve its goals.

6. When Organizing Resources, Managers Answer the Following Questions • Who will be responsible for making organizing decisions? • Which managers will be in charge of meeting specific goals? • Who will determine the number of additional individuals needed to achieve our goals? • Who will identify other additional resources needed to achieve our goals? • What organizational business structure will best help us meet our goals?

7. Directing • The process of supervising staff members in the workplace. Includes: • leading and inspiring others • teaching new skills and attitudes • helping workers develop • creating systems that compensate workers fairly

8. Controlling • The process of comparing actual results to planned results and taking corrective action as needed. Includes: • checking-up or following-up on assigned tasks • comparing actual results with planned results • comparing progress with projections • eliminating obstacles that hinder goal achievement

9. Hotel Management Structure • Organizational Chart: a visual portrayal of the jobs and positions of authority within an organization. • In larger hotels • In smaller hotels

10. Sample Organizational ChartLarge Hotel Property

11. The Role of the Hotel General Manager Key responsibilities of a hotel G.M.: • Owner relations • Staff development • Property management • Brand affiliation management • Community relations

12. Staff Development Role Model: an individual who displays positive personal and professional characteristics that others find desirable. Mentor: to serve as a personal teacher. Also, one who mentors.

13. Property Management On any given day, a G.M. must know: • The number of guests that will be arriving • The number of guests that will be departing • The total number of rooms to be sold • That a record of each arriving guest’s name has been created and is readily available • The room rate to be paid by each guest

14. Property Management Line-level: those employees whose jobs are most often non-supervisory. These are typically positions where the employee is paid a per-hour wage (not a salary) and performs a recurring and specific task for the hotel. Sometimes referred to as an “Hourly.”

15. Property Management Through observation, G.M.s should be able to determine that: • Cleaning procedures used in the breakfast area must be improved • The maintenance tool storage area should be reorganized • “Comp” room reports need to be submitted, with a justification for each comp, to the G.M.’s office on a daily basis if this is not currently being done Comp: short for “complimentary” or “no-charge” for products or services.

16. Property Management Talents required for this part of the job: • Organizational and coaching skills • Analytical and financial analysis skills • The ability to anticipate guest needs • Competitive spirit • Tremendous attention to detail

17. Hotel/Lodging Management Skills & Training • Skills • Leadership Potential • People skills • Service orientation • Self-disciplined • Effective communication skill • Ability to organize and direct the work of others • Good knowledge of hotel operations • Safety and security measures • Repair and maintenance • Personnel practices • Knowledge of hotel financing is essential to operate a hotel profitably. • Training • Hotel Management Training (offered by most colleges/universities & large hotel chains)