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CHAPTER 12 Developing a Staff. After reading this chapter, you should be able to: Identify the proper hiring attributes. Describe the role of verbal and nonverbal communication in delivering quality service. Explain and apply the concepts of successful nonverbal communication.
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CHAPTER 12 • Developing a Staff After reading this chapter, you should be able to: • Identify the proper hiring attributes. • Describe the role of verbal and nonverbal communication in delivering quality service. • Explain and apply the concepts of successful nonverbal communication. • Explain the importance of corporate culture in developing a brand. • Identify the attributes of successful hospitality candidates. • Embrace the concept of guest service terminology. • Contrast the importance and different views of training, managing and developing.
Employees • The employees are at the front line of the company. • They are what the customer sees. • They are the ones interacting with the customer. • They can seize or lose opportunities. • How well you hire, train, and develop your employees determines your future as a manager.
Hiring • Today’s society is filled by design with positions at hourly rates for which employees clock in and out, performing duties with little sense of responsibility for true guest satisfaction. • Developing a staff is crucial to any hospitality business. • They must also be familiar with basic procedures and methods or at least have transferable skills. • They also need to possess organizational skills to work on projects alone and with others. • In the end, the hospitality industry has little use for candidates with poor attitudes and poor people skills.
What do Companies Look for? • Standard forms for the hiring process include the job description and the job specification. • Most hospitality companies seek similar traits and ask themselves similar questions when hiring someone: • How do they appear? • Do they get along with others? • Can they communicate? • Are they sensitive to others? • Can they foster customer relationships? • Do they know and understand your business and your customers even if they’re not from the same background?
Ideal Candidates • Have a genuine desire to please others; find reward in a job well done • Are motivated from within—an energetic personality • Bring a positive attitude to work, leaving personal issues behind • Able to adapt to situations, but are consistent in performance • Able to anticipate needs and demands before they occur • Feel a duty of loyalty to the company • Are sensitive and consider the needs of others
Ideal Candidates (cont’d) • Are sincere • Have knowledge of procedures, and products (which is different from rules that can or cannot be broken) • Have a thirst for continuous learning • Have knowledge of themselves • Have pride in themselves • Have knowledge of standards of excellence, what to strive for • Have positive habits • Have great listening skills • Have great communication skills
Employee Turnover • Hiring correctly is crucial for guest service. • Your staff will be more content • They will perform better • A momentum will develop that will make the manager’s job much easier. • Another benefit of this is lowered employee turnover. • Reducing turnover means more content employees and is a general indication that your operation is well run. • All of this contributes to successfully implementing customer service.
Employee Turnover (cont’d) • To calculate employee turnover: • Determine the period of time to be used (month, quarter, or year). • Determine the number of the separations (number of employees that have left and been replaced). Each full-time employee counts as one. Adjust accordingly for part-time employees who will equal a fraction relative to their hours (e.g., 2 half-time employees equal 1 full-time employee). • Divide the number of separations by the total number of employees during that same period (again, adjust for part-time employees). • Multiply this figure number by 100 to get a percentage. Sometimes, the calculation is simplified by only including full-time workers. It can also be calculated for management, employees, or new hires separately. You may also need to adjust for adding employees or downsizing.
Communication • When you communicate, you are revealing much more than you might initially realize. • As a customer approaches you, an identity of them begins to form. • This often directs how they will react in a situation. It will direct your questions and their responses. • You can expound and put together such descriptors as: • Confidence • Education • Knowledge of surroundings
Visual • You only have one chance to make a first impression. • Your dress and appearance are important. What works well for one situation may be very inappropriate for another. • Although people may have been taught not to judge one another, they often do; they make these snap judgments about others. • A business must control what it is able to, and an employee’s initial appearance is something that can be controlled.
Body Language • Eyes • Head • Face • Hands • Arms • Torso • Legs • Feet • Distance
Vocal • Vocal expression is even more difficult to control. Few people focus on it, but it is essential. • When doing so, observe: • Inflection • Variation in voice • Pitch • High, low, or monotone • Timing • Fast or slow • Volume • Loud or quiet
Phrases • Try to learn phrases that parallel the organizational culture. • There are also words that should be discouraged and removed from your vocabulary. • It is difficult to remove them just while you are at work. Instead, remove them from your personal life as well. • Also remember to be optimistic and avoid negative phrases.
Telephone • Answering the Telephone • Initiating a Call • Leaving a Message
Training, Managing, and Developing • Training, Managing, and Developing: 4-Step Process 1. Demonstrate personal and procedural expectations. 2. Integrate and initiate into the culture. 3. Demonstrate service standards. 4. Monitor, assess, support, and reward.
Training, Managing, and Developing (cont’d) • Demonstrate Personal and Procedural Expectations • Goal Setting • ABC Prioritizing • Use of Terms • On-stage and off-stage • Cast members • Guests • Standards • Integrate and Initiate into the culture • Internal Customers • Developing a culture/Managing an image
Training, Managing, and Developing (cont’d) • Demonstrate Service Standards • Empowerment • Monitor. Assess and Reward • Saying Yes
Team Management • Teams have offered many benefits such as: • Workload distribution • Idea generation • New perspectives • Oversight for responsibility and objectivity • Most common reasons why groups fail to become highly successful: • Communication and awareness • Personalities and traits • Planning and scheduling • Past team issues
Teams • Types of Teams • Teams can be classified in many ways. • Most common classifications use characteristics of functionality, purpose, duration, supervision, and dependency. • Team Stages • Forming: Familiarization, getting acquainted to leadership issues • Storming: Fighting, goal/objective issues • Norming: Beginning to trust and form a structure • Performing: Productive teamwork • Types of Team Members • Approach to Problems • Interaction/Expression • Work Style • Personal/ Emotional • Expertise/Intellectual
Teams (cont’d) • How to Make Teams Work • Know the types of teams and assign members appropriately. • Know the typical roles of the members. • Keep the pitfalls in mind. • Stay focused on the objective and monitor.
Discussion Questions • List the most important attributes that hospitality companies look for in hiring candidates. • Why is nonverbal communication important to delivering quality service? • List and briefly describe five aspects of body language that you would seek in an applicant for a concierge position. • How can a manager say yes to a difficult request? • Why is developing an organizational culture crucial to developing a brand? • Should a manager be strict, lenient, or consistent? Explain. • When should you devise a list when ABC prioritizing? • How is empowerment crucial to providing quality service? • How long should a meeting be?