Hilton Hotel Room Division Operation - Assignment Example

INTRODUCTION. Rooms division is a branch of hospitality management that is concerned with housekeeping as well as front office operations. Hospitality is the generous and affordable behaviour towards guests and visitors. Hotel industry falls under Hospitality industry which is within the wider services industry. (Rutherford 2002) Services are rendered with an aim of profit making. Any Hotel business starts with a welcoming dialogue between the guest and reception. Thus, the guest is the central figure in this case. In estimating the hotel revenue, the hotel management must picture guest availability. Guest availability depends so much on front office and housekeeping operations, which are sub branches of Room division operation. Therefore, Rooms division operation proves to be a very vital branch of the hotel business and the hospitality industry. (Rutherford 2002) This article details an account and analysis of the Hilton hotel room division operation. Since different organisations operate differently, the Hilton Hotels and resort have the Rooms division operations fall under Hilton reservations and customer care (HRCC). The front office and housekeeping services are rendered by a team of experienced personnel. The business operates 24hour and services are offered in multiple languages. a. Analysis of the key aspects of legislation and regulatory requirements relevant to rooms division operations. The government has set rules and regulations to ensure proper functionality of the hotel industry. Each hotel, Motel or inn adheres to these set rules in order to meet the required business ethical standards. The regulatory requirements are meant to protect the customers, the task force and the owners of the business. Part of the legislation that governs any hotel business is as follows. Equality Act 2010 This was formerly the Disability discrimination act. The act was amended to Equality act 2010 for simplicity and easy identification. Equality act 2010 ensures protection and legal rights for people with disabilities. Equality act 2010 is the law that bans unfair treatment of people and helps realize equal opportunities at work places and the society at large. The Hiltons, in adhering to the Equality act 2010, has an equal opportunities policy which allows zero discrimination. In addition, they have in place an age discrimination legislation which takes care of age. The director of Employee relations reports that the youngest employee is 18 years while the oldest is 89 years old. (Equality and diversity professional 2009) Health and safety. A commission of health and safety exists that is tasked to protect safety, health and welfare of employees and others. The public also must be protected since they are exposed to risks from the business activities. Risk assessment is also part of health and safety procedures. There are a number of regulatory requirements covering the health and safety of workers, customers and the general public. 1 Essentials of health and safety at work. This documentation contains detailed practical guidance for all business operations. There is need for every worker to have a copy of it. 2 Reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). This piece of legislation contains a list of incidents that ought to be reported to the directorate of the environmental Health. The incidences include injuries to employees that hinder them from attending their duties extending to a period of more than three days, acts of violence(Physical) done to a person at work. The act also details serious injuries to or loss of life by any person. 3 Health and safety information for employees regulations act 1989. The legislation tasks the employers with a duty of ensuring that the employees are adequately informed through posters or a copy of an authorised leaflet. 4 Employer’s liability (compulsory insurance) act 1969.this act requires the employers to maintain and take out an approved insurance policy against liability for diseases or bodily injuries sustained by those whom they hire as labour force for the duration of the contract. 5 Health and safety (First aid) regulations 1981. This legislation requires the employers avail fully equipped and functioning facilities in the event of an injury or sickness of any employee. 6 Control of substances Hazardous to health regulations 2002. This regulation is applicable to all substances harmful to health including micro-organisms, drugs and chemicals. The regulation entails the procedures for risk assessment and in risk assessment, the assessor must: Identify hazards of the substance Come to an acceptable conclusion that in the event that the ill health will occur, the risks will be controlled Identify additional measures of control which are needed. COSHH assessments must be recorded. (General health and safety regulations n.d) Six new sets of health and safety regulations at work were enforced in 1993. 1) The management of health and safety at work regulations 1999. This legislation requires employers to outline ways of managing health and safety in businesses. 2) Workplace (Health, safety and welfare) regulations 1992. This piece of legislation lays down the requirements for all places of work. 3) Manual handling operations regulations 1992 The legislation tasks the employers with a duty of assessment to ensure any handling operation does not present any risk to the employee. 4) Provision and use of work equipment regulations 1998 Employers must ensure that all equipment used at work are suited for their use, maintained in the proper manner and is in a good working condition. 5) Health and safety (Display screen equipment) regulations 1992 (as amended). It details proper design of equipment, working environment, furniture so that the employees operating them are free from minor injuries. 6) Personal protective Equipment at work Regulations 1994. This piece of legislation gives details of the equipment to be worn by the personnel at work place. It must guarantee protection against health and safety risks. (General health and safety regulations n.d) The Hiltons, have the Hilton health and safety forms. (Birminghammetropole n.d). These are pieces of documents that detail the health and safety procedures that are applicable within the Hilton’s territory. The documentation contains events safety information form. A conference events arrangement form that entails a list of safety regulations governing access of equipment, vehicles fire, electricity, security, lasers, pyrotechnics, unistruts. It also details risk assessment procedures as well as other general rules. This piece of documentation is available in print and online. Consumer rights When anyone buys goods or services, there is no guarantee that the product or service will satisfy the needs of the buyer. Therefore a set of laws are in place to ensure the consumers are not inconvenienced and that they enjoy the value of their money. These laws protect the rights of the consumers. For instance if a service is delivered in a poor manner, the customer has a right to complain and there is a forum to air their complaints. Price tariff and Display. It is unlawful to provide misleading and wrong information about hotel service charge to any person. The hotel, motel or inn must be above per in conduct by ensuring they avail the right information to potential customers for convenience purposes. The information includes prices of services and availability of such services. It is accepted in modern world that the information be displayed to the customers through the right media such as the internet. Both consumer protection laws and price tariffs and display are entailed and detailed within the consumer service department. The customer care responds to any enquiries made by the visitors and Guests. Data protection The act controls the manner in which personal information is used by businesses, organisations or the government. Every person who wishes to access another person’s data must to so in accordance with the Data protection principles. The Hilton hotels and resort have a consumer safe harbour privacy policy which is found detailed within the Hilton HHornors. The privacy policy entails a set of laws that governs use of personal information, data security and integrity, access to personal information, safe harbour enforcement and dispute resolution procedures. (Hilton HHonors 2014) Immigration (hotel records order 1972) This is a law that requires every person within the age of 16 and over, to keep their personal information such as nationality to the hotel front office department. The law has a few exemptions but all the same it serves the purpose. Innkeeper’s liability This is a common law that requires the innkeeper or hotel management to be liable for any loss of property unless the cause is of a natural disaster, guest’s mistake or due to civil unrest. This law has been modified by different states to limit the innkeeper’s liability. Diplomatic privileges This is an amended law details the privileges that are enjoyed by the diplomats, their families and staff. Hilton Hotels and resort, as a world class hotel, have their own rules and regulations which are consistent with the general requirements. Diplomatic privileges, innkeeper’s liability and immigration laws are detailed within the Hilton’s reservations and customer care. (Hilton HHonors 2014) a. A review of the roles and responsibilities of a selection of accommodation and reception staff. The reception staffs are the principal Guest representatives since they are the first contact with the visitor or guest. They welcome guests, check them in, assigns to them rooms and rates, answer their questions and finally check them out. The night audit reports to work at about 11.00pm and retires at around 7.00am. He/she performs the function of auditing and guest service during the night. The accommodation staffs have the uniformed services which include the bell-staff, door persons, valet and concierge. Though some hotel businesses consolidate these duties, big hotels still employ them independently. The bell-staff transfers the guest’s baggage to the room, acquaints the guest with the relevant information they may seek concerning the hotel and its environs. A door person answers to the door and transfers the guest’s baggage to the bell-cart. The valet parks the guest’s vehicle and the concierge has diverse roles. b. An evaluation of the variety of services offered by rooms division for a wide range of hospitality business with an emphasis on accommodation and front office departments. Reception staff falls under front office operations while accommodation staff fall under housekeeping operations. The reception staff ensures the visitors or guests is hospitably welcomed to the facility. The reception staff thus must be acquainted with telephone skills, sales skills, and central reservation system skills. This way the service delivery will be easy and comfortable. The accommodation has the uniformed service which ensures cleanliness of the guest rooms and public areas. They also do the entire servicing work of the hotel. They do the laundry and dry cleaning for guests. The security and loss protection also falls under accommodation. (Rutherford 2002) Hilton Hotels and reserves have a department called the Hilton Reserves and customer care (HRCC). This department handles reservations worldwide. It covers the major continents and languages. Their service delivery is quite enhanced. The HRCC has a global network with highly experienced and skilled professionals who provide assistance in service delivery and sales. The superior customer service introduces members fluent in over 10 languages. The customer service has a Geographic virtual hotel desk. The ResMaxTm program caters for the direct reservations of the visitors and Guests. (Rutherford 2002) c. A review of the importance of the front of house area and the accommodation service to effective management. The front of office area also known as the revenue section proves to be a very vital organ in the hospitality business industry. This is where the facility’s first impression is felt by the guest. There is need for the staff and management of this organ to elevate their service delivery procedures to meet the required top notch standards. This is also where the Guest impression and feedback is recorded. The accommodation services are equally important since all the services are directed to the Guest. When a guest is not satisfied, both the departments would be deemed to have failed. Therefore, there is a need for these two departments to be fully operational to woo more customers. It expands the revenue collected. (Baker, Bradley & Huyton 1994) d. Evaluation of the key aspects of planning and management of the front of house area and the accommodation service. The management of any hotel business has the following tasks to carry out. Planning, organising, coordinating, staffing, leading, controlling and evaluating. Planning: The front office manager identifies department’s goals. The goals enable the manager to organize more specific and realisable objectives. The front office manager lastly determines the tactics and strategies to meet these goals. Organising: The front office manager is then supposed to organise work through labour division. He/she ensures equal work distribution as defined for all work forces and ensures that each activity is running on time. Coordinating: This involves pooling together resources to ensure adequate service delivery. Staffing: The manager schedules the employees, recruits applicants and selects the best candidates for positions. Leading: The managers have to be role models for the employees to follow suit. They must motivate, oversee, discipline and train the work force. Controlling: In controlling the managers ensures the plans set in place closely match the actual occurrences. Evaluating: Determines the level at which the set goals and objectives have been achieved. It also involves reviewing and revision of the set goals. (Baker and Bradley et al., 1994) e. Evaluation of the main operational issues affecting the effective management and business performance of the front of house and the accommodation service. The main operational issues that can affect the effective management and the overall business performance of the rooms division start from the management. If there exist a conflict among the management, decision making process will be flawed and the overall business performance will be faulted. It is therefore necessary that the management takes the lead and control of all emerging situations to improve the productivity of the business. (Baker and Bradley et al., 1994) The work force may also have problems that may threaten the overall growth of the business. The work force is mainly affected by shifting demography that results in notable reduction in the availability of skilled human labour. Technological advancements have since raised the level of expertise of the workers. Hence, highly skilled and all round workers are needed who may not be easily available or may require costly training. World class hotels and resorts are places of very high consumer expectations; thus, there is productivity pressure exerted upon the management as well as the workforce which may hinder progress when not properly handled. (Baker and Bradley et al., 1994) Conclusion We can conclude that rooms’ division operation is an important branch of the hospitality management business. For proper functioning of each department of the rooms division, proper legislation must be laid out as has been seen. This creates a rapport among the service providers and the beneficiaries of the services. The roles and responsibilities of the accommodation and reception staff is prime to the success of the business. The staff must perform their duties fully in order for the whole process to be a success. Proper management of the front of house and accommodation services is also key to the success of the business hence effective management procedures must be outlined as well as the issues affecting the management. Each department in room’s division operation is thus as important and therefore need to be treated as such. References Hilton Worldwide, Inc. Customer Safe Harbor Privacy Policy. 2014. Hilton Worldwide, Inc. Customer Safe Harbor Privacy Policy. [ONLINE] Available at: http://hhonors3.hilton.com/en/promotions/safe-harbor-privacy-policy/english.html. [Accessed 18 March 2014]. General Health and Safety Information and Requirements - Salford City Council. 2014. General Health and Safety Information and Requirements - Salford City Council. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.salford.gov.uk/bhsgen.htm. [Accessed 18 March 2014]. Rooms Division. 2014. Rooms Division. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/Miltonven/rooms-division-presentation. [Accessed 18 March 2014]. Rutherford, D. G. 2002. Hotel management and operations. New York: Wiley. Baker, S., Bradley, P. and Huyton, J. 1994. Principles of hotel front office operations. London: Cassell. Read More