Changing Staff and Managerial Roles in the 21st Century - Essay Example

The Contemporary Hospitality Industry: Changing Staff and Managerial Roles in the 21st Century BY YOU YOUR ACADEMIC ORGANISATION HERE HERE The Contemporary Hospitality Industry: Changing Staff and Managerial Roles in the 21st Century Introduction Despite the struggling global economy, the hospitality industry has experienced a significant recovery which, with rising hotel and restaurant patronage, has put large-scale strains on the redevelopment of staff and managerial roles in this industry (Marre, 2007). In terms of the restaurant chef and management roles, hotel housekeeping and the hospitality industry human resources manager, these functions have evolved into much more than merely generic job responsibilities. In an attempt to adapt to changing customer preferences and culturally-driven client expectations, the aforementioned roles extend well beyond the generic job function. This paper identifies the contemporary role of various hospitality roles, examining how these responsibilities have transformed and suggests future trends which will likely drive further role evolution. Today’s chef roles Far from the previous role of simply ensuring quality food preparation, today’s chef role in the hospitality industry requires extensive knowledge of human resources principles, as well as coordinating efforts to enforce various, contemporary legislation regarding food safety such as the HACCP - Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (Taylor & Forte, 2008) - and manage internal inventories. Chefs must not only consider elements of food presentation and overall food quality, in today’s busy hospitality industry the role of chef requires understanding of staff psychology (in terms of coordinating a functional kitchen environment). Depending on the nature of the hospitality firm in which they are employed, modern chefs might well be called upon to interact with various restaurant clientele as a means of promoting positive customer service and relationship-building. From this perspective, customer service entails discussing food variety with inquisitive clients whilst promoting an image of competence and projecting a professional image which is in line with strategic industry objectives. In essence, the role of the chef has moved from one in which food preparation was hidden deep within the recesses of the backroom kitchen and has extended to that of a leader and a much more visible element of the entire hospitality process. “As little as 10 years ago, very few chefs maintained computers in their work environments” (Martin, 2003: E16). In today’s Westernised cultures (such as the UK and the United States), changes in computer technology allow chefs to manage inventory electronically, develop appropriate hotel and restaurant menus as well as staff scheduling and labour cost tracking (Martin). As modern technology increases, the ability of tomorrow’s chefs to utilise software technology as a means to coordinate the internal kitchen activities will not only streamline the efforts of the entire kitchen staff, but reduce costs associated with excess inventories and assist managerial leadership with creating a more efficient restaurant operation. The ability to develop new and innovative food menus, additionally, will impact the customer positively as technology will allow for a more diversified menu based on known or surveyed customer preferences, enhancing their overall hospitality experience by appealing to their unique dietary and generic culinary requests. Today’s restaurant manager Managing the internal processes of a restaurant, traditionally, required managers to simply concern themselves with issues such as staff role coordination, financial management, inventory and received goods management and ensuring that labour is performing their job function based on company expectations (Abdullah, 2005). However, the contemporary role of restaurant manager involves much more than overseeing operational activities, it has evolved into a more human resources-based philosophy involving understanding the psychological needs of staff members and utilising various HR tools to promote lower levels of staff turnover by appealing to the individual need for belonging and camaraderie (Gale, 2007). Though the generic operational functions are still performed by restaurant leadership, new and innovative techniques for team-building and establishing a sense of community are moving to the forefront of management responsibility. For instance, the Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group currently provides a four component philosophy known as “play”, “make their day”, “be there” and “choose your attitude” have dramatically increased overall restaurant efficiency and dramatically lowered staff turnover due to poor staff attitude regarding their job functions (Gale, 2007: 22). This new management philosophy attempts to lessen the somewhat-robotic elements of staff roles and instead culminates a sense of togetherness by creating an entire community of professionals by which customers, who experience a more enjoyable patronage, are the benefactors of progressive management tactics. Future restaurant managers can expect drastic improvements in technology to enhance both their HR functions and generic staff leadership responsibilities. Internal GPS technologies, through the click of a computer button, can identify the location of all employees during a particular shift, allowing the manager to press a call button to change staffs’ individual locations in the event of a sudden onslaught of customers or any other change required of leadership (Davison, 2007). As it is a natural assumption that the role of the restaurant manager is a time-consuming one, the advent of these technologies will enhance the customer experience by preventing dismal delays in service and, overall, create a winning and efficient internal organisation. Such technologies would prevent the manager from spending the majority of his or her time manually tracking activities (which would be especially important in large-scale conference halls or banquet facilities) and allow the manager to interact with customers, thereby building positive customer relationships. Today’s housekeeper Much more than the traditional cleaning agent with a generic function of internal hotel maintenance (bedding changes, bathroom sanitation, etc), the housekeeper is, today, considered a vital element to securing customer relationships. Housekeepers are actively involved with the customer and are often visible throughout the course of the customer’s stay, making them vital agents to promoting a rewarding hotel experience. It is common knowledge that most hotels maintain a wide variety of different clients, thus it is essential for today’s housekeepers to undergo multicultural training so as to deal with these differing values and customer attitudes as well as becoming active participants in securing a positive guest experience (Michaud, 2006). Managers at the Hyatt Regency Hotels recently enacted a policy in which housekeeping staff was routinely invited to management meetings regarding internal promotional activities. The company’s rationale: Since housekeepers are more interactive in the client’s rooms than any other member of staff, they should be coordinated to fulfill aspects of service delivery and special customer-service functions such as the delivery of various in-room food and fruit baskets (Davison). It was determined by Hyatt leadership that housekeeping should be a focal go-to individual, allowing busy customers the ability to pass on their requests or comments to housekeeping and authorizing several members of the cleaning staff to handle minor customer requests. It was believed that this new policy would create the perception of a more efficient staff and avoiding the customers’ frustrations at attempting to locate a member of management to deal with very minor concerns. One future technology for housekeeping involves the creation of computerized inventory control and ordering systems. By providing the appropriate training necessary to coordinate this important aspect of hotel operations, housekeeping members would be empowered to order inventory levels which they feel are fitting to their job functions. Since this particular group is most aware of the volume of toiletries and other guest items used in this process, this advance would remove some of the responsibilities from already-strained management functions and give the housekeeping staff a much stronger sense of belonging and importance. The most positive outcome is the customers’ perception of an efficient team whilst also reducing turnover from cleaning staff members who feel under-utilised. Today’s HR Manager It costs much more to attract a new customer than to keep an old one (Dutta, Venkatesh & Parsa, 2007). With this statement in mind, the contemporary HR manager must deal with not only the needs of staff, but ensure that staff attitudes are in peak condition to build customer loyalty. A contented staff member will provide superior service which will serve to enhance the guest experience. Similar to the modern role of the hotel manager, the HR manager must continually work to motivate staff, ensure their psychological well-being and act as a catalyst for internal staff improvements designed to build positive perceptions about job quality (Mathis & Jackson, 2005). This is a significant change from simply coordinating paperwork regarding employee benefits and payroll-related activities. Electronic satisfaction databases should be considered a viable technological advancement designed to improve the HR function, allowing managers to utilise computer-based software to track staff issues requiring attention. For instance, auto alerts can be established which daily or weekly identify staff member benefits renewals or even coordinate counselling sessions so as to ensure that all members of staff are given equal attention and that their needs are not being overlooked. The outcome to this scenario will only serve to provide staff with higher levels of personal satisfaction which will rub off on the client/customer and secure loyalty in the customer base. The benefits to the business will be most noticeable in terms of financial gain and much lower turnover, likely a significant problem in the hospitality industry today. Additionally, the role of HR manager in a medium-sized hotel is to understand the scheduling needs of employees and utilise flexible scheduling options which are both congruent to the employee as well as the business (Mathis & Jackson). Matching budget guidelines with staffing needs, and the use of computer technology, will create a win-win scenario for the business and its internal staff. Bibliography Abdullah, Vanga. (2005). Modern Hospitality. Hamish Hamilton Publishers, United Kingdom: 83. Davison, Eric C. (2007). Bridging the Gap: Solutions for Efficient Restaurant Management. Thomson South-Western: 118-121. Dutta, K., Venkatesh, U. & Parsa, H.G. (2007). ‘Service failure and recovery strategies in the restaurant sector’. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Bradford. 19(5): 351. Gale, Derek. (2007). ‘The ten-minute manager’s guide to creating community at work’. Restaurants & Institutions. 117(9): 22. Marre, Daniel G. (2007). ‘Worldwide hospitality market remains strong’. Journal of Retail & Leisure Propert, London. 6(4): 297-299. Martin, Robert. (2003). ‘Managing a kitchen: The new role of the corporate chef’. Nation’s Restaurant News. 37(35): E16. Mathis, R. & Jackson, M. (2005). Human Resource Management. 10th ed. Thomson South-Western, United Kingdom: 223-225. Michaud, Jennifer. (2006). ‘Training helps housekeepers tackle big job’. Hotel and Motel Management, Duluth. 221(16): 24. Taylor, J. & Forte, J. (2008). ‘HACCP for the hospitality industry: The chefs’ perspective’. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Bradford. 20(5): 494. 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