Facilities Operations and Management - Assignment Example

Facilities Operations and Management 1.0. Introduction As a senior hospitality supervisor reviewing the recruitment, selection and the induction procedures of organisational procedures for the managers of the facility, this paper will present updates to the operational responsibilities of the future facility managers of the company (Edwards 37). Through the exploration of the responsibilities of the facility’s manager, the writer and the reader will be presented with a practical understanding to the myriad of responsibilities and the activities that are covered in the management of restaurant chains. Through the exploration of the responsibilities of the manager of the facility, more light will also be shed to the issues, concerns and the practice aspects of the manager, in supporting the business, towards making it profitable and improving its profitability (Balmer and Baum 32). The areas explored through this paper include the responsibilities of the facility manager, for the staffs responsible for the operations of the business and the operational side of the building. The report will also explore the responsibilities of the manager, towards the customers of the business and also the impact of the operations of the business of employers and funding. Through the review of the four main areas identified, the paper will point out the management best practices employed by a facility in the hotel and hospitality industry, aimed at creating a sustainable competitive advantage (Edwards 39). The main importance of managing a facility effectively is that it enables it to keep its best employees and to satisfy its customers; the two groups are the most important stakeholders in a business. 1.1. The responsibilities of the facility manager towards the staffs responsible for the facility’s operations The first major role of a facility’s manager in a hotel is that of acting as the standard bearer for the hotel business. The roles covered under this area of responsibility include communication, promotion, facilitating performance and maintaining the different aspects of the staffs of the facility (Balmer and Baum 32). This area of responsibility requires the (facility) hotel manager to practice management by objectives, where he/ she employ a performance appraisal system characterised by a variety of traits. The first trait is that of taking the actions and completing the documents that help to evaluate the performance of staffs, with the aim of improving it, reducing the challenges they face and improving their satisfaction within the workplace (Robinson et al. 65). The second trait, which covers a responsibility for the staffs of the hotel, is that of communicating the job description of staffs clearly. This area of responsibility also covers the role of setting, communicating and agreeing upon performance targets, in order to ensure that the performance of staffs is measured against the cooperatively set targets (Balmer and Baum 34). This area of responsibility also covers an important role of the facility’s manager towards the staffs, where they explore the progress in relation to the targets being pursued. This role also entails the evaluation of staff performance, in order to provide feedback regarding performance and the changes to be made (Robinson et al. 65). The second major role of the facility’s manager towards the staffs of a hotel is checking that the working environment of the facility is favourable for the working of the staffs, and also one that allows them to pursue goals and targets. The various areas of the work environment, which the manager needs to check and guarantee that they are working properly, include the provision of the equipment needed by the employees. Some of the facilities that staffs will need from the workplace, in order to perform their work well include a reliable water supply; it helps workers to keep the facility clean and hygienic (Robinson et al. 65). The second area that the manager needs to check is that of guaranteeing team-work in the facility, by positioning the different staffs into a coherent system that can work cooperatively, towards the realization of the facility’s goals and targets. Other areas that should be checked about the environment of the facility include providing a decent salary, ensuring that the work is satisfying, providing fringe benefits and allowing them opportunities for advancement and development (Balmer and Baum 34). The third major role of the facility’s manager towards the staffs of a hotel is training. The training role in a hotel facility starts with the manager, and he can only do this by acting as the champion and the advocate for skills improvement and learning. The specific roles covered under this area of responsibility include that of positioning training as an important process for the employees. The second role is that of cultivating the buy-in of the employees and also the senior management of the facility, in order to receive the support of staffs and the facilitation of the management (Barrett and Finch 35). The third role is that of playing an active role for the staffs to emulate, by demonstrating that the intended changes are possible and that they will be beneficial for the staffs as members of the facility. The fourth responsibility of the facility manager of a hotel is that of managing the various aspects of food and service delivery, in accordance to the operating procedures laid down by the business. One of the roles covered under this area of responsibility is that of guaranteeing that the quality and the safety of the food served to guests meets the standards set for the facility (Barrett and Finch 35). For example, one function that the manager oversees among the staffs of the facility includes collecting the quality checks done by the staffs, in different areas like temperatures. In many cases, the manager will verify that the information given about the quality of products and services is factual, and that it meets the standards required from their performance (Edwards 40). In order to guarantee that the quality of the products, including foods and drinks served by a hotel facility meets the set standards, the manager will require the staffs responsible for quality checks to verify all the inputs to be used for the preparation of food and drinks. The materials and the tools used during the preparation are also subjected to quality checks, in order to ensure that the quality output of the production system is satisfactory. To top up the quality check, the manager will require the health checks of the workers at different times, and in some cases can withdraw a worker from the production system, in the case that he/ she could compromise the safety and health standards required by the facility (Robinson et al. 67). 1.2. The responsibilities of the facility’s manager for the operational aspects of the building The facility’s management in charge of the operational aspects of the building is a part of the operational division of the facility. The areas of responsibility under its management include the management of the physical plant, the maintenance of the plant and the building as a whole, building services, and environmental safety and health management (O’Fallon and Rutherford 168). The responsibilities of the manager in this area include those of building maintenance, which covers the oversight of visitor/ customer and employee safety within the premises. In this area, some of the roles that the manager may play include declaring the closure of areas of the building, in the case that they are considered unfit for habitation, or polluted beyond a limit allowable for employees and customers to use. For example, in the case that one wing of the hotel building is facing the risk of breakage; the manager is responsible for commissioning the diagnosis of the problem, and advising all employees and customers regarding the use or the lack of use for the given area (Pizam 9). This area also covers the role of building maintenance, which covers actions like commissioning maintenance workers to repair broken facilities and rooms, for example doors and toilets. In the process of doing that, the manager is responsible for advising the employees and the customers of the hotel, regarding the alternative areas for use, and the standards of use to be expected from the staffs of the facility. The second responsibility of the manager in the facility is that of making upgrades and the repair of facilitation that are considered to be out of order or not meeting the standards expected from the facility. In taking the responsibility for the area, the manager is responsible for coordinating the upgrade or repair work, to ensure that it does not affect the normal operations of the building, and where it affects it, he should give directives regarding the changes to operational outlook (O’Fallon and Rutherford 168). For example, in meeting this responsibility, the facility’s manager can transfer the storage of foods and food ingredients from a given area of the building, in the case that he considers the possibility of food contamination from the works taking place. The actions taken towards meeting this responsibility can include requesting for special arrangements, including those related to the provision of janitorial services, taking information about space assignments and updating occupants and staffs about water, electrical and service shutdowns or outages (Pizam 9). The third area of responsibility is that of checking that the building and the facilities inside it comply with health, safety and environmental standards and procedures, in relation to the operations of the facility. The roles covered under this area of responsibility include checking that the repair and the maintenance of the building and the grounds meet the standards required by health, safety and environmental compliance. The second role is that of regulating and managing the consumption of resources and energy, including water and electricity, to ensure that they comply with environmental management standards (Pizam 9). The third role is related to the security of the customers, personnel and the property in the building, and the manager is responsible for overseeing that safety and security standards are maintained. The fourth role in the area is that of developing, testing and implementing the emergency plans for the facility, in order to ensure the safety and the health of the customers and staffs in different situations. The fifth role under the area of responsibility is that of assisting the teams overseeing emergency response activities, through shutting of utilities, delivering status reports, and assessing the condition of the building (O’Fallon and Rutherford 168). 1.3. The responsibilities of the facilities manager towards the customers using the facility The facilities manager holds a variety of responsibilities towards the customers using the facility, including that of guaranteeing the delivery of good customer services. In the course of guaranteeing that the customers of the facility receive good services, the manager needs to have a team ready to deal with the issues that come up in the facility, especially those that can compromise the services delivered to customers (Payne 37). The actions taken include those of ensuring that the building is kept clean and good, and also checking that the facility adheres to the operational standards expected to guarantee good services for the customers. Other actions that the manager may need to take include those of recruiting the customer service staffs for the facility, from fields that can guarantee that it meets high standards (Jones and Jowett 19). For example, by recruiting staffs from the hospitality sector, the facility’s manager is almost guaranteed that the customers will receive premium services at all times. The second area of responsibility for the facility manager is that of setting the ethos and the values to be pursued by the staffs of the facility, including those of giving directives on service and product after sales. This area of responsibility is aimed at increasing the customer satisfaction levels of the customers visiting the facility, by taking a variety of actions. The actions taken include the facilitation of relationship development between customers and customer service staffs, through staff training and the promotion of team work. The facility’s managers can realise this by creating an environment that encourages engagement between staffs and the management, which fosters the communication of issues that would affect customer service delivery (Payne 37). The facility manager of a modern-day organization is highly engaged in customer satisfaction strategies, mainly because customer acquisitions costs are becoming more and more. The facility’s manager has increasingly become customer-retention oriented; following the acknowledgement that customer retention is a source of incentives for the business (Jones and Jowett 19). The actions taken by the managers towards increasing customer retention include surveying the expectations of their customers, in order to adjust the oversight of the facility, according to the expectations of the current customers and future customers. For example, following the discovery that hotel customers are major consumers of taxi services – major hotel chains started providing cab services, in order to improve the experiences of their customers (Payne 47). The manager of the facility will also set the standards aimed at making the facility an expert in its field and fostering the development of the relationships that increase the trust of customers in the business. The manager is also responsible for the implementation of anticipatory service, like the adoption of automation and technology, like online chat services, in order to improve the customer care services delivered to their customers. The manager of the facility is also responsible for the planning of the development of customer retention projects and administering market research studies, with the aim of improving customer retention. More importantly, the manager pursues the advancement of the different areas through the recruitment of the staffs of the organization, into adopting customer care retention as part of their work and responsibility (Jones and Jowett 19). 1.4. The impact of facilities operations of employers and/or funding agencies Funding agencies are those that provide funding and other capital/ production resources, towards the running of the facility and its operations. Some of the suppliers that are instrumental to the success of hotel industry players include Coca Cola, and farm input producers. For example, without the provision of vegetables by farmers, hotels would not be able to provided vegetable foods and delicacies to their customers (Ingram and Medlik 5). Also, from the Coca Cola Company, hotels receive the supplies of the carbonated drinks that are taken together with the foods prepared by the hotels. The integral nature of the suppliers of the company is that, the quality of the supply inputs and the agricultural supplies that they supply affect the customer experience of the customers consuming the foods at hotel outlets. One example of the strategic partnerships developed by the company is that between the McDonalds and the Coca Cola Company, for the provision of soft drinks; the provision of high quality coke drinks is one of the critical areas that help the company to increase customer satisfaction levels. More importantly, it is important to note that the failure to supply a hotel with the food production ingredients needed could paralyze the production system of the company entirely (Ingram and Medlik 5). Conclusion As a senior hospitality supervisor, the role of facility management is very important, because it influences the success of many other areas, including customer retention and also the credibility of the facility. The responsibility of the facility manager towards the staffs includes acting as the bearer, improving the working environment, training, and managing the different areas of the business. The responsibilities of the manager for the operational aspects of the business include the management of the building and the plant; making upgrades and repairs and checking compliance to environmental, safety and health standards. The responsibilities of the facility’s manager towards the consumers include customer service and product innovation among others. The impacts of funding agencies on facility operations include the delivery of high standard inputs, in order to guarantee high product standards. Works Cited Balmer, Sylvia, and Baum, Tom. ‘Applying Herzberg’s Hygiene Factors to the Changing Accommodation Environment.’ International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 5. 2(1993): 32-35. Barrett, Peter, and Finch, Edward. Facilities Management: The Dynamics of Excellence. Third Edition. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell. Print. Edwards, John. Applied facilities Management for the Hospitality Industry. San Diego, CA: Cognella Academic Publishing, 2011. Print. Ingram, Hadyn and Medlik, Slavoj. The Business of Hotels. Fourth Edition. London: Routledge, 2013. Print. Jones, Christine, and Jowett, Valerie. Managing Facilities. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1998. Print. O’Fallon, Michael, and Rutherford, Denney. Eds. Hotel Management and Operations. Fifth Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2011. Print. Payne, Trevor. Facility Management: A Strategy for Success. Oxford: Chandos House, 2000. Print. Pizam, Abraham. Ed. International Encyclopedia of Hospitality Management. Second Edition. New York: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2010. Print. Robinson, Peter, Luck, Michael, Smith, Stephen, and Lackey, Michael. Eds. ‘Tourism.’ Oxford: Cabi, 2013. Print. Read More