Chapter one

Introduction to front offic mangment

1.Overview: Hospitality;Hotel operation
1.1. How do you understand Hospitality?
Defining Hospitality is problematic because lack of
general agreement.
1.1.1. Concept and definations of Hospitality
Sematic or Dictionary Defination indicated that Hospitality is the
friendly,generous reception and entertainment of guests or
strangers or shortly kindness in welcoming strangers or
guests.i.e the relationship process b/n a customer and a host.
 Hospitality in a holistic manner and stated it as a
harmonious mixter of tangable (Beverage,beds,ambience
and environmnet) and intangable(Behavior Of staff)
componenets.
 broadly speaking,Hospitality is the act of kindness in
welcoming strangers or guest.
 it is he relationship between a customer and a host.
from the view of acadamic consideration of the nature
of hospitality two theme have been raised
1. hospitality as a means of social control( control of
stranger)
2. as a form of social and economic exchange
1.2. Who are guests or strangers?
strangers or gests are people who are essentially alien
(extrinsic) to a particular physical, economic and social
environment.
1.3. Hospitality and Hotel
the travel and tourism industry can be divided in to three
segments: transportation service, Hospitality service
and Destination Business.
Hospitality service: lodge, food and drinks as well as
entertainment supposed to be provided for guests.
 Hospitality service
A. Commercial: is providing lodge and/or accomodations
including food services for people when they are away from
thier homes in response of payment. it begins with the
professional ability of inviting the clients and proffesional
ability of bidding the guests farewell.it involves hotel
process model. what is this process model?
I. Inviting hospitality: is the whole of marketing activities
undertaken to persude the client and guest as a customer
to take a decision about choosing and ordering the offer of
a specific hotel and restaurant.
II. Welcoming Hospitality
comprised of all activities and behaviour of service
personnel and managerial team of the specific hotel and
restaurant, which are related to the service of a guest's
arrival and reception at the hotel or restaurant starting from
the arrival and the checking-in as well as on his way to the
hotel room or other areas where the hospitality service is
provided.
 III. Service hospitality
it is a complete and consistent standard and procedures of
guest service in the hotel it is recieved by the guest.e.g. in a
hotel,restaurant ,bar,conference room or in wellness & spa
area.
III. Fare welling Hospitality
these activities are also a smooth transition to re-inviting
guest to return to specific hotel and restaurant. it is an
opportunity of creating last impression.
B. Non- Commercial
these are welfare service industry established by the
government for different group like universties... and in
some cases by philanthropists to bring reliefs to certain
individuals in societies.
 it is part of any sensible government functions and
commitment to provide free health delivery system to the
society, hospitals and welfare homes are established
purposely not to make profit but to cater for the wellbieng
of the society.
 the armed forces
 university halls and residence
 post primery school hostels
 the welfare homes
The history of development in non-commercial industry is
alike to the same ways the commercial hospital developed.
1st “Hospitum” meaning the medieval time welcoming and
serving of guests/pilgrims,merchants and others in
monastic caves and changed to commercial business
called Hospice then hostel.finally become Hotel.
Hotel
Hotel is an establishment that provide paid lodging,usually
on short-term basis.further nowadays hotel service become
more sophesticated and the service becomes so much
extended.
Hotel operation
A. Back of the house operation and
B. front of the house operation
what is the major means of classifing hotel in this two
operations?is housekeeping department personel front
of the house or back of the house operation?and why?
 1. Front Office – Introduction
Every multi-departmental physical business needs to have
a front office or reception to receive the visitors. Front
Office Department is the face and as well as the voice of
a business. Regardless of the star rating of the hotel or the
hotel type, the hotel has front office as its most visible
department. For a business such as hospitality, the front
office departmentcomes with an aspect of elevating
customer experience with the business.
Front Office department is a common link
between the customers and the business.
 1.2. Front Office Department
1.2.1 Front Office Operations
 is a place where guest and staff are first met as a service
provider and service taker.
 The front office is the nerve centre or hub of a hotel. It is
the department that makes the first and last impression
on the guests, and the place that guests approach for
information and service throughout their stays.
The three main functions of the front office are as follows:
1. Selling rooms;
2. Maintaining balanced guest accounts; and
3. Providing services and information to guests.
1.3. Organization of front office department
1.3.1. Overview of hotel organisation
why is organisational structure important?organisational
structure helps the organisation to carry out its
mission,global and departmental goals and objectives by
depicting (portraying) heirarcy of managmnet,supervision
and employee levels.
it shows reporting relationships,span of managment and
staff/line function.
 dividing tasks into jobs.
 specifying the appropriate department for each job
 determining the optimum number of jobs in each
department
 delegating authority within and among departments.
 there are two types of relationships that might exist
between any two functions at any organization chart.
1. Solid Lines: this shows direct line accountablity. in this
structure “A” is responsible/ liable to “B” and “B” shall tell “A”
what to do when to do,and how to do it.
2. Dotted Lines
this knd of relationship entitlesboth positions linked with
dotted lines to have a high degree of cooperation and
communication but not direct line accountablity.
which type of reltionship is more relevant for
hotel front office operation?
1.3.2. Front office organization
front office organization chart shall be designed according
to functions. this approach helps to
A. Enhances the control in the front office operations.
B. provide guests with more specialized attention.
 What is Front Office Department?
It is the one of the many departments of the hotel
business which directly interacts with the customers
when they first arrive at the hotel. The staff of this
department is very visible to the guests. Front office
staff handles the transactions between the hotel and
its guests. The staff receives the guests, handles their
requests, and strikes the first impression about the
hotel into their minds.
Front office department includes:
 Front Desk
 Uniformed services
 Concierges
 Front Office Accounting System
 Private Branch Exchange (PBX), a private telephone
network used within an organization
 Basic Responsibilities of Front
Office Department
Following are the most basic responsibilities a front
office can handle.
•  Creating guest database
•  Handling guest accounts
•  Coordinating guest service
•  Trying to sell a service
•  Ensuring guest satisfaction
•  Handling in-house communication through PBX
 Front Office Operations
Front-House Operations :These operations are visible to
the guests of the hotel.
 Interacting with the guests to handle request for an
accommodation.
 Checking accommodation availability and assigning it to the guest.

 Collecting detail information while guest registration.

 Creating a guest’s account with the FO accounting system.
 Issuing accommodation keys to the guest.
 Settling guest payment at the time of check-out.
Back-House Operations :Front Office staff conducts
these operations in the absence of the guests or when
the guest’s involvement is not required. These operations
involve activities such as:
 Determining the type of guest (fresh/repeat) by
checking the database.
 Ensuring preferences of the guest to give a personal
touch to the service.
 Maintaining guest’s account with the accounting
system.
 Preparing the guest’s bill.
 Collecting the balance amount of guest bills.
 Generating reports.
 Front Office – Structure
Front office area is commonly termed as ‘Reception’, as it
is the place where the guests are received when they
arrive at the hotel. It is the first point of interaction
between the hotel and the guests. Being the prime
interface between the hotel services and the guests, the
front office is located near the main entrance of the hotel.

The front office structure can be viewed in two ways: the

physical setup and the operational structure of the
department.
 Physical Setup of Front Office
The physical setup includes key-hanging boards, bell
desk and guest-mail handling register. The front desk is
equipped with various compartments, the computerized
property management system, and an in-house
communication system.
Positioning the Front Desk
The front desk is where the guests temporarily await to
find an accommodation or to clear their bill. Hence, it
needs to be positioned appropriately such that the staff
and the guests can use them conveniently.
 The front desk needs to be:
 Positioned at an adequate height and reach.
 An adequately lit-up area.
 Aesthetically furnished.
 Preferably near the hotel lobby and lift.
 Preferably near the sitting area.
 Wide enough to make the staff member communicate
with the guests across the desk.
 Operational Structure of Front Office
There are lot of staff working under front office manager.
The structure of the front office department changes
according to the size of the hotel business, physical size of
the hotel, and the hotel management policies. Following is
the general structure of the front office department:
what is your ideal front office organisational structure
for you?
 Front office
manager

Reservation Reception Guest service Accounts Communication

Switch board
Reservation staff Reception staff opertator

Cashier Night Auditor

Guest Staff Concierage Bell staff

 Elements of organizational structure
1. Work specialization: Delegating Jobs
2. Departmentalization: Group certain jobs in order
3. Patterns of authority: right to make a decision
4. Span of control: report to a manager
5. Methods of coordination: linking of the organization goal
in the form of pooled interdependance and sequential
interdependence.
 what can determine the size of the
organizational chart of front office?
1. size of the hotel
2. standared of service: High class hotel
3. Types of hotel: Airport hotel/star level
4. Type of guest : Business people or
tourist
 Front office department and function
i. Front Desk
ii. Reservation
iii. concierage
iv. Uniformed service
v. switch board Telephone
vi. cahier
 I. Front Desk
 . front office personnel have more contact with guests
than staffs in other departments.
 . it is a focal point for guest requests regarding the hotel
service,engineering,information etc...
 . it is a department where guests firs cheks in and finally
checks out of the hotel.
 . thier responsblity is recieving the guest,registering of the
guest,assigning of room and room keys and
remote.contol and air conditioners.
 . the front desk should also promote the warmth and
hospitality of the property. they are also a source of
information for government offices like police report.
 . main communication, attraction and major revenue
generating center.
 . it is a department equipped with staffs of good quality
and personality.
 . information,mail,message,complaints and room
accounts are dealt with here.
 . is a team is the key to an enjoyable and problem free
stay for the hotel guest.
 Functions
 the main role of receptionists (GSA) are taking enquieries
and reservation request from walk in Visitors;preparing for
the arrival of guests;greating guests on arrival;checking
guests in(register them ,allocating suitable rooms and
checking and checking methods of payment) seling
facilities and services of the hotel,responding to guests
problems and queries,or refering them to other
departments that can do so; providing information about
guests to other front office units and departments of the
hotel and maintaining guest records.
 1.4 Front office work shifts
• A small hotel or guest house may shut down its front
office over night, leaving an 'Out of Hours' or „Emergency‟
contact number (and/or front entrance intercom) for late
arrivals or guests with problems during the night.
• A large hotel, front office staff will be available to meet
guest needs 24 hours per day. Most back office
departments will operate normal or extended office hours:
reservations will tend to be concentrated within business
hours, and billing and cashiering activity in the early
morning (posting of last-minute charges), middle of the
day (lunchtime postings and banking of takings) and
evening (opening bills for new arrivals).
• However, certain significant front office roles (reception,
night audit, porter and switchboard) will have to be
covered overnight.
• The Front Office Manager shall schedule his/her
employees according to seasonality, business volume,
and available staff in hand
• The most commonly used scheduling is the Traditional
Scheduling, which assumes that every employee shall
work 40 Hours per Week. Moreover, the hotel shall
ensure 3 shifts per day, each of which lasts for 8 hours. A
possible example to traditional scheduling is shown
below:
•  Day Shift 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM
•  Evening Shift 3:00 PM – 11:00 PM
•  Night Shift 11:00 PM – 7:00 AM
• Sometimes, due to non-availability of staff, seasonality,
and volume business, the Front Office manager might be
forced to adopt an Alternative Scheduling, which might be
arranged under the following patterns:
• a) Flexible Work Hours or Flextime: This kind of
alternative scheduling entitles that employees might start
work, for example, one hour earlier, just to leave again
one hour earlier.
• b) Compressed Work Schedule: Employees, instead of
working 5 days per week, 8 hours per day, might work 4
days per week, 10 hours per day. Therefore, compressed
work-scheduling means working all the 40 hours per week
in less than the standard 5 days per week.
• c) Job Sharing: This kind of scheduling entitles that two
or more part-timers occupy the job of one full timer.
• Front Office managers shall carefully schedule their
employees in order to minimize conflicts that arise
between hotel and employee needs. In big hotels
operating under fully automated systems, some
scheduling software package programs might be installed
as to aid and help managers in effective scheduling.
 Job Descriptions for Front Office roles
• Job description lists all tasks and subtasks that
compose a work position. Moreover, it may outline
reporting relationships, responsibilities, working
conditions, equipment and materials to be used. Job
descriptions might be used as: to evaluate job
performances, tools to conduct training or retraining and
determine appropriate staffing levels.
• Job specifications List the personal qualities, skills, and
traits a person needs to have in order to perform
successfully the tasks outlined in a job description. That is
why; departments shall first design job descriptions, and
later job specifications! Job specifications usually serve
as a basis for advertising job vacancies, and as a tool to
identify current employees for promotion purposes