ROOMS DIVISION DEPARTMENT

ROOMS DIVISION DEPARTMENT:

The major functions conducted by the Rooms Division Department are:

a)    Reservation, registration, room & rate assignment

b)   Fulfills guest services and updates room status

c)    Maintains & settles guest accounts

d)   Creates guest history records

e)    Develops & maintains a comprehensive database of guest information

f)     Coordinates Guest Services

· The sole priority of the Rooms Division Department shall be ensuring Guest Satisfaction, which happens when, guest expectations match what the hotel provides.

· In order to achieve Guest Satisfaction, front office department shall prepare:

a)    Careful designed front office organization chart

b)   Comprehensive goals, strategies and tactics

c)    Planned work shifts

d)   Well designed job descriptions

e)    Well designed job specifications

1. Organization Chart:

¨ The Front Office organization chart shall be designed according to Functions. Doing so not only enhances the control the Front Office has over its Operations, but also provides guests with more specialized attention. Such a division according to functions, however, is not practical in middle and small size hotels due to the fact that these very hotels don't posses enough and sufficient monetary resources to ensure the existence of at least 3 jobholders (i.e. one for each shift) for each job position. Therefore, in middle size hotels, a front office clerk might be responsible for more than one work position. This is ensured via cross training. On the other hand, in small size hotels, one or two front office clerk(s) might be responsible for all front office activities.

A) Typical functions and positions under the Rooms Division Department:

n Front Desk Agent: Registers guests, and maintains room availability information

n Cashier: Closes guest folios, and properly checks out guests

n Accounts Receivable Clerk: Posts charges in correct guest folios and updates folios' outstanding balances

n Night Auditor: Controls the job of the Accounts Receivable Clerk, and prepares daily reports to management (ex: Occupancy Report and Revenue Report)

n Mail & Information Clerk: Takes Messages, provides Directions to Guests, and maintains Mail

nTelephone Operator: Manages the Switchboard and coordinates Wake-up Calls

        

n Reservation Agent: Responds to Reservation Requests and creates Reservation Records    

n Uniformed Service Agents: Handles Guest Luggage, escorts Guests to their Rooms, and assists guests for any bit of information requested

2. Goals and Strategies

¨ In every organization, goals and strategies must be prepared bearing in mind the hotel's mission statement and overall goals and objectives. An example might be:

Global Goal: Increase Occupancy Rate of the Hotel by 25%

Department Goal: Increase in the Number of Walk-ins by 50%

Strategy: Improve Sales Figures by describing guestrooms and Hotel Services

3. Work Shift:

· 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:

½ Day Shift Ü 7 a.m. - 3 p.m.

 ¹ Evening Shift Ü 3 p.m. - 11 p.m.

 Á Night Shift Ü 11 p.m. - 7 a.m.

· 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.

4. Job Descriptions:

· 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.

· All job descriptions shall be tailored and customized to reflect the needs of each single hotel property, and work position. Moreover, job descriptions shall be task-oriented rather employee-oriented, which means that hotels shall try to search for employees who can fit their job descriptions, not design jobs to fit the skills of certain job applicants.

· Job Descriptions shall be revised periodically to cope with the ever changing demands and needs of the industry and to respond to the sophisticated needs of guests. While doing so, managers shall let their employees be involved in the revision process.

· Job descriptions might be used as:

a)    To evaluate job performances

b)   Tools to conduct training or retraining

c)    Prevent duty duplications

d)   Ensure the performance of each job task

e)    Determine appropriate staffing levels

5. Job Specifications:

· 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's 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.

· Inside a typical job specification, the underneath key factors shall exist:

a)    Work experience

b)   Formal education

c)    General knowledge

d)   Previous training

e)    Physical requirements

f)     Communication ability

g)    Equipment skills