Challenges the Hotel Receptionist Faces - Case Study Example

Case study answers Customer Inserts His/ Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 10, 09, 2010 Question 1 In this case, there are a number of challenges that the receptionist faces especially with regard to the visitors of the hotel. The female receptionists have a more daunting task since they are forced to dress in sexually appealing clothes and make-ups (Boella 2005). The female receptionist role is therefore prone to sexual harassment from male visitors. Another challenging aspect of the receptionist role is the kind of treatment that they should give to the hotel’s visitors. In most cases as evident in this case, the more friendly the receptionist (mostly women) the more prone to sexual advancements from the male visitors. As apparent in this situation, female receptionists are forced to appear moderately friendly and less responsive to the visitors’ compliments before their intentions are fully deciphered. The other evident challenge in the course of receptionist duty is how to react or cease visitor’s unwanted sexual advancement or harassment. Because of the kind of dressing and reception that is demanded to be shown to visitors who are customers of the hotel, it is always very challenging to counter the consequences. In some instances, the visitors cross their boundaries and hence cause emotional harm to the receptionist who is acting friendly. Mr Abubakar in this case is seen harassing receptionists by actions and words because of his money and relation to the hotel. Question 2 Sexual harassment can be actions and words that are wrongfully addressed to a person (especially women) in a way that is improper and abusive in nature. These words and actions are usually illegal and one can be charged in a court of law. It is naturally wrong for anyone irrespective of the relation with a person to utter words or act in a manner that demonstrates unacceptable sexual advancements (Martin 2001). There are several instances in this case study that can be used to justify that Mr Abubakar is sexually harassing the receptionist. The actions and words of Mr Abubakar clearly demonstrate sexual harassment and degradation. The use of words such as miss prim and proper’ and ‘cheeky face’ and ‘sexy eyes’ is an indication of sexual advancements that are not invited. The actions of Mr Abubakar also add on sexual harassment, this is evident when he touches the receptionists without their consent. This actions and words uttered by Mr Abubakar justifies that he is illegally harassing the female receptionist in the hotel because he is seen as one of the major customer of the hotel. He also uses his money to dignify female receptionist in the hotel, this is a clear pathway to sexual harassment that follows the degradation. Mr Abubakar thinks that because he is one of the major customers of the hotel, the rules of the hotel and even human dignity should be bent for his sake (Swain 2002). Mr Abubakar solicit women with gift and money in order to get beyond the boundaries vividly demonstrates signs of sexual harassments that the hotel receptionist have lived with, most of the female workers of the hotel have given in to Mr Abubakar approaches and abuses because of his money. The actions of Mr Abubakar has forced female receptionist in the hotel compromise their dignity and personal principles, he abuses these female workers because of the compromise that his money has created. This is a clear sign of sexual harassment that the female receptionists of Goldmark Hotel have learnt to tolerate and accept. Question 3 Corporate engineering process in a hospitality industry normally involves cautious polite talk and behaviour of the hotel receptionist; this make the reception process pleasant and smooth (Lubbe 2005). In some cases, the hotel may bend some rules to ensure customer’s satisfaction. Rule bending is usually the genesis of corporate manipulation which can be done by a customer. Corporate manipulation occurs when the customer or even the administration of the hotel in some instances take advantage of the loopholes to hold the hotel hostage. This is usually done by an individual for selfish reasons. This episode provides a challenging phenomenon where receptionists were stretched to the limit by customers who are demanding. This scene provides some form of corporate manipulation that is evident from the threats that the customer issues to the receptionists of the hotel. There is however some aspects that cannot be fully stated as corporate manipulation in this case. These aspects include grooming and general behaviour of the receptionist. It is the responsibility of the receptionist to ensure that they attract and politely talk to the hotel visitors in order to enhance their satisfaction. In some instances, this is not always the case because of the customers’ behaviours; this episode demonstrates how customers can manipulate the hotel to their advantage. This to me is corporate manipulation; Mr Pisaniello in this episode tells the hotel receptionist that he will disseminate negative information about the hotel such that no one will ever come to the hotel again. This is a form of corporate manipulation as evident from the utterances of Mr Pisaniello. The yelling and constant abuse of Mr Pisaniello tests the patients of the receptionist, as narrated by the author; this particular incident created some mental anguish and even led to lack of sleep in the night. The behavior of the receptionist in this particular day was a form of corporate manipulation, Mr Pisaniello had been late for more than two days and the hotel receptionist had a valid reason not to reserve a room for this particular client. Unfortunately, Mr Pisaniello went beyond the limits by abusing the receptionist by calling them names and yelling at them. Since the mistake was his lateness, nobody could be blamed in the hotel; this is therefore an evident case of corporate manipulation by a client. Question 4 It is difficult to clearly establish whether the traditional hospitality approach has a link to the way in which the contemporary hospitality in the modern world works. The ancient hospitality gave the woman a vital position in the mediation of a guest into the society (Andrews 2007). The mediation process as evident in the case study involved sexual favours if the guest desired. In those times, especially in the Greek and Spanish cultures, sexual favours to strangers were a norm. Sexual favours were treated just like any other favour like food and comfortable sleep for the visiting guest. In the modern society, there is a close relation in terms of the perception that the guests have on the receptionists in hotels. This can be linked to the way in which women in hotels dress in a manner that attracts men desires. Though it cannot be fully accounted for, it is somewhat evident that the ancient cultures of women hospitality are still evident in most hotels that have female receptionists. The ambiguity created by these female receptionists further creates a link to the way in which women acted in the ancient times. The ambiguity in this case is evident in the way modern women receive visitors (especially male visitors) in a friendly manner. The dressing and the make-ups of these women creates a welcoming environment for sexual desires in men (Riley 2006). On the contrary, most hotel management encourage women to dress sexy in order to attract and maintain visitors (who are usually male in this case). This does not mean that the reception process involve sexual favours in this case. This strategy of using women however adds to the desires of men and the whole business intention is lost in the process. It can therefore be concluded that there is a relationship between the ancient times sexualised hospitality and the modern times civilised but still sexualised hospitality as seen in most hotels. This conclusion does not however mean that sexual activities are based on hospitality although the same cannot be fully denied. Question 5 There are a number of actions that can be done to mitigate or eliminate these actions entirely from the hotel. The two approaches that I will use as the manager of the hotel who has been approached with such a situation will be; advice the female receptionist of the limits permitted (in the hotel and in the country’s laws) and also advice the customers against sexually harassing female receptionists (Kusluvan 2003). This two way approach will minimise occurrence of such incidences in the hotel. I will also draw a sharp guideline between the hotel workers and the customers, the guideline will promote mutual respect between the customer and the hotel workers. Such a situation will therefore eliminate a breeding ground for sexual harassments from the visitors as evident in this case. In order to give a solution to a problem, it is usually imperative to fully comprehend the situation and the genesis of the problem (Ritchie 2000). This puts one in a more strategic position to offer a lasting solution to the problem like this particular case. As the manager, I will advice the entire receptionist to be friendly to the customer but make their boundaries clear so as to avoid any form of sexual abuse. The entire receptionist especially the female workers should clearly tell the client whenever they feel that the client has gone beyond the accepted boundaries. This will make it clear to the visitors that such vices are not acceptable in the hotel. This is irrespective of how much the customer brings to the hotel as it is unlawful to allow any actions that violate not only the law but also the human rights. On the other hand, a customer that practises any actions that suggests the intention of sexually harassment to the hotel receptionist should be approached and advised to cease such actions. Once the customer notices the seriousness of the management on human respect, such deeds will be eliminated. As the manager of Goldmark, I will make it clear to the visiting customers that human dignity surpasses the monetary value that they add to the hotel. It will thus be clear that the hotel will not serve abusive customers irrespective of the amount of money that they bring to the hotel. Once this has been achieved, I believe that there will be less sexual harassment cases in the hotel. References Andrews, P 2007, Introduction To Tourism And Hospitality Industry, Tata McGraw-Hill, Sydney. Boella, MJ, & Goss-Turner, S 2005, Human resource management in the hospitality industry: an introductory guide, Butterworth-Heinemann, New York. Kusluvan, S 2003, Managing Employee Attitudes and Behaviors in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Nova Publishers, New York. Lubbe, B 2005, Tourism management in Southern Africa, Pearson, Melbourne. Martin RJ & Lundberg, DE 2001, Human relations for the hospitality industry, Van Nostrand Reinhold, London. Riley, M 2006, Human resource management in the hospitality and tourism industry, Volume 10, Butterworth-Heinemann, Melbourne. Ritchie, C 2000, The Kogan Page guide to working in the hospitality industry: catering, travel and tourism, leisure, and the licensed trade, Kogan Page Publishers, Canberra. Swain, M 2002, ‘Chapter 1: Gender/Tourism/Fun(?): An Introduction’, Gender/Tourism/Fun, in edited by M Swain & J Momsen, Cognizant Communication Corporation, New York, pp.1-11. Read More