Rooms Divisions Operation Management - Assignment Example

Rooms Divisions Operation Management Task A Introduction of the organisation A hotel provides a broad range of services and accommodations including reservations, lounge, public dining and banquet facilities, room service, laundry, business services, hair care, personal services, and other recreational activities. The size of the property usually ranges from 20 to 2,000 rooms, and even more. Currently, the hospitality industry is a global industry, and it is regarded as a crucial employer. It has now obtained a much higher status in the society and the demands work ethics and efficiency of highest standard from its employees. In this case, Copthorne Hotel Manchester is a major player in the hospitality industry. The Copthorne Hotel Manchester is a premier 4 star located in Manchester, United Kingdom. The hotel has Daniel Lawrence as its general manager. According to Kempen (2012), a four star hotel has an expectation level that comprises of a certain level of luxury and quality in the decor, furnishings and equipment in every area of the hotel. Copthorne Hotel Manchester has spacious bedrooms, in addition to having well designed and coordinated decor and furnishings. Besides, the en-suite bathrooms are installed with both bath and fixed shower. They have a high enough ratio of staff to guests to offer services such as laundry, dry cleaning and 24-hour room service. Roles and responsibilities of a range of accommodation and reception services staff In the statistics carried out by the UK Lodging Industry in 2009, it was reported that the majority hotel’s revenue estimated at 63.2% are usually generated from the rooms division department from the sale of rooms (VisitEngland, 2013). The room division department is typically consisted of five different departments namely: The rooms division usually comprises of five different departments such as reservations, housekeeping, property division, reservations, telephone, and uniformed services (Lundberg, 2007). In any hotel, the front office department is considered as the nerve centre and the hub of the hotel operations. The front office personnel usually have more contact with guests than staffs who are in the other departments. The front office is the show window that is why most entities in the hospitality industry have it furnished and maintained with good furniture and fittings. At the Copthorne Hotel Manchester the front office is well designed in an orderly manner. Front office manager: improves the guest services; samples duties carried out by the front office manager such as reviewing the previous night’s occupancy, reviewing arrivals, departures, staffing adjustments, looking over market mix, and meet with lead GSA’s (O'Fallon & Rutherfor, 2010). The front office cashier; posts charges and payments to the visitors account, all of which are verified during account auditing. Front desk agent: registers guests and maintains room availability information Executive housekeeper; housekeeping is an integral part of the guest satisfaction and experience. The executive housekeeper is the person in charge has the responsibility of ensuring that leadership of people, supplies and equipment is done properly, servicing and cleanliness of the guest rooms and public areas is maintained in highest standard. Housekeeper; they are tasked with keeping the guest rooms neat and clean as well as other public areas. They are also responsible for maintaining recycled and non-recycled cleaning inventories. In addition, they also provide turndown service (Walker, 2004). Guest service agent: At the Copthorne Hotel they work in two shifts, one from 7.00am-3.00pm. According to (Walker, 2004:22), they tasked with check-outs, guest inquiries, room changes. Those that report in the 3.00pm-11.00pm shift have the responsibility of checking in and reservations. The night auditor has the responsibility of closing the books on a daily basis, posting charges, controlling the job of the accounts receivable clerk balancing guest accounts, and lastly completing daily reports to the management. Reservation agent; Walker (2004:27) pointed out that a reservation agent has the responsibility of responding to reservation requests and creates reservation records, managing the central reservation system, telephone skills, sales position, and first area of guest contact. Door attendants: they are the hotel’s unofficial greeters and usually check luggage. Uniformed bell service agent: handles guest’s luggage, escorts visitors to their rooms and assists visitors for any bit of information requested. Switch board operator; has the responsibility of managing the switchboard and coordinating wake-up calls. Accommodation and front office services for different organizations Copthorne Hotel Manchester just like other organizations in the hospitality industry usually provides accommodation services. They include: first, housekeeping keeping service that is provided during accommodation by keeping the guest rooms neat and clean as well as other public areas. Copthorne Hotel also offers turndown service, hotel laundry, having a linen room, laundry and dry cleaning for guests, and lastly, general hotel cleaning. Most hotels, lodgings and restaurants have been reported to provide in-house laundry during accommodation, which has the benefits including 24 hour anytime laundry service for guests, smaller par-stock of lines, and full control over quality of laundered linen. With regard to cleaning services, hotels and other firms offer contract laundry which have the following benefits: low or no maintenance costs for equipment; no labor costs for training/staffing, ; lower overhead costs of energy/water; and finally, fixed projected expense. In relation to decoration and furnishings, lodgings and hotels such hotels Copthorne Hotel Manchester has bedrooms which have more space than at the lower star levels. In addition, they have well designed and coordinated decor and furnishings, with the en-suite bathrooms installed with both bath and fixed shower. Accommodation environment and occupancy; there are decoration, furniture, fittings and furnishings, good flooring, lighting, heating and ventilation, table appointment, and lastly, space, comfort and ease of use. VisitEngland (2013) pointed out that linen services and laundry are provided by the hotel staff in a 24-hour cycle. In relation to environmental issues, those businesses that are in the hospitality industry need to carry out their operations in a sustainable manner. Sustainability practices and green tourism and in your business are one and the same thing. Small eco-friendly changes will save money, enhance the relationship between the employees, increase profitability and offer a richer experience for clients even though over time one will also improve the business's impact on the local economy, environment and community. Besides, organizations in the hospitality industry usually produce effluents that are eco friendly. By complying with the UK’s environmental rules and regulations, a hotel is now free to operate. A hotel like Copthorne maintains recycled and non-recycled cleaning inventories. Health: proper health standards need to be maintained at the hotel premises, as well as provision of room emergency services incase of anything. The guests need to provide information on their health status before buying rooms. For instance, some guests may be asthmatic or diabetic. Therefore, room division department needs to provide clean rooms. Safety and security is provided by offering guest safety and loss prevention. Presences of security officers together with security equipment make the visitor feel comfortable. The presence of identification procedures raises the confidence levels among guests since their security is assured. Hotels like Copthorne Hotel Manchester are ADA compliant. Legal and statutory requirements that apply to rooms division operations The sole priority of the rooms division department is ensuring guest satisfaction. According to VisitEngland (2013:10), there are various Acts that are applicable in the hospitality industry especially room division department. The Equality Act 2010 requires that service providers need to take steps to address those barriers that impede disabled people. The rooms division department needs to make ‘reasonable’ changes in the manner in which things are done, for example, altering the structure of a building in order to enhance access such as altering or removing a physical feature like s staircase and offering auxiliary aids and services, such as providing an induction loop for clients with hearing aids. The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Deceases Act deals with injuries, diseases, disablement, and death due to work related activities for people who are working in any organization. It is applied to all casual and full-time employees, who due to workplace accident or disease, are disabled, injured, become ill, or killed. The sectoral determination for the hospitality industry looks at the employees’ rights in the hospitality industry with particular focus to minimum wage (Lundberg, 2007).. Health and safety; The Occupational Health and Safety Acts aims at providing health and safety of individuals at work and also establishes an advisory council for occupational safety and health. Knowledge of premises liability laws enables one to know the difference between being financially liable for an injury that will be sustained on the premises or avoiding liability altogether (Jones, 2011:56). As a result, they need to have a public liability insurance which will cover against damage to property or injury to people who are visiting the premises (Palmer, 20 Hazardous substances in the rooms need to have precautionary warnings to prevent injuries. In adherence to the Amendment of Section 2 of Act 83, the room division needs to have a specific area for smoking and prohibiting inside the building. Pursuing this further, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 is a UK statutory requirement that stipulates the general requirements on employers to protect their workers and other people from hazard and substances utilized at work (VisitEngland, 2013). Protective clothing; Personal Protective Equipment states that special clothing need to be worn by the employer and employee during their work time so as to protect their body parts due to safety of their face, eyes, feet, head, feet and ears. This would help in preventing injuries in case of an accident (Walker, 2004). Consumer law; under the consumer protection laws the consumers have the right to sue the business owner in case of harm caused by their product or service provided. In relation to the data provided with clients, it is usually protected from so that unauthorized persons would not be accessed to it. This boosts the privacy and confidentiality of hotel information. Personal data usually denote the identification of the addressed by the guests while staying in the hotel for the guests’ and hotel authority. It is information about the identity of the guests. The majority of players in the hospitality industry ensure that the data is under protection. This is because some guests usually want their visits to be private and confidential. Immigration (hotel records); Visitors are required to provide their names and identification. Visitors from abroad need to provide their passport number, the place of issue, their address, and their next destination, as well as any other additional information. The data can be shared by the immigration and national security department, it enhances national security. Diplomatic Privileges Act applies to diplomatic privileges (Cathy & Powers, 2007:95). The provisions of this Act apply to diplomats themselves, their families and staff. Diplomatic privileges are offered to enhance country relations because diplomats are clients visiting from other nations. Services provided by the rooms division in a range of hospitality businesses Almost 50 percent of the revenue generated by hospitality business comes from room division (Lundberg, 2007). Hotels such Copthorne that provide accommodation, whatever style or concept of the bedrooms and bathrooms, both comfort and quality is what guests look for. The rooms division department in restaurants provides spacious, numerous and luxurious toilet facilities which have refinements like individual hand towels, high quality toiletries and accessories, and they are usually serviced regularly during the day. The room division department plays a major role in delivering hospitality to guests by offering the following services: hotel safety and security; folding laundered linen; quality inspection of laundry; preventing hoarding; checking on deliveries; cleaning of soft furnishing; delivering turn-down service; checking fax machines in all suites; inspecting the rooms served; restaurants have emergency procedures incase of power failure, medical, fire and safety, bomb threat, and contingency plan; greeting the guests; cleaning ward robes; conducting light pressing and mending; shining shoes; vacuuming; making beds; cleaning doors, floors, walls, bath and shower, windows and mirrors, and arranging washbasins; setting out bathrooms; routing calls to departments and guests; Lodging handle visitor’s complains; handling wake-up calls requests; provision of VIP procedures; checking on the next day reservations; dealing with housekeeper’s report; processing arrivals and departures; University campus deal with disabled visitors; handling guest mail and messages, handling travel agency booking, process special requests; making dinner reservations and giving directions; handling and storing guest’s luggage; delivering amenity (O'Fallon & Rutherfor, 2010). In the University campus, there is utilisation of materials in the rooms division department which are in keeping with environment and the characteristics of the local geography and age of buildings. Assess the importance of the front of house area to effective management The front area is very crucial because it offers a number of benefits to the organisation. It acts as a welcome point to the visitors and clients, introducing them to the building, as well as some staff before they go on to their meeting. The front house area is the most visible part in hotel and the front desk usually occupies a prominent space in the lobby of the hotel. At the front house area, visitors come to register, inquire about available services, facilities and the surrounding area, to receive room assignments, and checking out (O'Fallon & Rutherfor, 2010). Since the front area is a very crucial facet of the hotel, the workers are competent, courteous and organised. This is because it serves as a well come t the firm. Next, the front area ensures effective management by selling guest rooms, registering visitors and assigning guestrooms. It also processes future room reservations, coordinates guest service, provides required information, maintaining accurate room status information, managing all guest accounts and credit limits The front area can be utilised as a waiting area for visitors, which is very advantageous when the organisation arranges numerous meetings. Effective management is ensured in the area by having chairs, having things to look at and an option to get drinks makes the environment much nicer for guests, rather waiting outside. In some instances where a person has arranged a temporary meeting with executive, the front area acts a messenger until the meeting occurs. Importance of property interiors and design to effective management An organisations interior design needs to be based on a firm, long-term functional and operational footing. Property interiors and design is very crucial since it increases customer satisfaction. It also acts as benchmark the service levels, comfort and quality that the visitors expect. Good interior design and layout make a significant contribution customer flow and the workflow of staff effectively. Since the guests usually get relaxed in the lobby area, it needs to be designed in manner that they can have some food and drinks. This means that a restaurant needs to be very close to the lobby. As a result, the staff can easily serve them without necessarily breaking the flow of guests (Benson, 2011). With regard to the desired ambience, the designer needs to come up with a comfortable and relaxing environment. The spaces need to be designed in way the floor is covered by hard and soft furnishings in addition to the carpet. This makes acts as an attraction to the guests. The presence of artificial lighting, natural lighting, hard and soft furnishings such as high-backed leather chairs, flowers and magazines, wooden round table for lamps and wooden book selves, sofa, and wall paintings enhance the aesthetic value and ambience of the organisation.. Benson (2011) argued that there are clear financial benefits for hoteliers who implement effective interior design. This is because a significant investment will be channelled into creating an environment that both customers and staff will feel comfortable in. Nevertheless, a successful interior design needs to consider durability of the conception, since this would increase its longevity and avoid the need for huge refurbishments every few years. Factors that contribute to effective management and business performance in the accommodation service function The front of the house usually reflects the theme of the restaurant. It needs to be designed efficiently, balancing ambience with the sitting capacity. Particular equipments are crucial in the front office so as to ensure running an efficient restaurant. The wait station need to be well stocked having everything that hosts and servers need. With regard to service provided, the restaurant personnel need to be organised, friendly and quick thinking. Concierges are tasked with enhancing the property’s image and marketable value. They usually offer the special touch services which caters the precise needs of the guests needs. They need to have a detailed knowledge of the hotel and its services, as well as the city. Additionally, conversing in various languages is an added advantage if the hotel wants to gain competitive advantage. They also assist the guests with wide array of services, like advice on local activities and restaurant reservations (Ingold, Yeoman, & McMahon-Beattie, 2000). Another crucial aspect is data protection. Personal data usually denote the identification of the addressed by the guests while staying in the hotel for the guests’ and hotel authority. It is information about the identity of the guests. The data can be shared with the immigration department so as to prevent illegal entry of people. Property interiors and design: this attracts visitors and creates satisfaction in guest. A hotel that has a good property interior and design use lead to the visual impact of customer attraction. It also leads to the creation of ambient environment. The hotel also needs to incorporate soft and hard furnishings. By utilising space efficiently, customer flow and mobility is enhanced through proper design, efficient use of space leads to good customer and employee flow, and lastly, blending of both natural and artificial plants adds some aesthetic value to the hotel. Services: some of the services provided at the hotel include: include bedrooms, functions and meeting, linen and laundry, waste management, controlling and updating room service, cleaning, and provision of leisure areas, as well as use of improved technology in service delivery. Key operational issues that affect effective management and business performance of the front office area The front house makes the first impression on the guest. The basic function of the front office as an entity in the front house is to sell rooms, maintain a balanced guest accounts, and providing services such as messages, mail and faxes. One of the aspects that affects effective management and business performance of the front desk is technology. With the advent of the internet and other cutting edge technology, communication between the front office and other departments is enhanced. By using computerised systems, service delivery is greatly enhanced. Secondly, is focusing on the efficiency and performance of the customer’s operations. This creates a balance between service and cost, in industry that is fuelled with stiff competition and high customer expectations. The front desk operations need to run smoothly in order to support the hotel’s operations. This is because it is the nerve centre of the hotel. It makes the first impression to the visitors. The front office sells rooms, maintain balanced guest accounts, and offers services like handing mails, faxes and hotel information. There are various kinds of marketing and promotions that can be done in a hotel or restaurant front office so as to bring in customers and keeping the front of the house busy all year long, for instance, restaurant promotions, product placements and advertisings (Cathy & Powers, 2007). Task B Yield management increases the revenue generated by rooms by means of using the demand forecast-technique which is used to establish if room rates need to increased or lowered, and whether a reservation ought to be accepted or rejected so as to maximize revenue (Ingold, Yeoman, & McMahon-Beattie, 2000:248). It is based on the economics of demand and supply. When the supply is low and demand is high, the room prices are increased. When the supply is high and demand is low, the room prices are reduced (Cathy & Powers, 2007:260). Price discrimination using differential rates and tariff structures maximises occupancy; this is attained by having different rooms for particular clientele which are priced differently. When the customer comes, he/she will pick a room that best suits him/her. Pursuing this further, another activity is inventory management including the use of booking horizons and booking forecasts to maximise yield. Finally, hotel internet marketing is another strategy that ill increase sales and it h includes viral marketing, social media, blogging, and electronic media such as mobile text messages and emails. Sales techniques that rooms division staff can use to promote and maximise revenue In order to maximize revenue, the front office manager needs to forecast information that is concerning capacity management, discount allocation and duration control. Capacity management needs to control and limit room supply, balance the risk of overselling guest rooms with the potential loss of rooms arising from room spoilage, and establishing how many walk-ins to accept during the arrival day. Discount allocation entails restricting the time period and product mix available at reduced rates and limiting discounts by room type by means of encouraging upselling. Duration control places time constraints on accepting reservations so as to protect sufficient space for multi-day requests. For instance, a reservation for one night may be rejected, although space is available that night (Walker, 2004:108-111). Purpose and use of forecasting and statistical data within the rooms division This enables to determine the diversity of both guests/workforce. It also enable the management to establish if there is an increase or decrease in business travel, need for technology. The statistics can also be utilized to determine if the firm can continue its quest for increase in productivity. It also determines an increase in the use of yield management. Lastly, it assists in greening of hotels and guest rooms. Rooms division performance indicators to measure the success of accommodation sales Occupancy statistics Percentage of occupancy= rooms available/total rooms available 180/215= 0.84 %. Double occupancy percentage= (total number of guests-number of rooms occupied) ÷ number of double rooms occupied (260-180) ÷ 70=1.14 % Reference List Benson, P. (2011, October 10). Retrieved March 8, 2014, from Hotel Interior Design – The Business Case: http://www.hotel-industry.co.uk/2011/10/hotel-interior-design-%E2%80%93-the-business-case/ Cathy, H. C., & Powers, T. (2007). Marketing Hospitality. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Coaching, E. 2010. The: Stage and Mail Coach Travel in and Around Bath, Bristol and Somerset, Roy Gallop: Fiducia. Ingold, A., Yeoman, I., & McMahon-Beattie, U. (2000). Yield Management. London: Cengage Learning. Jones, L. (2011). Introduction to Business Law. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Kempen, M. (2012). Profitable Hotel Guest Management: The Factors Involved in and the Importance of Following a Guest Relationship Approach in the Irish Luxury Hotel Sector. London: Diplomarbeiten Agentur. Lundberg, D., E. 2007.The Hotel and Restaurant Business, Boston: Cahners Books. O'Fallon, M. J., & Rutherfor, D. G. (2010). Hotel Management and Operations. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Palmer, K. (2011, November 15). Retrieved March, 9 2014, from Do You Need Liability Insurance? Even small-time entrepreneurs might want to consider protecting themselves from potential lawsuits. : http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/alpha-consumer/2011/11/15/do-you-need-liability-insurance. VisitEngland. (2013). Hotel Accomodation. Palace Street, London: VisitEngland. Walker, J. (2004). Introduction to Hospitality Management. 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