Use of Group Work Approach in the Hospitality Industry - Essay Example

Use of group work approach in the hospitality industry Introduction The hospitality industry belongs to the service sector and essentially caters to providing comforts of travel, accommodation, food and dining to people who use these services. Service being the key to the running of the industry, quality of service is a very important parameter according to which service provided is measured to ascertain, if it maintained at the correct levels. “The hospitality industry is phrase covering a variety of service industries that receive a customer to service them with that of traditional "hospitality", such as providing them food and beverages, or provision of a room and bed to sleep.” -Wikipedia, Hospitality Industry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospitality_industry Quality of service is an important factor for the hospitality industry because, this industry is one of the fastest growing ones in the world In the year 2004 alone, about 7.2 million new jobs were created, owing to the growing demand for services of the hospitality industry, primarily due to the growth in e-commerce and globalization. Work within the hospitality industry The hospitably industry comprises of sub-divisions such as travel and tourism, catering industry and the hotel industry. Each sub-division within the hospitality industry comprises of a set of activities required to run it efficiently and provide service to the public. Each activity is an occupation in itself. For example, if you take the hotel industry, you will find it comprising of occupations such as: Chef Hotel Manager Caravan Park and Camping Ground Manager Hospital Food Service Manager Catering Manager Ship's Catering Attendant Hotel Front Office Attendant Hotel Service Supervisor Bar Attendant Fast Food Cook Caravan Park Attendant Room Attendant Waiter Porter The people employed within each of these sub-divisions have undergone training through which they specialize in catering to the needs and work demands of a particular occupation within that sub-division. For example, a course in hospitality management would teach a person how to manage and cater to different and new trends in the demands of this industry, such as conducting meeting and conventions, event planning, travel, gaming, transportations, attractions, airline, recreation and food and beverage fields. In the hospitality industry employees work either full time or part time. There is also a growing trend of people working part time. By the year 2005 about 45% of the people employed in the hospitality industry could be working full-time and 55% part-time. Given this scenario is very important to have efficient employee management schemes in place and manage work schedules according to rising work demands. More work demands means new areas for providing service. This brings in the need to some form of communication between different sub-divisions of the industry to cater to such demands effectively. Need for the group approach towards work in the Hospitality industry Employees at work in the Hospitality industry are people who specialize in their respective sub-division of work within the industry and they may work full time or part-time. Within such as situation, what is important for people within an industry of this nature is to communicate and co-ordinate with each other, in order to benefit each other by the knowledge acquired. This is easier said than done because of tight work schedules and the nature of work undertaken, which can be very demanding. Though Hospitality Management Schools, today teach concepts such as Public Speaking, Sales, Management, Entrepreneurship, Service Quality Assessment and Accounting to their students, so that they can develop their overall management skills, as they are required to work efficiently in this industry, lot more needs to be done to ensure that quality of service is maintained a all levels within the industry. This is where group approach to work proves to be effective. The group approach to work enable individuals to pool their talents together to effectively cater to work responsibilities and to solve problems and issues that they are likely to face in their work atmosphere. Two types of groups can be formed: Formal Group: Formal groups can be used to establish work goals and responsibilities. Each formal group has a designated leader, who will answer all queries related to work from members of the group. The mode of communication is formal and such groups are made based on the work which members of the group perform. Informal Group: Informal groups help look into the humans-side of work management. Such groups help people to discuss the stress and problems they face at work and come to a solution through such discussions. “Informal group almost form an implicit code of ethics or an unspoken set of standards…” – Accel-Team, Informal group dynamics, http://www.accel-team.com/work_groups/index.html Essential features of the group approach to work When the group approach to work is implemented such an industry, that’s as varied as the Hospitality industry it puts forth the following features for its implementers: A group can be created for each sub-division within the hospitality industry. Regular meetings between members of each group, will helps to identify problems area and possible solutions to these problems to improve quality of service. A group includes members with a wide range of skills, making way for self-monitoring through discussion with group members. This way each member will be motivated to enhance their skills and prove themselves in their work arenas. Through group discussion new training methods can be devised for new work demands. Groups enable its members to become more knowledgeable about their companies, policies and objectives. Being part of a group, enhances the sense of responsibility amongst its members this motivates them to work beyond his or her own individual potential. How does all this fit into the Hospitality industry scenario? Lets’ take an example here. If you were to travel from one location to another, say from New York to London, your contact with the hospitality industry begins right from the time you leave you house, and extends up to the point where your trips ends. Along the way you would have taken a cab, checked into a hotel, found an attendant to take care of your luggage, ordered for meals, and so on. If any of the services were amiss your perception of the service goes awry. You may have booked yourself into a really good hotel, but if you had a bad flight service, your trip would be spoilt. What if such a problem was identified in a group discussion and ideas found to sort it out? That would make a world of difference for your trip. Take another situation. If you had booked during the peak vacation times and your booking had been handled very efficiently, so as to ensure you a seat during such peak time and all along the route you experienced the best of service, your perception of the hospitality industry would raise in your eyes. The first impression is the best impressions, is what makes the very nature of this industry and generates it business. Therefore, a group approach to work will help to identify the overall problems faced in the Hospitality industry and provide the solution required to create a better work force and improved quality of service. Whether the group is a formal one or an informal one, it must be established based on some criteria. Here’s an idea of what such criteria could be like: What is the purpose of the group? What are the specific goals of the group? What type of group will this be? What theory will guide the group? What specific techniques and strategies will be used? In the hospitality industry, groups can be established to help co-ordinate between different sub-divisions of the industry. For example, a group which regularly meets to discuss the issues related to travel bookings and hotel bookings can help to identify the strengths and weaknesses faced by this sector in catering to public demands. In the hospitality industry hands-on experience is what counts and this can be brought out in group- discussion for better of knowledge with members of the group. Advantages of the group approach to work in the hospitality industry When group approach to work is used, it can bring in the following advantages to the Hospitality industry: Help identify area of problem issues and bring about solution through group discussion. For example, if the problem is one of facing irate passengers in an over-booked flight route, then ideas on how to deal with such problems can be discussed by members within the group Groups bring together members from different sub-divisions of the industry and this can bring in new ideas for better service in the industry. For example, group consisting of members from the hotel industry and the tourism industry can help to identify those services that passengers are keenly looking for, during vacation time and steps can be implemented to cater to this service. Groups can help to improve overall quality of service. For example, through groups, co-coordinated efforts can be established between hotel reservation staff and travel staff to deal with timely service for people who make advance bookings, late bookings, cancelled bookings and so on Group approach paves way for better definition of role and responsibilities and identifying new areas for services based on new demands of the industry Conclusion One the whole the group approach to work in the hospitality industry will make it more efficient in the way it handles it services. In other industries group approach to work has been the key to their success. In the hospitality industry the nature of its activities make it difficult to implement the group approach. This is because each sub-division in the industry is a component on its own. Though this is the case, it is clear that there is a strong dependency between each sub-division, in order for this industry to carry out its business of providing hospitality service. By enhancing co-ordination such dependencies can be exploited to the maximum level to bring about quality service to the public and which will in turn increase business for the industry. References Carter McNamara, Group Dynamics Hospitality Industry Informal Group Dynamics Human resources management Five stages of group development Tourism and hospitality Management http://www.genesee.edu/academics/programs/Business/TravelTour/ Read More