4.1 Your Personal Appearance
First, look at your personal
appearance, as there is no doubt that a hotel manager is expected to look a
certain way by the guests they encounter.
Think of it from this perspective
- have you ever spent time at a hotel where the manager is untidy?
Of course not, and that is
because the manager is one of the premiere representatives of the brand. It is
known that how they appear to the guests will have a direct impact on how
guests perceive the hotel itself.
If the staff in general are
untidy, then guests will develop a feeling that the hotel in general is untidy,
dirty, and simply uninspiring. Now, this may not actually be fact, but it does
show how powerful personal appearances can be within this industry.
It is also a known fact that
people will make their decision about an individual and an establishment within
a matter of seconds.
4.2 Your Appearance
There will often be a uniform,
but as the manager you may dress slightly differently. There will be a tendency
for your appearance to be more formal on a number of occasions.
Starting at the top, it is
expected that your hair will be neat. A number of luxury hotels may even have
rules in place that do not allow people to have strange colours dyed in their
hair, since it creates the wrong impression of their staff.
You will be allowed to have long
hair as long as it is tidy and well looked after. You need to appear to be very
well groomed, and guests will be drawn to what your hair looks like, so be
prepared to style it before every single shift if that is what is required to
keep it looking good.
For men, there may even be limits
as to what you are allowed when it comes to facial hair. If it is allowed, then
it will have to be well kept, and there may be rules against it being straggly
or unruly. It all comes down to grooming, and you need to develop good habits,
since a hotel manager has to always look their best and professional.
4.3 Clothing
Clothing is determined by what is
expected from the hotel that you are working for.
A number of hotels will have what
amounts to a staff uniform, even though there may not be any clothing items that
carry the brand name of the hotel. However, even excluding that, the
tendency will be for a crisp white shirt or blouse to be worn, with a waistcoat
and a tie to accompany it. Of course, there may be a number of variations
depending on the hotel, and indeed the hotel manager may be required to wear a
suit to create that more formal look than normal everyday staff.
The key is that the outfit you have
to wear during your shift will come across as being smart and professional to
guests, as well as giving you an air of authority and power due to
how you are dressed.
Finally, it will always be the
case that your shoes should be polished and dressy. Nothing else will do. There
may be rules in place that determine how much jewellery you are allowed to wear
with your outfit. While you will be allowed to wear some, you will certainly
find that it is frowned upon to be covered in too much, as this will be regarded as
going overboard.
So, to sum up your own
appearance:
*Your hair must be neat and tidy.
*You may be restricted on how
your hair can look depending on the hotel. For men, facial hair must be kept
tidy at all times.
*As the manager, you will often
wear a suit.
*You must look tidy and
respectable at all times.
*Even your footwear must be clean
at all times.
*There may be restrictions on the
amount of jewellery that can be worn.
*Having body art may not be
allowed unless it can be hidden.
Overall, the idea here is that
you must look the part as a manager, as appearances undoubtedlyhelpto create
this feeling of respect and authority and that is something that you need when
you are working in this particular position.
If you as the manager do not perfect your appearance, then how can you
expect the rest of thestaffto follow when you are not setting the correct
example?
4.4 The Skills Required by the
Manager
There are a few skills that have
to be mentioned that play an important role in being able to do your job
correctly.
People Skills
The first skill that has to be
mentioned is your ability to deal with people. This includes both staff and
guests. You must have strong interpersonal skills that allow you to communicate
in a clear and decisive fashion.
For example, there will
undoubtedly come a time where you have to deal with problems that have been
brought to your attention by guests. It is important that you are able to
remain calm and have the ability to diffuse the situation and reduce tension in
the air as quickly as possible. By having this skill, you can regain control of
the situation and potentially even turn a negative into a positive.
The Skill of Dealing with Staff
Staying with the people skills
part, we also need to mention your ability to deal with staff. It is important
that you are able to work with them in such a way that you are able to get the
absolute best out of them at all times. This is where you need to be a good
motivator and inspire people to push on and do the best job possible. At the same time, you also have to be able to
deal with their own issues and complaints surrounding their work, as staff also
have problems with various parts of their job. A failure to first of all
identify these issues an then a failure to deal with them in an adequate manner
will only lead to dissent in the ranks and turn the hotel from being a pleasant
place to work into one that people dread coming to.
The Skill of Delegation
The skill of delegation is linked
to dealing with staff, but you must be able to decipher who is best for which
job within their own departments to ultimately make sure that they can work to
the best of their ability. However, there is also an art in explaining your
reasons behind providing somebody with a certain task as this can also go some
way to inspiring them.
The Skill of Listening
Listening plays an important role
in the general running of a hotel. Listening encompasses listening to
complaints, listening to the guests and what they like or dislike, and
listening to your staff and taking their comments on board.
Being unable to listen will only
lead to a poor experience for guests and issues developing within staff and that
in itself shows poor management. By listening to what people are actually
saying it allows you to make better decisions that will benefit everybody as a
result. It also helps staff to see that you are the type of person that does
care about what they are thinking or feeling rather than creating a sense of
there being a divide between management and regular staff. The art of having
good people skills keeps coming back in the role of a hotel manager.
Administration Skills
There is a lot of administration
connected with running a hotel and as the manager you must be able to deal with
paperwork and do so in an efficient and professional manner. You must have the
ability to work on rotas, make sure that legislation is followed, staff
paperwork is dealt with correctly, and every other administrative matter that
is connected to the general running of the hotel.
You may of course have staff that
deal with the administration, but as the manager you must still be able to do
the job as well.
Marketing Skills
Being able to understand your
target market and how to go after it are important skills to haveat your
disposal. Failing to be able to do this will mean that it becomes impossible
for you to drive the hotel forward as it is always the job of the manager to
formulate plans to drive more business to the hotel. This in itself leads us to
yet another skill.
Financial Skills
By financial skills, we mean the
ability to work on budgets and understand the simple figures attached to the
hotel and how its business is developing. A manager must be able to work
on fact sand figures including projections to then make it easier to create a
plan that can increase turnover for the hotel.
There may very well be
individuals employed by larger hotels that deal with compiling the figures, but
as the hotel manager, you need to be able to interpret them and know how to
change the bottom figure for the benefit of the hotel.
There are a variety of skills
that are required by a hotel manager and you need to at least be capable of
developing these skills as your amount of experience increases. By doing so,
you will become better at your job and it will ultimately lead to you having a
better career within the industry.
FACT
Success depends a great deal on a
person's ability to make positive connections with clients, guests, vendors and
other employees.
Source: Deloitte, Development LLC
4.5 Why These Skills are
Important
There are a number of skills that
are required in order to be a successful hotel manager, but we also need to
address why these skills are so important.
By having these skills as part of
your repertoire, it means that the hotel should, in theory, run more smoothly.
Your guests will have a better experience at the hotel, and the staff should be
able to perform to the absolute best of their ability and actually enjoy working
there.
Your key skills are undoubtedly
linked to how you deal with people, as it is those relationships that really
propel the hotel forward in a positive light. However, we cannot overlook the
importance of organisational skills as well as understanding the business aspect
of the industry, as a failure in this area would lead to various issues developing
within the hotel.
Your ability to handle any issue
means that there is less negativity for both guests and also staff. The problem
with negativity is that it can then spread and guests pick up on vibes that
staff are perhaps not settled in their job and are unhappy to be there.
By being able to work closely
with every member of staff, and to have their respect thanks to your ability to
interact with them correctly, it means that they will then give off a far more
positive vibe that will be beneficial for the hotel and for the guests.
You have to remember what your
role is as the hotel manager to see how your skills play such an important
part.
So, as you can see there are a
number of reasons as to why having these skills are so important, but this
section can be best summed up by the following key points:
*Your skills will improve the
experience had by the guests.
*Your skills will make a
difference to the staff.
*You will be able to deal with
issues more professionally.
*It will create a more positive
feeling around the hotel.
*You will gain more respect from
guests and staff.
*It will allow the business side
to flow more freely.
*You will be less stressed due to
your improved skill set.
The skills that you possess will
have a direct impact on your ability to do your job. It will make being the
manager a lot easier than it otherwise could have been. However, perhaps the
most important aspect is the knock-on effect that it can have with the rest of
the staff, as well as the guests. As the manager, how you deal with various
issues affects the overall running of the entire hotel and that is one important
point that you must try to keep in mind at all times.
4.6 How to Build Your Skills
The final part that we need to
look at is how you go about building and improving on your skill set.
You have to look at this part as
always being a work in progress as there is no doubt that experience in dealing
with people and the industry itself does play a major role. For example, as you become more familiar with
the intricacies of the individual hotel and the market it is focusing on it stands
to reason that your business and marketing skills for that market will improve.
When you work in a larger hotel
with more rooms, staff, and guests, it stands to reason that your interpersonal
skills as well as your organisations skills can only improve as you become
more used to having to contend with more queries and personal issues.
There is also the need for you to
accept that you do not know everything that there is to know about the hotel
industry and certainly not about being a manager. This should then
allow you to look at how you can further expand on your skills through additional
training or studying in order to enhance your ability to do your own job to the
absolute best of your ability.
So, what we are saying here is
that you need to consider the following points when looking at how you can
improve your skills as a hotel manager.
*Your own training is important.
*Your experience plays a role in
allowing your skills to develop.
*Learning from your own mistakes
is essential.
*Accept that you always have
things to learn.
*Consider additional studying to
improve your understanding of different areas.
Summary of Module
This module has focused on what
is expected from you with your appearance as well as the kind of skills that are
required to become a successful hotel manager. We have also briefly looked at
why these skills are so important and how you can go on and develop them even
further. By having the seskills, it will be easier to manage in an effective
manner that is appreciated by both staff and guests alike.
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