Page 170 - DMGT308_CUSTOMER_RELATIONSHIP_MANAGEMENT

Unit 6: Technology for Customer Relations

hotel, two days a week on your property. The young person who prefers the second shift (3:00– Notes
11:00 P.M.) because the schedule better fits his or her life-style will not be inspired by the
possibility of working the first shift. Tuition reimbursement may motivate the recent graduate
of an associate degree program who wants to continue toward a four-year degree. This same
incentive will mean little to someone uninterested in higher education. The possibility of
promotion to reservations clerk may not have the same motivating effect on a telephone operator
who is a recently displaced worker concerned about a schedule that meets the needs of a young
family as it does on a front desk clerk who has no dependents. There are other cases in which a
supervisor cannot figure out what motivates a person. It is a manager’s ultimate challenge to
discover how to motivate each member of his or her staff. By using this knowledge, a manager
can promote not just the best interests of the employee but also the best interests of the hotel.
Another supervisory responsibility is to achieve a balance among varying personalities in a
group work setting. This is a constant and evolving situation.

Very often, a new supervisor does not have time to assess each employee’s relationship with
others on the team, yet these dynamics are key to establishing a positive and effective “team”
setting. The front office staff is jockeying for position with the new boss. This is common
practice and a situation that needs to be addressed as part of the job. Once the new supervisor
shows himself or herself capable and competent, the supervisor can move on to the day-to-day
tasks. The staff needs this time to learn their new manager’s reactions under stress. They also
want to make sure that their supervisor will be their advocate with top management. All new
supervisors will be tested in this way. You should not be discouraged by this challenge but
embrace it as the first of many challenges to come.
After working out whatever personality clashes may exist among the employees, the manager
must be objective about the strengths and weaknesses of the staff. Who is the unofficial leader of
the group? Who is the agitator? Who is the complainer? Objective views of staff are probably
shared by the rest of the team. Often, the staff members are quite aware of the shortcomings of
their co-workers. They also know whom they can rely on to check out the full house and check
in the convention three hours later. The unofficial leader of the group can assist the supervisor
in conveying important ideas.

!

Caution Some supervisors will respond negatively to such accommodation of the staff.
Their response is based on the assumption that the supervisor has the first and last word
in all that goes on in the front office. Of course, authority is important, but any supervisor
who wants to maintain that authority and have objectives met by the staff must constantly
rework his or her strategy.
Adequate personnel training makes the job of a supervisor much easier. When training is
planned, executed, and followed up, the little annoyances of human error are minimized. As
previously discussed, each job description lists the major duties of the employees, but the gray
areas—handling complaints, delivering a positive image of the lodging property, selling other
departments in the hotel, and covering for a new trainee—cannot be communicated in a job
description. On-the-job training, employee training that takes place while producing a product
or service, and videotape training are excellent methods for clarifying the gray areas of different
tasks of a job. They serve not only to demonstrate skills but also to communicate the financial
goals, the objectives of hospitality and service, and the idiosyncrasies of the lodging property
and the people who work in it.

Employees will always have special scheduling needs as well as other job-related requests.
Supervisors should try to accommodate their needs. The new hire who has made commitments
four to six months prior to accepting a position at the front desk will appreciate and return a

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