It's vacation time, and you're heading for a haven that's a planet away from snow plows, traffic and business meetings. The plane ride allows you to decompress, but the process doesn't really begin until you sign the hotel register, enter your suite and discover chocolates on the bed pillow in your neatly manicured hotel room. Look around. There's not an amenity that hasn't been approved, ordered, refurbished or replaced by the person in charge of the venue: the hotel manager. This warrior of the hospitality business is part Superman and part psychologist. The job requires someone with more than your average number of multi-tasking skills. If you're considering becoming this Houdini, you'll join the ranks of some very proud people. They know that their jobs help millions of people take much-needed breaks from our stress-filled world. If you manage your first hotel keeping that philosophy in mind, you'll fit right in.
Instructions
1. Understand that you'll be responsible for everything mentioned in this article's introduction and more. Your purview will include hiring and firing employees that run the gamut from housekeeping staff to maintenance people and from desk clerks to valets. If your property offers food service, the list grows longer. You'll wear many hats as you manage day-to-day operations and unless you're part of a larger chain, you might oversee advertising, marketing, accounting, insurance and legal issues, too.
2. Plan to plan---a lot. Like all businesses, hotels can't operate in the red, so making a profit is the perpetual goal of the hotel manager. To keep your books in the black, you'll be in charge of everything that comes under the umbrella of guest expectations. Long-range planning can include promotions to draw tourists at specific times of the year, rate cuts to encourage low season traffic, networking with other businesses supporting the hospitality industry and long-range incentives for staff as rewards for their service. Take business courses to help you handle each of these responsibilities with confidence.
3. Touch bases with the psychologist in your soul to help guests and employees maintain an even keel. People pleasing is one of the most important traits a hotel manager can exhibit to keep guest expectations, surprises and staff discontent to a minimum. Training in human behavior and enough latitude to be able to offer compensation---in terms of a free night or cash remuneration---when the occasional conflict arises, will earn you respect and repeat business.
4. Adhere to stringent health and welfare demands to keep your hotel open year-round. Don't wait until you suspect a visit from the health department, fire department or other agency charged with monitoring the safety and well being of the general public. It takes just one guest with two bedbugs hitchhiking a ride from some exotic port to turn your hotel into a public relations nightmare, so stay abreast of treatments and methods that assure you and your guests a pleasant stay. Make it a practice to update housekeeping staff on these practices so they understand the importance of their cleaning mandates.
5. Learn the art of large events. Accommodating guests attending conventions, weddings, reunions and other occasions can fill the house and enhance revenues, so become a liaison between the hotel you manage and the institutions that sponsor such events. Visit local colleges, businesses, houses of worship and other institutions to market your property. As the manager, you should have the power to negotiate group discounts and customize packages to keep attendees coming back year after year.
6. Expect most of your days to move at warp speed. Typically, you may meet with department heads, fill in as concierge, interview job candidates, hold staff meetings, run new ideas and protocols past supervisors, update accounting systems, track the hotel's performance (e.g. number of beds occupied compared to last year's count), act as a billing intermediary, evaluate bids on new equipment, furniture and fixtures, deal with food and beverage vendors and make certain all licenses, taxes, insurance policies and legal systems are in place.
7. Brush up on your cheerleading skills. The backbone of your hotel relies on blue-collar workers for most facets of its upkeep. These employees will respond to your encouragement, so be the hotel manager who makes it a point to treat everyone from waitstaff to groundskeeper with respect. You'll engender loyalty and keep your property from falling victim to the industry's largest problem: turnover. In the end, the domino effect will always prove correct: your guests are a reflection of the way you treat staff, so when you hand out boxes of candy for the nightly bed turn down, add a box for each employee to show them you value their service.
Tags: hotel manager, keep your, your hotel, your property, guest expectations, housekeeping staff