HOTEL MANAGEMENT AS OBSERVED, COMPARED AND CONFIRMED

Hotel management has become trendy, yet demanding best practices with definite knowledge for best results. There are underlying factors to succeed as a manager. It takes hard work, simultaneous practices, multiple aspects of business expertise and know-how. Specific tactical promotion and employee throughput that is directly proportional to improved quality as well as brand advantageous competitiveness.

As Hospitality managers, we can learn from other fields on how to get results. Most of the managers grow up the ladder to strategic positions from lower ranks. This is well supported considering the technical know-how that is required of the manager after spending time in the industry. Worry comes in when it’s detected that some do not take initiative to improve their management skills but continue practicing management by raw experience in a dynamic industry. Prerequisite for such growth is to build your capacity through intellectual studies and positional development through Management development programs, taking on new management courses and learning from seniors. All This is undertaken intermittently. These are some of the channels to be pursued across-the-board.

For those who have acquired management courses or credentials, it’s important to start from the lower cadre and strives to grow into the more technical positions with a lot of admiration and decorum to the seniors in the industry. A mistake is when you assume all you know from class is good enough to make you a manager. It takes reliance, people management skills experience and understanding of industry dynamics including people psychology skills acquired over some time for you to become a consummate manager. You make mistakes along the way and you learn from them.

In hospitality, you likewise don’t delay performance whether you are new in management or in a new company. You must start to make footprints in a small way or big way because small things, small details matter in the hospitality industry. Small things make big impact and perfection should be the driving force to perform in the service industry.

Hotel Managerial mindset requires self-drive, self-assessment against or beyond deliverables and fighting against all odd to deliver but within professional realms. For instance, when you join a company/hotel or lodge, it’s imperative to set new standards despite previous successes and present bad state of the company you are inheriting. Take a cue from this football manager who said “We did things that nobody did in this club in the first season, like winning a trophy, like having the Manchester United record in the Premier League for unbeaten games, like reaching a European final. We had good things....... “Sometimes you get into big clubs in difficult moments and the work is harder than when you get a smaller club in a moment of positive explosion. “Very hard season. Some invisible work to your eyes. But when I analyze my work, I analyze it in the globality because better than anyone, I know what I did. I know what I had to do."https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/05/mourinho-accepts-europa-finals-make-break-billing

This prompts some contemplation for industry players to individually ask themselves; what can I put on record as a success story in my present position, the first year in the present company. This does not come easy when you have ten departments that you need to coordinate for the overall success of the company and also understanding how each section operates proficiently and precisely to your approval, taking into consideration that hotel industry is like a factory that mainly manufactures and retails but triflingly wholesales with no middlemen.

 In a discussion with fellow hospitality comrade on how to realize results in a new company as a manager, besides experience you need to think as a leader, you need a track record and it’s imperative that you present the significant change that you have to put in place. Show how it was when you joined and how it has happened then what and how is it at present. The difference is your achievement.

This does not come wishfully. It takes passion, precision, well-executed plan; getting the best out of the team you have, intelligent recruitment to invigorate the team and shaping the square pegs to fit in the round holes. By all means, you have to make things happen as a manager. Note that as a hotel General manager you will find yourself changing jobs but that should not be too often. These changes are important and they form a learning curve for you. 

Strategic thinking is a must against the deliverables. My comrade notes; as a manager in Hotel industry you have 3 major areas to focus on in your journey of success. You must manage among others (a) Finances (b) Guests (c) Staff. All these if well managed definitely you are successful. I also believe in benchmarking, setting up of standards required in all sections and always revising your standards against the ever-changing trends in the industry. E.g. how do you get the best out of the ever increasing millennial numbers in the industry and management? www.brightermonday.co.ke/blog/millennials-workplace-transforming-world. How to get the right balance in the hospitality triangle of employees, customers and management/Directors?

On reading the quote of the football manager, one colleague said that such approach will definitely lead you to the success of the bottom line and to be specific you will achieve the Targets/profits. Some of these things can be learned in school but mostly developed through industrial experience/intuitivity and continue self-development by reading professional or industry relate materials. Someone noted that the moment you stop reading, that the moment you start dying. I would add that as a professional you will start dying professionally when you stop reading with intent.

As football managers work on tactics, understudy opponents, select players who would fit in the game at hand successfully, so is the manager of hotels requirement to pick the tools and personnel who will have the emotional impact to the manager's strategy or improve on it effectively by being efficient in their daily activities. The comparability of the football manager is mostly in the aspect that success is momentous but has no direct coloration with future continuity in the same company. If you succeed today you have to succeed tomorrow for you to continue holding the position. The two sectors are also labor intensive.

Still, for your present and future success in hospitality, in new and present company, I gathered further from the colleagues you would need to go further and look at 4Ms of production;

·        Machines-Cost of maintenance and acquisition of machines in laundry, kitchen, service and other areas can be mind-boggling. Hotel machines are very costly requiring periodical maintenance and preventive. The hiring of a hotel engineer would be considered for big hotels to take charge of such.

·        Materials –Cost, quality considering the high quality of materials demanded from you and for the quests. Intrinsic inspection procedures and standard specification for the materials is essential.

·        Method of service. In some cases services differ from one hotel to the other due to themes, location, and type of the facility like lodges vs town hotels

·        Manpower- the most important investment. For you to succeed in your company, you must start with recruitment and take the time to get it right for the first time or waste most of your time and energy on recruiting while you are supposed to be achieving targets. While recruiting Check on the skills, passion, attitude, performance, customer care and the numbers required. Not any person would fit in hospitality operations. It’s important to involve industry experts and recruitment consultants if one is new in the hospitality field.

The Bottom line of all these influential pillars is to achieve the key factor which is financial success of the company. Financial know-how and financial reports interpretation must be applied.

In their article Michael Birshan, Thomas Meakin, and Kurt Strovink on How new CEOs can boost their odds, they noted that people expected that CEOs taking the helm at poorly performing companies, feel compelled to do something to improve results, they would mostly have a greater propensity to make strategic moves than those who joined well-performing organizations.

In the sample taken from 600 CEOs, they noted that on top of priorities for both well performing and poorly performing companies, top on the agenda is management reshuffle. I would think this is usually a strategic move to marshal support, energize the team and realize the general results as demanded by the company.

I have personally experienced a lot of improvement with a bit of shake up in management when handling a new team. Wholesale change is similarly very explosive and can backfire but initial strategic changes followed by gradual weeding off the sluggards who have developed a sense of entitlement to the detriment of results instead of performance.

For strategic management, the change should be made with the CEO’s needs in the picture. Some changes made in some hotels without a proper background check of the new entrances have resulted in the companies going into regression. Experience informs that the input of the Manager/CEO should be considered since he is the person who will be working with the individuals on daily basis.

Football managers including one mentioned above had made an assessment on the new superstars he needed in the team and all of them had an important part to play in his plan. Hotel managers have suffered in silence when individuals are imposed on them by distant authorities. These are some of the challenges that eventually hinder one from achieving his outlined targets within the first year or specific financial year. The above manager would have had it rough with new players imposed on him.

It has arguably been observed that most of the hotel general managers grow from food and beverage department as F&b managers. Some have the perception that this departmental position tactically understudies the General Manager due to its centrality in overall hotel operations considering the numbers of managers, employees working under him/her, close guests contact and huge budgetary allocation. One can stage-manage growth healthfully by starting in this department. All the same, other departments have also produced great General Managers. It’s mostly inaccurate for finance person to successfully develop into a General Manager with apperception of handling hotel revenue being the most important in overall management by overriding the intricacies and technicalities in hotel coordination or management.

Hotel management is never theoretical it’s practical. It’s intriguing, it’s pulsating and it’s not for the faint hearted. It can be explosive; it’s sacrificial but also appreciative if you are well positioned.

Imagine late nights, imagine family distance, but also imagine frequent travels and posting to resorts and elegant facilities with opportunities to meeting and treat celebrities and the mighty.

There is exposure to the best things in life and many cultures and nationalities. It can be well paying for the star facilities.

It’s worth a try to learn and grow in hotel management especially if you are a people’s person, considering employment opportunities within the ever growing industry in Africa and beyond.