ROOM DIVISION

HUMAN RESOURCES
 Overview of the
Room Division

The rooms division manages the core products of a hotel, which are
the rooms. It comprises two (2) major departments: front office and
housekeeping. Though some hotels, other sub-units specially, reservations,
telephone/private branch exchange (PBX), and uniformed services are
included under this division.
Room division management is a very important process of the entire
working of a hotel. It works as the first point of contact between the
hotel guests and the staff members and contributes significantly to the
profit and the overall revenue of the hotel.
 THE FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT
The front office is the face of a hotel. It is the first
and the last point of contact of a guest with a hotel. It plays
a significant role in making or breaking an impression on a
guest.
Front Desk

Uniform Services

Front Office/Night
Audit

Concierge

Private Branch Exchange

(PBX)
Front Desk – manages the in/out flow of guests on a daily basis. It is often called the “hub” or “command
center” of the room division because much information is channeled through it. It provides the firsts and
last impressions on the guests and is the area that guests approach for information and service
throughout their stay. Front desk clerks and reservations agents work in this area.

Uniform Services – include services provided by the following front office staff: valet parking attendant
– manages guests automobiles; shuttle driver – drives the hotel vehicle for different purposes;
doorperson – greets and open doors for guests; bell staff – assists guests to and from their rooms.

Front Office Accounting / Night Audit – reconciles the daily financial activities and transaction in a
hotel.

Concierge – attends to the special needs of guests.

Private Branch Exchange (PBX) – manages communications into and out of a hotel.
 THE GUEST CYCLE
The guest life cycle is how guests to a hotel experience the hotel. It starts with
an inquiry and ends with customer satisfaction. Guest Cycle can be divided into four main stages
1. Pre- Arrival, 2. Arrival, 3. Occupancy, 4. Departure. Within these four stages, there are
important task related to guest services and guest accounting. The Front office employees must be
aware of guest services and guest accounting activities at all stages of the guest stay. Front
office staff can effectively serve the guest if they have a clear understanding of the flow of
business in the hotel. Guest Cycle also represents a systematic approach to front office
operations.

PR
E- OC
AR CU DE
RI PA PA
VA AR NC RT
L RI Y UR
VA E
L
 PRE-ARRIVAL
It is the stage where a
guest makes a room reservation to
a hotel. Its main function is to
match room requests with room
availability.
 Enquiries

Guests can communicate booking

requests through a letter,
fax/facsimile, e-mail, telephone,
or the hotel’s website, or in
person.
 Reservation
Enquiries
Forms

No matter how a booking request is received, it has

to be recorded.
The following guest-related information are obtained and
recorded in a reservation form:
• Guest’s name, address, and telephone number
• Company or travel agency name (for bookings made through
affiliated travel agencies
• Date of arrival and departure
• Type and number of rooms requested
• Room preferences (rate and type)
• Number of people in the group, if applicable
• Method of payment (cash, credit card, debit card, or check)
• Other special requests
Enquiries Reservation The Blacklist
Forms

It is a record of people which a hotel does not wish to

accept as guests. It should be easy to consult and should
not be accessible to guests. Some reasons why guests are
blacklisted are the following:
skipping- running off without paying hotel bills
violence- history of violence abuse causing a
disturbance.
theft- stealing guests/hotel property
Enquiries Reservation Availability
The Blacklist
Forms

A hotel normally accepts a reservation request as it is

if there is an available room. If none, alternatives are
offered, which can be any of the following:
Different Type of Room – a room that might suit
the features a guest initially requested.
Different Date – a different date when there is
available room as requested by a guest.
Companion Hotel – referring a guest to a sister
hotel nearby.
 Reservation Guaranteed
Enquiries The Blacklist Availability
Forms Reservations

A guaranteed booking is one in which a

hotel receives a payment whether or
not a guest arrives. It becomes a
confirmed reservation when a
confirmation letter is sent to the
person who made the reservation. Non-
guarantee of payment.
Enquiries Reservation Availability
The Blacklist Guaranteed
Forms
Reservations

Most hotels use the property management system(PMS) technology, which enables
hoteliers to integrate and deliver services that impact seamless guest experience. When
performing computerized reservations with this technology, the stages of manual ones are
followed but look different since everything appears on the screen, usually with a series
of prompts.
The details will vary from one (1) system to another, but in general the process is
as follows:
a) Enter the reservations part of the program.
b) Proceed to the room availability display for the period requested.
c) Enter the booking section, which is a computerized version of the reservation form.
d) Reserve specific room/s.
e) Once the booking has been saved, many operations are automatically process whereas:
- The room count is adjusted to reduce the number of rooms available.
- A list of expected arrivals is prepared for each future date.
- The system can provide up-to-date details of expected occupancies

Computerized Reservations
ARRIVAL
It is the point when a guest arrives at a hotel.
 The Arrival
List

It is a list of the arrivals

expected on a specific date and is
usually prepared 24 hours before
the guest’s arrival.
The Arrival Room Status
List Report

It is important for a hotel track the current

status of each room so that it can tell:
• If occupied, by whom, for how long, and for how much.
• If unoccupied, whether it is available for selling, or
not yet ready, or unavailable because it has been taken
out of service for repairs or redecoration.
The Arrival Room Status Walk-In
List Report

A guests without a prior reservation in a hotel.

The Arrival Room Status
Walk-In Registration
List Report

Asking a guest to register means requesting him/her to provide

certain information (for walk-ins) or validate information and sign on a
registration card (for guest with reservation). This provides a record of
actual arrivals as opposed to bookings and helps to confirm a guest’s
acceptance of a hotel’s terms and conditions.
The Registration Card
Walk-ins – Registering walk-ins takes more time than reservation holders. The front
office clerks collect the same information that is captured through reservation, print
the registration card, and let them check the information and sign in.
Guest with Reservation – They are quickly accommodated since their registration cards
have been preprinted. Front office clerks will just ask guests to verify the card’s
accuracy and let them sign.
The Arrival Room Status Walk-In Room
Registration
List Report Assignment

Matching arriving guests with the proper accommodation is what

front desk agents do best. They typically assign rooms when
processing walk-ins and for guests with reservation when the rooms
are not blocked or preassigned. Blocking is the activity of assigning
rooms to guests expected to arrive within a day.
Blocking the Room – Hotels block specific rooms against arriving parties
whenever the room count is tight. This minimizes the chances of overselling rooms to
walk-ins. However, preassigning of rooms is performed whether a hotel is full or not
during special cases.
Upgrades – which refer to rooming guests in better accommodations than their
rates allow, are part of the assigned process. Regular or guests who return on a
recurring cycle, are recognized with an upgrade. Upgrades can also be used to settle
minor complaints or to thank guests who have patiently waited in the queue. VIP’s are
usually upgraded.
 Room Establishing
The Arrival Room Status Walk-In Registration Credit
List Report Assignment
Identity

Guests with reservations have already established

a preliminary level of credit and identification. Front
office clerks should ask the guests how the bill will be
settled.
Some guests still prefer to settle with cash. In
this case, a hotel offers two (2) options: pay in
advance, or provide a credit card and settle with cash
upon check-out. Either one works, but the second option
is better. Guests can charge services throughout the
hotel when a credit card is on file.
New arrivals might have prepaid a room, paid
through a travel agent, or assigned the bills to a third-
party like a traveler’s company. These are all acceptable
billing arrangements, but a credit card is still needed
if a guest wants to charge services in other hotel
departments.
 Room Establishing Rooming
The Arrival Room Status Walk-In Registration Assignment Credit Guests
List Report
Identity

This is performed by a bell staff. It

involves assisting a guest to his/her room and
explaining its features, such as temperature
control, emergency equipment, and the minibar. The
room is also inspected for cleanliness, towel,
tissues, and hangers. Connecting rooms are unlocked
if the party is talking more than one (1) room.
Unless there is a final request for service from
the guest, the bell staff leaves the key and the
rooming slip.
Rooming Slips – The front desk uses a rooming slip
to communicate with a bell staff. The bell staff then uses
the slip to obtain the guest’s name and the room assigned
to him/her. Other information may be used to make
conversation and act as host while going to the room. The
guest’s city or state and the weather are good starting
points for welcoming a new arrival. Rooming slips also
include check-out instructions and safety alerts, and
recreational features are also highlighted.
 OCCUPANCY
It is period wherein a
guest stays in hotel. During
this stage, the front office
serves as a liaison who
extends guests’ requests and
special needs to the concerned
departments in a hotel as well
as maintains guests’ accounts.
Room Charges

Sometimes a guest will want to

change room during their stay. The
hotel should agree wherever
possible but should be properly
recorded.
Room Charges Key Control

Involves dealing with the security of keys and

assisting guests whenever they lose their keys.
Room Charges Key Control Mail

Involves handling mails addressed to registered guest of a

hotel.
Room Charges Key Control Currency
Mail
Exchanges

Involves assisting guests in exchanging their currencies

to what is used in the destination country.
 Incoming &
Room Charges Key Control Mail Currency
Outgoing
Exchanges
Telephone Calls

Involves managing incoming and outgoing calls

for and from guests.
 Incoming & Safe
Room Charges Key Control Mail Currency
Outgoing Custody
Exchanges
Telephone Calls

Most hotels have a safe deposit box in the

front office area where guests can leave
their valuable, and its is the
responsibility of the front office to look
after it.
 Incoming &
Room Charges Key Control Mail Currency Safe Early Morning
Outgoing
Exchanges Custody Wakeup Calls
Telephone Calls

This used to be an important function

of the front office but has become
less important with the spread of
personal alarms and automated wake up
systems.
 DEPARTURE
It is the points when a guest checks out and leaves a hotel. A guest’s
experience at this point will determine what experience the guest will carry with
them. Vacating the room usually depends upon the hotel’s check out time.
Generally guests must check-out at 12:00 (noon).
 Confirming
Departures

A hotel knows when a guest is going

to leave, although, sometimes
guests change their plans and
expect to be able to stay over
without giving any notice. Hence,
it is a good practice to confirm
departure the night before.
 Confirming Calling the
Departures Housekeeping

This procedure is performed to ensure that

minibar consumption of guests are relayed and
posted and to check for any damages and losses
in the room which will be charged to the guest.
 Calling the Additional
Confirming
Housekeeping Services
Departures

A guest may ask for a newspaper, assistance with

luggage, and help with onward travel. These are
part of the service package, and a hotel should
anticipate such need.
Confirming Calling the Additional Departure
Departures Housekeeping Services Notifications

Other hotel department need information about

departures. This is communicated through a
departure list (a list of all guests who are due
to depart from a hotel on a specific date).
Confirming Calling the Additional Departure Guest History
Departures Housekeeping Services Notifications Records

This is done with the use of cards in

the manual system and includes
information on guests’ dates of stay,
rooms used, total bills, and any
special likes or dislikes. A
computerized system can prepare and
update guest histories automatically.
ROOM DIVISION

HUMAN RESOURCES
 Overview of
Human Resources

Human resources (HR) is the division of a business responsible for

finding, recruiting, screening, and training job applicants. HR departments
also handle employee compensation, benefits, and terminations.
Human resource management in the hospitality industry is a critical
function that involves the management of personnel and labor relations. The
role of human resources in the hospitality industry is to recruit, train,
and develop employees to ensure that they provide high-quality services to
customers.
 R
e S
c e
S r l Careful recruitment and selection
t u e are important to reduce staff turnover
a a
i c
f t
n
t
(percentage of workers who leave an
d
f m i organization) and disciplinary problems
e o and to improve employee satisfaction
n n
t easily. Before beginning the recruitment
and selection process, it is necessary
to think about the job a new employee
will do and the person needed to do it.

Seeking Flexible Employees
Planning
Describing the Job to be done
Describing the Ideal Recruit
Attracting Candidates
Making the Selection
The demand for hospitality services varies
from time to time. Monday is quiet and Saturday is
busy (although these sometimes vary since some
hotels may be at peak during Mondays if they are
catering mainly to business personalities); August
has a low level of sales but high during December.
In any case, a hotel should be able to call on
sufficient staff to meet the demand. This being able
to get more staff during busy time and having fewer
staff when sales are lower.
Hospitality managers have managed this
problem through numerical flexibility-lots of staff
available to be brough in when needed. Normally,
full-time staff numbers have kept to a minimum and
restricted to the more skilled employees, supported
by extra employees as needed.
Another solution is to recruit more full-time
employees, but create a more flexible workforce
through skills training referred to as functional
flexibility. Functional flexibility allows staff to
be deployed in a variety of roles as the demand
arises.
Seeking Flexible Employees
Planning
Describing the Job to be done
Describing the Ideal Recruit
Attracting Candidates
Making the Selection
This mean having employees in place and
trained with the right skills necessary when they are
needed. There are some points to consider when
building a recruitment plan:
• Future peaks in demand: The Christmas build-up or some
other period when sales are above the norm and extra
staff are needed.
• Holiday arrangements: When a staff takes planned annual
holidays, there is a need for staff to covet absent
employees.
• Staff turnover: This creates an ongoing demand for
replacement staff.
• Planned retirements and departures(ex, maternity leaves):
This will create some vacancies that have to be filled.
These are predictable and should be planned into the
recruitment process.
It is important to consider the process of recruiting new
employees and the time taken to develop an effective performer.
Issues like the time taken to recruit, the number of applicants
needed on average, the number of interview needed, the induction
period, and the training program should all be considered. The more
time these steps take, the more time these should be planned.
Seeking Flexible Employees
Planning
Describing the Job to be done
Describing the Ideal Recruit
Attracting Candidates
Making the Selection
Even in the smallest units, it is important to
consider the work to be done by recruits. This starts
with the job description or the terms and condition
under which a recruit will be employed. The job
description should include the following broad
heading:
• Job title, department, and location: Gives the job a name
and position
• Job function: What the job is about
• Job superior: To whom the jobholder will supervise
• Job subordinates: Which jobs the holder will supervise
• Relationship with other: Non-hierarchical relationships
• Main duties: What the jobholder will perform
• Occasional duties: What the jobholder Performs every now
and then
• Limits to authority: What the jobholder can/cannot
decide.
When preparing a job description, a job must
be described as well as its relationship to other
jobs.

Seeking Flexible Employees
Planning
Describing the Job to be done
Describing the Ideal Recruit
Attracting Candidates
Making the Selection
Drawing up a staff specification helps to
prepare for the recruitment process. This document
helps identify the person, qualifications, and
experiences required to do a job. This should be
written down and free of prejudices or assumptions
that are unfounded. Some of the categories to be
considered are the following:
• Physical make-up: Age, appearance, build, health, speech,
eyesight, etc.
• Education and training: School qualifications and grades,
further or higher education, recognized skills program,
and other qualifications or training
• Work experience: Experience in the industry, specific
industry or sector, similar type of work, work in a
related sector with transferable skills, and
responsibilities for people and money
• Personality: Sociability and extraversion, empathy,
honesty, stability, leadership, etc.
• Personal circumstance: Requirement to work, requirement to
work shifts, requirement to live in/out, etc.
While compiling this list of factors it is important
to remember to offer equal opportunities. Openly
discriminating on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, or
religion is illegal.
Seeking Flexible Employees
This aims to attract a sufficient number to make the
appointment of the ideal candidates. Some of the
means of communicating job vacancies to potential
applicants are as follows:
Planning
• Internal sources- Applicants who come from within the
units in an organization; these might include internal
promotion, present staff on temporary or part-time
Describing the Job to be done contracts who wish to become full-time employees, staff
recommendations, notices and posters on-premises, and
records of previous applicants.
• External sources- Applicants who come from outside an
organization; these might include newspaper advertising,
Describing the Ideal Recruit local radio, job centers, posters and notices in shop
windows, and universities and colleges.

Making a shortlist- This involves comparing

Attracting Candidates the applicants and selecting who among them match or
nearly match the staff specification. After
identifying the shortlisted applicants, the next
process will start.
Making the Selection

Seeking Flexible Employees
Planning
Describing the Job to be done
Describing the Ideal Recruit
Attracting Candidates
The selection process aims to continue the process
of finding out about the candidate so that the
judgement whether to recruit or not is based on
sound information where possible. This can be done
through the following:
• Interview- This can be a one-to-one interview (a unit
manager or a deputy interviews applicants one by one) or
have two (2) or more interviewers (the interview is
conducted by more than one (1) interviewer) to bring a
wide range of perceptions on which to base the selection.
In some case where there are many suitable candidates,
managers may conduct a series of interviews from which
the suitable candidate van be selected.
• Roleplay- The intention here is to invite a candidate to
deal with a situation, or give a performance which helps
to reveal more about a person in non-interview situation.
• Personality/aptitude test- It aims to supply further
information about the candidates. Personality tests
measure the various dimensions of their extraversion and
introversion and stability and instability in
individuals. Similarly, aptitude tests are designed to
measure a person’s general abilities and suitability for
certain types of work.

Making the Selection New employee induction program – Induction training can help to overcome one
(1) important feature of staff turnover, the induction crisis – the tendency
for many recruits to leave within a short period of joining an organization.
 D
e T
E
v r
m
e a
p
l
l
a i
Aside from the efforts put into
o
o
p
n n by human resources department, it
y d i is also important for departmental
m n
e
e
e g managers to recognize that staff
n
t training is the key to ensuring
effective business performance.
 DECIDE THE TRAINING POLICY

There should be a declared policy

about the aims and objectives of a
training. Once a policy is available,
this should be followed through to
ensure commitment from employees.
 IDENTIFY WHAT TRAINING IS NEEDED
The identification of training needs come from staff’s
appraisal process. It involves identifying the knowledge,
work skills that employees need for both their present and
future job.
Training Needs:
o Individual performance of staff is not up to standard.
o An identified business objective requires all staff to be trained to
be more effective.
o New staff need induction training.
o Planned changes require new skills or knowledge.
o Individuals or teams who will be changing jobs in the future will
undergo training to build their personal development.

Once training needs are identified, arrange these according to the

level of priority, considering its importance in achieving overall
objectives and the ease with which these can be completed.
PLAN THE TRAINING TO MEET THE NEEDS IDENTIFIED

The plan of action flows from the identification of

training needs and priorities.
Creating a Training Plan:
o Decide the timescale of the plan.
o Plan the resources needed to achieve the plan and budget for it.
o Be realistic. Start with what can be done and must be achieved.
o Set down the numbers to be trained and the targets to be achieved.
o Include training for new staff.
o Identify where, when, how, and by whom the training will be carried
out.
o Where appropriate, fix dates against the training events.
o Build in processes of monitoring and evaluation.
 CARRY OUT THE TRAINING PROGRAM

Some training might be short, taking no more

than 20 minutes, while some may require series
of sessions to build an integrated set of
skills. No matter the duration these training
take, each session should be planned carefully
and the intended outcomes must be achieved.
 DECIDE THE TRAINING POLICY

When the training program has been completed, there is

a need to evaluate its impact on the objectives that have
been set.

Should be considered:
o Has the entire plan been carried out? Were there difficulties and
problems? How can these be overcome in the future?
o What are the elements of the program that worked best and worst? What
can you learn from this?
o Using the objectives set out earlier, what business benefits have
been achieved through the training activities?
TRAINING ALL EMPLOYEES HAS A DIRECT IMPACT ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE AND LEADS
IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY
A structured approach to
helps new employees become
effective more quickly
than just allowing staff
to learn by experience.
Training new employees
before work or as part of
an induction program has
two (2) overall effects:
 Newly trained employees
reach their optimum
output level quickly.
 They have a higher
optimum level output than
the staff who are not
formally trained.
IMPROVED SALES PER LOWER LEVELS OF STAFF
TRANSACTION TURNOVER
Providing well-structured
The ability to upsell by training helps:
 New employees to understand
persuading a customer to quickly what is expected of them
buy a larger drink, an  Employees develop confidence in
their job
extra portion, or a better  Employees feel effective
quality room can increase  Establish that employees are
both revenue per sale and important and worthy of investment
 See a path of opportunities open
profitability. Studies to them
 Create a learning environment
show that trained
committed to improvement.
employees could increase
the value of sales per The relationships between
transaction by 25-30%. staff turnover and training
is complex. Training
provides employees with
reasons to stay with an
organization.
TRAINING ALL EMPLOYEES HAS A DIRECT IMPACT ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE AND LEADS

IMPROVED SERVICE IMPROVED INCREASED EMPLOYEE

QUALITY ORGANIZATIONAL FLEXIBILITY
Employee performance has a COMMITMENT Greater employee flexibility
direct influence on brings benefits to an
Most hospitality organizations because managers
employee experiences and organizations are aware of are able to schedule the same
service quality. Employee the importance of employee individuals to undertake a
training can be directed satisfaction because they variety of tasks.
Structured training means that
at an employee’s delivery recognize that internal employees are:
of the service to ensure customers have to be  Able to undertake a variety of
that they “do it right the committed to an different jobs
 More flexible to do other jobs
first time”. Training organization’s service  Cheaper because they can be used
employees on what to do if values to external as and where needed.
errors occur is also This functional flexibility
customers. Employee also enables employees to take
important. When complaints commitment is a benefit of on more interesting jobs and,
and faults are dealt with training that can be in some cases, training
immediately, customers are measured through changes employees to make decisions
more likely to stay which had been formerly
in an employee’s
undertaken by
loyal to an organization. satisfaction score. Managers.