Tiger Woods Foundation

Job Description

If you like to be in charge, get along with all types of people, and enjoy making decisions, this could be the job for you. Hotel and restaurant managers are responsible for the smooth and profitable workings of the establishment they're managing. These managers aim to balance the desires of their guests - comfort and service - with the desires of the ownership - making a profit. They are ultimately responsible for everything guests come in contact with while visiting an establishment: service staff, equipment, food, linens, furniture, etc. They negotiate with vendors, track employee performance, and respond to guest inquiries.

Top 10

BE MY GUEST: There are many concerns running through a manager's head at any moment. Here are ten areas the manager of a hotel and or restaurant keeps track of every day.

ALLERGIES: The guests of a hotel or restaurant expect the services being provided to soothe, calm and satisfy, which is why they will not tolerate an environment that triggers unpleasant allergic reactions. Managers must ensure that no guest encounters an allergic trigger in their establishments and must inform guests of any possible threats to their systems, including the use of down in pillows, mattresses or comforters, nuts or dairy in foods, pets on premises, or smoking permitted in or near rooms.

AMENITIES: Amenities are the extras that provide additional comforts and usually mean higher prices in a hotel or restaurant. Fresh flowers, valet parking, complimentary beverages, and special entertainment are all amenities that make a hotel or restaurant more pleasing to its guests. In addition to the amenities that all guests receive or experience in an establishment, a manager may determine that some guests should receive special treatment, such as fruit baskets in their room or free dessert in a restaurant. The manager may provide these added services to appease an unhappy guest or to make special guests feel appreciated.

CHILDREN: Often guests of hotels and restaurants are looking for romantic or restful vacations and prefer to reserve accommodations that are free from the sounds of young children. There are some hotels that do not accommodate young children for this reason. The managers of these hotels must train reservation staff and manage publicity efforts to make sure these restrictions are clear to potential customers and avoid uncomfortable surprises.

CLEANLINESS: The last thing a customer wants to pay for is an unpleasant experience in a hotel or restaurant. Managers must maintain the highest standards of cleanliness and pest control. Maintaining a pest-free environment can be tricky in some areas, and customers are often allergic to pesticides. Managers ensure that fumigations occur both regularly and with sufficient aeration time before an area must again be made available to guests.

CONVENIENCE: Managers often consider how to make their guests' visits easier. Hotel managers arrange for regular and complimentary transportation to airports and train stations; they provide faxing services and Internet connections so guests can do business hassle-free. Restaurant managers provide valet parking and coat checks, and ensure that the staff is prepared to answer questions regarding ingredients and cooking methods.

FOOD QUALITY: In restaurants and hotels, managers and their staffs strive to deliver food of high quality, freshness and flavor. Managers arrange the purchase of ingredients, hire the chefs, and participate in menu selection and food service. Food makes a big impression, good or bad. No customer wants to return to a place where something undesirable turned up in his or her food, and most people do return to a place where the food was delicious and reasonably priced. Since food can be the most memorable aspect of a guest's experience, managers give this aspect of their establishment considerable attention.

HOSPITALITY: A friendly and responsive staff is a key ingredient in a restaurant or hotel's success. An unpleasant experience with a staff member can make an otherwise impeccable experience an utter disappointment and can damage a restaurant or hotel's reputation. Word-of-mouth, or the public's review of a restaurant or hotel's services, can make or break the business. A manager's job includes ensuring that the public leaves his/her establishment with only good things to say.

OCCUPANCY: Occupancy is the first element to affect the success or failure of a hotel or restaurant. Are the rooms and tables full or empty? Who knows about us? Are our services too expensive? Do we need to run a "special" with discounts for weekend stays or early dining? What days of the week are our slowest? Occupancy can be analyzed by all of these questions and more. A manager must be able to imagine all the possible answers to these questions and adapt accordingly to maximize sales.

SECURITY: Guests staying in a hotel in an unfamiliar city often worry about feeling secure. Can they safely leave jewelry and travel money in their rooms? Are there safes available in the rooms or at the front desk for added peace of mind? Is credit card information secured on receipts and in the database? Are staff members securing the establishment's entrances from loiterers seeking to take advantage of an unsuspecting tourist? Guests of restaurants must feel safe as well. Is there somewhere safe to check coats and other personal belongings? Is the tabletop grill sufficiently insulated to protect those eating around it? Is there sufficient ventilation? All of these considerations can help a hotel or restaurant become a favorite home-away-from-home for visitors.

TRAINING: Managers train staff members to work in the area of his or her responsibility within an establishment's service practices. Guests expect staffers to be well acquainted with an establishment's facilities, customs and offerings. It is part of a manager's job to ensure that his or her staff is prepared to execute their responsibilities with grace, accuracy, efficiency, and class. This affects the guest's overall experience and the reputation of the business and impacts the continued success or failure of the establishment.

How to Get There

Host With The Most

• Home is where the host is. The best practice you can get for managing a hotel or restaurant is in your own home and kitchen. Help your parents or guardians make and keep your home hospitable, clean and comfortable. Treat someone to breakfast in bed after a tough week. Learn to change your own linens, shine your shoes, and do your dishes without being asked.
• Be informed. Learn to ask the right questions. A good manager takes care of problems before they arise by asking about allergies and special considerations before a meal is cooked or a bed is made. If you have friends or relatives visiting, ask them in advance about any special needs.
• Get a date. Managers often note the birthdays and anniversaries of repeat guests so that they are able to provide them with special treats and invitations. Keep a record of all your family members' birthdays and anniversaries so you're able to pleasantly surprise them with a special card.
• Pay attention in all your classes. Hotel and restaurant managers have a firm grasp on basic accounting, requiring skills in math and a strong understanding of money and business management. They are also skilled at writing letters to special guests and reading vendor contracts. Some schools offer vocational training in culinary arts or home economics; you may want to investigate these classes to see if they "flip your switch."
• Take charge. Good managers are good leaders. They coordinate the efforts of many individuals to create a seamless, cooperative system of hospitality and comfort. Leading a group requires sensitivity, attention to detail, a sense of pride in one's work, and gratification in good results. Step up to lead often, and you'll get great management training.
• Consider a degree. With the hospitality industry more widely recognized as a vital commercial force, many colleges and universities include degree or certificate programs in hotel and restaurant management. Look into these programs to see what kinds of classes they offer and determine if this type of study might appeal to you after high school.

Activity

Can You Manage?: For this activity, you need to plan ahead. You'll be preparing a rating sheet for restaurants that you will experience in the future so that you may judge the restaurant and your meal, compare various eateries, and begin to think like a manager about all the details of the guest experience.

Preparing the Rating Sheet: First, you'll need a piece of paper and a pen. At the top of the sheet of paper, create a header section for basic information: Name, Date and Type of Meal. Also include a place in the header for a brief description of what kind of meal you're looking for; examples might be "quick, cheap bite" or "memorable and fun birthday party."

Under the header section you'll need to create three columns: Category, Comments and Rating.

The left column will be for the 15 rating categories. Write them in a list under the heading "Category" with a little space in between each category. The category list should include:

• Location
• Exterior
• Interior
• Greeting
• Preparedness
• Noise
• Privacy
• Atmosphere
• Menu
• Quality
• Taste
• Presentation
• Attentiveness
• Hospitality
• Awareness

The next column moving right will be for your comments, so allow enough space for your written reactions and thoughts about each category; these statements will help you to determine how you'll rate the restaurant's performance in each category by number.

The last column on the right will be for the final number rating, which can range from 1 to 10, with 10 being best and 1 being worst.

At the bottom of your rating sheet, create an area for your overall comments and total rating.

Make several copies of your rating sheet so you can use the same format repeatedly, over a length of time, to examine several different restaurants.

Using the Rating Sheet: The next time you go out to eat, whether it's to a fast food restaurant, a pizza joint, or a special family dinner at a "white tablecloth" location, bring a copy of your rating sheet and a pencil, and get ready to judge all the components of your dining experience!

Before you get to the location, start by marking in the header information the type of meal you're having: Breakfast, Lunch, Brunch, Dinner, or Dessert. Fill in the rest of the header information too Once you get to the restaurant, start moving through each category on your sheet, writing down comments and giving each category a number rating.

The first three rating categories refer to an establishment's appearance: Location, Exterior and Interior. For each of these categories, you'll consider the questions listed below as you make comments and determine your number rating.

Location: The location of the eatery ought to be rated according to convenience, appearance and safety. Is the eatery located around others? Is it in the middle of nowhere? Is it sufficiently lit and populated at night for a sense of safety?

Exterior: The rating for exterior is largely based on aesthetics. What does the restaurant look like from the outside? Is it inviting? Clean? Does it appear comfortable? Fancy? Does it look kid-friendly?

Interior: Is the interior enticing or is it a turnoff? Is it clean? Comfy? Cozy? Entertaining? Exotic? Thematic? Rate it according to your own tastes and your desire to remain and eat.

The next group of five rating categories relates to comfort: Greeting, Preparedness, Noise, Privacy, and Atmosphere. For each of these categories, you'll consider the questions listed below as you make comments and determine your number rating.

Greeting: Is the eatery ready for you when you arrive? Is there a system that is clear to the customer? Do you know how to get seated at a table or where to put in your order and pick it up? Is it confusing or simple?

Preparedness: Is there anything missing that you might need? Salt and pepper? Catsup? Utensils? Water? Ice? Bread?

Noise: Is there pleasant music or a loud radio blasting from the kitchen? Are the room's acoustics such that you can enjoy your conversation?

Privacy: Are the tables spread out enough to allow for privacy of conversation? Or is family-style seating part of the eatery's charm?

Atmosphere: Is it a pleasant, cozy atmosphere? Or a hustle-bustle, fun-filled joint? Is it lacking in atmosphere, with few decorations and bad lighting?

Next you'll be rating the food according to four categories: Menu, Quality, Taste, and Presentation. For each of these categories, you'll consider the questions listed below as you make comments and determine your number rating.

Menu: Are there enough choices on the menu? Is there something for every type of eater? Is there a vegetarian option? Is there a lactose-free option? Is there something offered that small kids would like or a children's version of the menu?

Quality: Once you have your food, notice its quality. Is it hot when it's supposed to be hot? Cold when it should be cold? Is it overcooked or undercooked? Was everyone's food ready and served at once, or did some people in your party have to wait for others to be served? Did the ingredients seem fresh?

Taste: Was it tasty? Were the flavors and ingredients what you expected from the menu description? Would you order the same dish again? Did the menu omit any important ingredients that are commonly objectionable such as nuts, cream or spicy chilies?

Presentation: Did the restaurant make a special effort to serve an attractive plate of food? Were there garnishes or special touches that gave you an extra level of enjoyment?

Finally, you'll be rating the service you received from the restaurant staff based on three categories: Attentiveness, Hospitality and Awareness. For each of these categories, you'll consider the questions listed below as you make comments and determine your number rating.

Attentiveness: Were you quickly served when needed? Or did you have to wait around for someone to notice you?

Hospitality: Was the staff pleasant and friendly or testy and impatient? Were they prepared to handle special requests? Were they thrown off-balance when you asked for personal accommodations?

Awareness: Were the staff members ready to answer questions about the menu or restaurant? Was your server readily available to you?

After you leave the restaurant, fill in the summary area of your rating sheet. Refer back to your initial expectation and determine whether or not you got the experience you were after. Record notes about the type of experience you actually received, so you can reference your rating sheets the next time you're looking for a particular type of meal. In your summary notes, consider the overall value of the experience - whether what you paid for your meal and dining experience is worth what it actually cost. Total the number ratings for each category; if you have followed the categories above, the total possible number rating is 150 (15 categories at 10 points each). Keep a notebook of your completed rate sheets and compare them regularly. Eventually, thinking like a manager will become second nature!

Q & A

Q. What does the phrase "the customer is always right" mean? Is the customer ever wrong?

Lisa B., a hotel manager in Kona, Hawaii from 1991 to 1993, says:

A hotel manager's performance is often based on the reviews his or her hotel receives from the people who stay there. The hotel staff, the head of which is the hotel manager, must make every effort to ensure that hotel patrons are comfortable, happy and feel catered to. Often this means that a hotel manager must go out of his way, and possibly against what he believes is a wise decision, in order to, first and foremost, ensure a hotel patron's happiness. In the end, a happy customer means good reviews from the customer and, hopefully, more business for the hotel. Typically the customer really isn't ever wrong unless he or she is asking the management or staff to do something: a) illegal, b) immoral, or c) that will upset a great number of other paying hotel guests or the hotel ownership.

One example of guest conduct that I considered unacceptable was a situation in which a guest showed flagrant disregard for hotel property. This guest had been staying at the hotel for a few days and had committed what I considered several minor infractions already: leaving all the lights and the iron on all day while he was out, falling asleep with the radio blasting so that the guests in the adjacent room were unable to get any rest, and skinny-dipping in the pool late at night. Still, we were able to remedy these problems without too much embarrassment or friction, and his departure was only a couple nights off, so I figured we'd wait it out and keep a record for the next time he tried to make a reservation.

However, he dealt the straw that broke my back when he returned to the hotel the third night and fell asleep while running a bath. The bathwater ran all night until we discovered a leak into the kitchen on the floor below his room. We were forced to break into his room to awaken him and shut off the water. I asked him to leave the hotel immediately and without discussion and charged his credit card for the extensive damage the hotel incurred due to water damage. He never contested the charge, and I never worried about what he might say about his treatment or my conduct. I can honestly say that in this case, the customer was wrong with a capital "W."