Flow chart for front stage operations
In a service organization the major functions and operations are performed by coordinating between the departments of front as well as back stage which are engaged in developing and delivering the services and products in accordance with the need of customers and visitors. The essay is focused on analyzing the service flow chart for both the front and backstage service of Hilton Hotel. The essay also discusses the significance of encountered services. In addition to this, the managerial implication in regard to the service flowchart for different scenarios is also analyzed. Moreover, the information related to planning the flow of services is also drafted in the essay.
A service flowchart is a graphical representation formally created to showcase a logical sequence of work and process of manufacturing or represents an organization chart or a similar structure which is formally created. It is developed and designed in accordance with the standard of services, visitor’s or customer’s expectation, culture within and outside the organization, and the service quality of the competitors. The understanding of customer needs, offering process, limitation analysis, and the required cost for managing the standard and quality in the operating industry is referred to as services. It is significant for the big organizations like Hilton hotel to establish a service flowchart for the front and back stage operations which is well designed and organized so that the developing process and information delivery can be maintained in a better way. Developing the service flowchart for Hilton Hotel is also beneficial for the organization in maintain its services and products as well so that the objectives of internal business can be met with more professionalism and in an efficient manner (Xie, et al., 2013).
The flowchart for front stage is used by the Hilton Hotel to manage the services and information related to them efficiently in accordance with the international standards of Hotel industry and satisfying the needs of the customers in an efficient manner. As per my observation, the front stage operations of service organization majorly includes building interaction with visitors and customers for the collection of details related to them such as personal details and their preferred choice for the room and avail services offered by the hotel. Additionally, the flow chart for front stage operations of Hilton includes reserving rooms for customers, recording details of the check-in, planning for the waiting area, handling operation of the rooms, and recording the details of check-out when the customers leaves the hotel (Bowie and Buttle, 2013). All such operations are handled by the department of front stage of Hilton hotel. To be particular, I have been assigned the role of supervising and assisting the customers in relation to the services and products offered by the Hotel. For instance, it is my duty to supervise whether the member of front office of Hilton are performing their work in accordance with the set standard and process for meeting the professional and personal objectives. Moreover, if any staff member face any kind of difficulty related to the operation of the front stage then I am liable to address the issue and provide suitable solution to them. For instance, there was a customer named Jeremy who visited the hotel last week. On his arrival, the system software was not working properly so the staff member was not able to put his check-in details so I suggested him to make the manual entry in the hotel register and update the same when the system software starts working.
Flow chart for back stage operations
As per the above flow chart, decisions are made by Hilton based on the details and information provided by each customers to the front stage. According to the information, the departments operating in the backstage are directed to develop the products and services. With the help of this type of process and flow chart the management of Hilton hotel is able to arrange the required resources and significant level of activities are maintained as per the expectation of the customers.
As Hilton is a service organization, the process of backstage plays a significant role in performing the task and operations internal to the organization. Hilton hotel performs different kind of operations and services which are accomplished by the department of back stage. AS per my work experience in the Hilton hotel I observed that these services includes receiving phone calls, responding to the mails by attaching relevant information to it and filing the information in the hotel documents properly. In addition to this, the flow chart of back stage operation suggest that housekeeping, cleaning, and activities related to post operations also have a significant role in maintaining the standard of the services offered by the hotel. The management of the hotel proposes the plan of actions which is implemented by making use of the information given by the department of front office (Rummler and Brache, 2012). Both front office and back office performs the operations of Hilton hotel with mutual coordination as without coordination the activities will be mismanaged and the organizational objectives could be achieved efficiently and effectively. Moreover, the flow chart of back stage is flexible as changes can be made by the top management in the organizational activities so that the expectation of the customers can be met timely. For instance, more number of staff can be appointed in the cleaning and housekeeping process in the seasonal time so that the customers do not have to wait much.
Hilton hotel is a service organization the business of which is operating in the industry of hospitality at international level. There is great need for the hotel to maintain the quality and standard in the products and services offered by them so that the position of organization can be sustained in the industry. The organization attains a competitive edge with the efficient working of management in anticipating the needs of the customers and analyzing the exiting and upcoming trends in the industry and accordingly making improvements in the encountered services (Maister, 2012). More importantly, the interaction between the organization and the customers plays a significant role in addressing the needs of the customers and process the delivery of services with a set standard and as per the expectation of the customers. In this process, encounter of many forms are involved top management and employees of the organization. Hilton being a service organization faces encounter of three types which includes remote, direct, and indirect encounters. The decisions related to the process of resource arrangement, planning functions, assigning responsibilities and roles to member of different departments within the organization are taken by the management on the basis of the encounters undertaken by them. The encounters are also beneficial for the organization for increasing the efficiency of the operation and achieving the goals of the organization successfully (Cameron and Whetten, 2013). The services encountered by Hilton hotel are excellent in terms of delivering the food on time and maintaining a standard and quality in services such as rooms, spas, gym, and swimming pool. These kinds of services require high maintenance and Hilton has appointed individual team for each section of the services offered by them to the customers. There is a separate staff for maintain pool area and horticulture of the hotel. Likewise, the spas also have trained individuals to provide excellent massaging and related services to the customers. However, in some cases the management of the hotel faces issues in encountering the services in professional manner due to unethical behavior and demands from the customers which are out of the scope of hotel.
Explanation of the service encounter significance
In the present situation, direct, indirect, and remote encounters are used by the management in different operations of the hotel such as management of the services, improving the process of delivery, and making plans for the development of products and services in a better way. As per my observation, there are ample numbers of benefits in using the remote encounter and Hilton uses it an efficient manner. It includes the use of services like net banking for receiving payment from the customers as well as providing user friendly machines such as mini-van for dropping the customers to their rooms. It becomes significant for the hotel to assure quality in the encountered services as it can be modified, tested, and customized so that the expectations of the customers can be met effectively (Lovelock and Patterson, 2015). In addition to this, there is also an involvement of indirect personal encounters which includes interaction over telephone which has the potential to add more variability scope for entering in the area of services delivery and aids in avoiding the errors related to communication and enquiry for the services. Moreover, the indirect encounters are also given priority by Hilton for addressing personal services and understand the requirements of potential customers and visitors. In service encounter, the organizations like Hilton form centric goals by merging the services and people within the organization. The behaviors of various participants are coordinated and regulations and rules undergo a follow up so that the security and safety in the service encounter process is maintained with the use of indirect and remote process (Dove, et al., 2013).
Hilton being an organization of the service industry is determined to provide the best possible services to its customers by the service encounter between the employees and the customers. The process and interaction level aids in analyzing the expectations of the customers and evaluating the potential of the management in maintain the effectiveness and quality of the services with respect to the customer expectation (Mitra, 2016). In my opinion, it is significant for the organization like Hilton operating in the service industry to interact with the customers in an effective manner so that their preferences regarding the services can be understood and accordingly the guidelines for the human resources can be developed thereby improving the performance of the organization. Encountering the services and effectively monitoring the process of developing services and operations positively impact the goodwill and image of the brand as well as the effectiveness of the Hilton’s management. Although Hilton has successfully maintained its brand value and service quality but due to lacking in the approach of service encounter, the effectiveness of management is getting hampered. In order to bridge the gap, the management is required to put more efforts in understanding the demand and need of the customers (Bacchetti and Saccani, 2012). In addition to this, the employees shall also communicate effectively with the customers to solve their queries and become more responsible towards the objectives of the organization and exercise their role defined by the top management.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the essay that the organizations operating in the service industry such as Hilton is required to develop the flowchart for the front stage and back stage and implement them in determining the level of services with the organization. Such flowcharts are also beneficial in meeting the standard of coordination and communication. In addition to this, the significance of encounter service is also explained in the essay which provides reasonable knowledge in the area of direct, indirect, and remote interactions with the visitors and the customers of the hotel.
References
Xie, K.L. and Chen, C.C. (2013) Progress in loyalty program research: Facts, debates, and future research, Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 22(5), pp.463-489.
Bowie, D. and Buttle, F. (2013) Hospitality marketing. USA: Taylor & Francis.
Rummler, G.A. and Brache, A.P. (2012) Improving performance: How to manage the white space on the organization chart. USA: John Wiley & Sons.
Maister, D.H. (2012) Managing the professional service firm. USA: Simon and Schuster.
Cameron, K.S. and Whetten, D.A. eds. (2013) Organizational effectiveness: A comparison of multiple models. USA: Academic Press.
Lovelock, C. and Patterson, P. (2015) Services marketing. Australia: Pearson.
Mitra, A. (2016) Fundamentals of quality control and improvement. USA: John Wiley & Sons.
Bacchetti, A. and Saccani, N. (2012) Spare parts classification and demand forecasting for stock control: Investigating the gap between research and practice, Omega, 40(6), pp.722-737.