Job Description: The front office manager is responsible for supervising the staff that runs the front office. In a larger hotel, this may include the reservation team. It is your duty to create a welcoming environment for guests during their stay.
Your day-to-day duties may involve:
- meeting and greeting guests
- leading team briefings
- training staff
- maintaining reception procedures
- maintaining health and safety procedures
As the front office manager, you will coordinate the activities of the front of house staff, making sure reservation and booking procedures are followed and the guests feel welcome. You will support the staff as they meet and greet guests, and perform reception duties. As you and your staff are at the hub of the hotel, you have the opportunity to encourage guests to use the hotel facilities to maximize sales.
In smaller hotels your entire team may be based at the front desk, operating the switchboard, and performing porter duties. However, in larger hotels the reservation staff can be based in a back office, enabling them to concentrate on telephone calls, faxes, letters, and emails.
As a department manager, you will be responsible for training and recruiting staff, organizing staff rosters, and controlling budgets. You will regularly meet with the other department managers to coordinate your activities and work together. For example, you must communicate regularly with the housekeeping department so you are aware of what rooms have been serviced, and receive early warnings of delays.
Skills:
- Contribute to promoting hospitality services and products
- Contribute to the control of resources
- Contribute to the selection of staff for activities
- Deal with communications as part of the reception function
- Deal with the arrival of customers
- Dealing with bookings
- Develop productive working relationships with colleagues
- Handle mail and book external services
- Improve the customer relationship
- Lead a team to improve customer service
- Maintain the health, hygiene, safety, and security of the working environment
- Monitor and solve customer service problems
- Prepare customer accounts and deal with departures
- Prepare to communicate in a business environment
- Produce documents in a business environment
- Promote additional services or products to customers
- Provide leadership for your team
- Provide learning opportunities for colleagues
- Provide reception services
- Provide tourism information services to customers
- Store and retrieve information
- Supervise practices for handling payments
- Supervise reception services
- Supervise reservation and booking services
- Use office equipment
Available Training and Certifications
