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Rising to the top level in Hospitality management

DerrikKyle — Mon, 03 May 2010 04:22:17 +0000

All hotels need someone to act as the financial manager of the hotel, and there can be a danger and a liability if the General Manager has to be the one who handles all facets of the operation.Controllers are usually the one responsible for short and long term planning, as well as daily operations of the accounting department. In larger organizations, s/he interacts with some regularity with the brand or management company Vice President(s) and Corporate Controller. They may deal with accounting transactions or control practices not specifically addressed in the acceptable company accounting policies and procedures manual or which requires interpretation.In smaller hotels, the role of Hotel Controller may be handled by a 3rd party who may or may not be at the physical building each day. Many ownership groups use a cluster approach on this function, and have only very basic financial activities at the hotel level with all reconciliations and filings done by the owner’s office or an accountant. Management companies often successfully use this approach.With that as an introduction, the following ‘Bakers Dozen’ of Strategies for Hotel Controllers can be considered in either approach.1. Take the lead on establishing and administering all financial systems and internal controls. This includes an approved and complete plan for overall financial checks and balances for control of operations. In the case of high volume food and beverage, gaming, retail or other revenue centers, this is critical to cash flow management. Most hotels use approved industry standard accounting systems and formats.2. Create the guidelines and expectations for the preparation and updates of all operational budgets, forecasts, operating results, financial reports. While the controller should not physically prepare all documents, s/he should provide guidance, forms and overall direction. This includes profit projections and planning, sales forecasts, expense budgets, capital requirement/needs, cost standards and the required approvals for implementing the agreed upon plans.3. Identify the annual hotel’s capital plan and establish time lines and protocols for implementation. Capital needs are identified through many sources, including planned renovations, changes in competition, market variables, brand requirements, legal obligations and ownership preferences. It is the ultimate responsibility of the hotel controller to estimate returns on investment and to offer recommendations to ownership and senior management.4. Implement firm procedures for the preparation of operational statements returns in compliance with government regulations, company, franchise and ownership requirements. There are many entities requiring detailed and consistent reporting.5. Set up and administer all government reporting and tax filing activities to guarantee accurate, timely information is provided in compliance with laws and regulations. This includes local, state/provincial and federal agencies.6. Formulate and manage local accounting policies that coordinate with ownership’s or brand systems and procedures. We all realize that data and reports can be stated in creative ways and it falls to the controller to keep comparisons of performance to budgets, forecasts and updates accurate and consistent. Clear and concise recaps of the financial reports that interpret operational results of operations to all levels of management and ownership (where applicable) are essential7. Operate as if you were a financial consultant for your hotel(s). Consultants ask questions to make certain time sensitive reports and information are provided to maximize revenues and profits. Done in a proactive and ongoing way, this can greatly assist operations.8. Monitor compliance with hotel and accounting policies and procedures, legal requirements and contractual obligations . These could include obligations under a management agreement or brand contracts. A system of internal controls, auditing and security procedures should be in place to make certain disparities or variations are brought to the attention of the General Manager and/or appropriate ownership or management representative to safeguard the hotel’s assets.9. Manage the accounting department and other areas as appropriate. Some hotel controllers oversee Security/Safety staffs while others are responsible for Human Resources. This is a local decision but the goal is to maximize resources and/or effectiveness, not to save a few dollars by eliminating a management position.10. Supervise the installation and maintenance of accounting computer systems and equipment to secure optimum performance. The Controller should also be the one to typically approve all contracts, with the co-authorization of another senior manager.11. Maintain a fiduciary accountability to the company and management. Many large organizations have Controllers reporting to the hotel general manager, but with a dotted line to a corporate officer or other responsible person. This is a system of checks and balances.12. As a member of the hotel executive team, share the professional expectations provided to you from ownership and/or management clearly with all members of the staff. Newcomers to the industry sometimes imagine huge profits when they compare their hourly wage with the rooms’ rates paid by guests. Those of us who have been in the industry for more than just a few years realize that profits and losses go in cycles, and that it is important to share the realities of the cost of doing business at all levels. All staff should understand the total costs of ownership, including support staff such as security, engineering and sales, franchise or royalty fees, management company fees, the concepts of debt service and more. Make those expectations understood, explain the value and rationale to all staff and be certain these expectations can be measured fairly.13. Increase the commitment to training whenever and wherever possible throughout the hotel. Many controllers in the past functioned apart from the operating staff. The successful controller of the future will maintain a required equilibrium with the departments they may be monitoring, but they will also learn to:• More regularly interact with the sales and front office management to obtain accurate forecast of short and long term trends• Better anticipate capital needs and the ROI needed to justify them• Assist the total team by better communication with ownership, management, brand offices and government agencies as appropriate

Published and All rights reserved by John Hogan. Reproduced by Hostec International

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How Hospitality Technology Increases the Level of Service

DerrikKyle — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 10:28:13 +0000

Running a restaurant or business in the service industry is not easy, and one of the more difficult parts of the job is making sure that your customers are receiving the level of service that they deserve. While the pressure is often on the servers and cashiers to try to provide a higher level of service, the most effective way to increase the level of service that customers receive is actually to improve the technology that guides your employees through their jobs.

The effective use of hospitality technology is one of the key factors in providing stellar customer service, since the proper implementation of this technology helps to ensure that key aspects of service are not accidentally forgotten or avoided. Below are a few ways that the implementation of hospitality technology can drastically increase the level of service provided by your restaurant or service establishment.

One of the most basic ways that hospitality technology can increase the level of service offered to customers is the use of a point-of-sale or POS system in your restaurant or establishment. These systems are designed with a touch-screen interface that allows servers or cashiers to simply press the buttons that identify the items being ordered or purchased with new windows opening up if there are additional components that need to be ordered as a part of the initial purchase. This ensures that the cashier or server does not forget anything vital to the order, as it cannot be completed until the appropriate selection has been made.

Making sure that all parts of an order are taken is not the only way that the use of a POS system can help to increase the level of service in your establishment, however. Additional prompts can be placed inside the POS system, giving your employees additional reminders such as reminding them to smile at the customer when they begin taking an order or letting them know current specials for suggestive selling. A well-structured POS system can take all of the guesswork out of order taking, covering every possible angle and suggesting questions to your employees that they may not have thought of on their own.

Another form of hospitality technology that can greatly increase the level of service that your customers receive is computerized hospitality training. This training offers several advantages to standard training techniques within the service industry, which often consist of simply having new employees review an employee manual or by shadowing an existing employee or member of management to learn the job functions that are essential to their position. By using computerized training as a supplement to this type of training, your employees may have the benefit of being able to review videos of the correct way to perform different tasks while being given additional training information. This helps to ensure that each new employee that is hired receives the exact same training, removing any doubt as to whether they have been properly trained in the art of hospitality so that they can better serve the customers.

Related to computerized training, a computerized system can be utilized to offer testing as a prerequisite for advancement or raises. These tests may be integrated into the same training system that is used to provide basic job information in the first place, and can be used to keep track of the scores of employees for easy reference by management. This testing can consist of basic questions in regards to job functions and hospitality issues, presented in a multiple-choice format with one clear answer to each question. A specific percentage of correct answers must be reached in order to pass the test, with the employees receiving instant feedback on how well they performed on the test by the computerized scoring system.

Other forms of hospitality technology can also be integrated easily into your restaurant or establishment, including self-service kiosks, which allow your customers to access some essentials such as condiments and drinks without the need for one of the employees to assist them. Self-service checkout lanes can also be implemented in a number of ways, using a variation of the POS system to allow customers to scan their own items and present payment for them without the need for direct interaction with a cashier at all. It is always important to have a cashier or customer service employee nearby just in case a customer has a problem with the system. The customer may also have special needs that prevent them from using the self-service features effectively; in addition to preventing potential problems with the self-service features, having a trained employee accessible provides yet another increase in the level of service presented to your customers. There are many ways that hospitality technology can be beneficial to your business especially if implemented correctly.

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