How to Improve Hotel Service Quality

高 婧

（1.悉尼大學，澳大利亞 悉尼 2006；2.遼寧交通高等專科學校社科系，遼寧 沈陽 110122）

The hospitality industry combines features of both products and services,it faces manufacturing problems in providing high-quality products (such as food and accommodation)and service-delivery problems in providing high quality services (involving high levels of interaction between staff and guests)．Customers are demanding quality of products and services,speed and reliability of delivery,price,innovation and differentiation and professionalism (Keating&Harrington,2003)．Hence a well-developed and implemented quality service program with a focus on the customer as its cornerstone can offer significant benefits to hotels．

First of all,Programmes such as the quality training program has made valuable contributions,and should be used to underpin a more comprehensive approach to manage service quality．New employees should be given an intensive orientation in the basics of the hotel workplace and culture．Each new employee would be interviewed by top managers and then participates in vary departments of hotel over some weeks．The training process culminates with a period stay in the hotel,which allows the new hire to experience all aspects of service just as a guest would．Additionally,the training programs should providing employees with knowledge,skills,and procedures in the areas which customers consider important．Thomson (1995)found the most important attribute for customers was personal attention from staff．Therefore,training program should focus on how to satisfy customers．In a short,it is recognized that as organizations place more and more emphasis on training will get more profit than pay attention on advertising．

Moreover,creating service culture is an effective way to improve service quality．Many of the customer-satisfaction studies in the hospitality literature have focused on identifying and measuring the sources of customer satisfaction (Luchars&Hinkin,1996)．This program requires considers the interests,values and beliefs of the customers,collecting and generating information concerning customer wants and needs．Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is a good example on this program．They set up one program called “Family Matters”．It encourages staff members to treat each guest as though she or he was"part of the family and on a visit to your home．"The Room Division managers in Ritz-Carlton hotel created a handbook that covers all pre-opening and opening phases of a property to ensure that employees can meet or exceed guests'expectations．That handbook synthesizes over a decade of experience in opening new properties and is constantly refined and updated for each new opening．Consequently,service standards are established immediately,and the handbook serves as documentation of the expected service culture(Enz&Siguaw,2000)．At the same time,the managers ask employees to notice the nuances that make up the atmosphere of the hotel,such as the noises,smells,lighting,and ambiance necessary to produce a pleasant guest experience．

Furthermore,positive attitudes to complaints,it is not an easy program for most hotels．Jonathan (1996)state the complaint is not laid on a single staff member but is shared and discussed so the system can be corrected．In the hotel,the complaint should be taken to the quality circle for discussion．Windsor Court Hotel requests a recommendation for improvement from each guest at checkout．The front-office staff records any guest complaints on an incident form for immediate management follow-up via letter or telephone．Employees also have the authority to act on the spot to resolve a guest complaint,and any complaints are recorded for monthly evaluation．In addition,this hotel uses personal interaction built on strong guest feedback as the basis of service quality(Enz& Siguaw,2000)．All repeat guests are greeted at arrival and departure by either the room division manager or guest-relations managers,and are given small gifts that vary according to how frequently the guests have stayed in the hotel．It can be seen how to solve complain will influence the service quality．As a room division manager,accept complain,analyze the reasons and then solve errors are wise ways．

There have also been suggestions that many programs fail because the chief executive does not commit himself or herself to the active support,participation,and leadership of the process of continuous improvement and the associated culture change that is required for successful implementation of service quality program (Keating &Harrington,2003)．Senior managers not only must expect this culture change but also must manage it．It is also important to keep the goals attainable,because everything cannot be achieved immediately．Learning and creativity capabilities are also essential so that the organization can continuously adapt,develop and innovate．

【reference】

［1］Caplan J．Training：what’s hot in 2005[Z]．China Staff MCB UP Ltd．,2005,11(2)：20-24．

［2］Harrison,J．S．Strategic analysis for the hospitality industry[M]．2003．

［3］Keating,Harrington．Hospitality-management competencies[J]．Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly,2003．

［4］Smith A．Training and Development[M]．2ndedition．Macmillian：South Melbourne,1998,Chapter 7．