SERVICE WITH A DIFFERENCE ( IN PERSPECTIVE OF HR & TRAINING)

“ CUSTOMER DON’T EXPECT YOU TO BE PERFECT THEY DO EXPECT YOU TO FIX THINGS WHEN THEY GO WRONG”. DONALD PORTER Customer service skills are valued across the globe. Hospitality service being intangible in nature it is difficult to set parameters for measuring them. Purchaser/ guest has nothing tangible to show for it. The hotels services becomes an instantly recognizable standard, signature of trade mark of the hotel almost like tangible product. The hotel employees must then sustain that image through their commitment to service. The ‘ consistent delivery of services is the result of *Program of quality assurance, it is the key to quality service. *Personalized guest services & *Maintaining high ratio of staff member to guest. Defining Service Quality: Good service includes Politeness, Responsiveness, Promptness, caring & Commitment towards guests. Strategies and policies should be guest focused. It is important to remember that service is a function of human response, attitude & empathy. No amount of technology, customer research, management seminars or advertisement can compensate for a lack of sincerity towards Service & customer satisfaction. “Promise only what can be delivered and deliver only what has been promised.” STRIVING FOR QUALITY: • The mission statement should be posted in all employees break areas, in the cafeteria and in the changing rooms. • Continuous reinforcement of this philosophy in both words & deeds. • Feeling of ownership & empowerment will help to achieve the goal. • Guest service training should continue beyond orientation. • To achieve quality guest services one should establish parameters with accountability and it should be linked to performance. • The service quality is perhaps be the single most important competitive element in the hotel industry. • Very often good service compensates for a poor products but not vice versa. • Problems with products are solved through service and problems with service are also solved through service. • Customer remember your attitude not your product : how they were treated than the product performed is remembered by most of the guest. • Research shows that customers are 5 times more likely to leave for poor service than poor product quality or high cost. A study done by the American Society for Quality Control showed that twice as many customers leave due to poor service than any other reason. Why companies loose customers: Died/ moved away 3% Influenced by friends 5% Lured away by the competition 9% Dissatisfied with a product 14% Turned away by an attitude of indifference on the part of a company employee 68% Quality Cost : while quality in all aspects of business is important, improving service quality is cheaper than improving product quality. Training cost should be looked upon as an investment and not cost. The investment in turn will generate higher sales margins and profitability in the future with guest satisfaction. We should keep in mind • One satisfied customer tells five others. It cost five times more to find a new customer than to retain existing one. • Good service/ high quality service gives sales growth • Higher employee satisfaction & pride. This improves employees productivity & retention and reduce both recruitment and manufacturing cost. • Service driven companies are likely to detect shifts in market behaviour and customer needs and more likely to succeed in product development. • Better service standards indirectly encourages better corporate behaviour and promote better relations with influential groups and societies. Service and Indian Economy: It has become largest service activity in the world. One of the major share of Indian Economy is service sector. Since it is highly labour intensive and growing consistently will give employment to several people. Success will largely depend on upgrading level of training specially for service personnel. Role of HRD & Training: these department has major role to play. Starting from Job analysis & job designing to recruitment & selection , training & induction. HRD has major role to play in Hospitality Industry & has to make efforts to change attitude of staff to achieve goal. Objectivity should be to develop and create feeling of • Ownership & involvement • Dedication • Commitment • Service attitude • Courtesy and warmth • Belongingness • High standard of training and development, • Career progression • Professionalism • Empowerment and perceived value for money • Developing a service attitude, which plays major role in delivering quality service to guest. Present scenario in Hotel Industry: • More demand and less supply • High attrition rate • Non professional professional courses • Inefficient hiring system • Hiring without proper screening • JD are not informed properly • Lack of knowledge about reality of job • Minimum wage employment • No formal training programme in hotel. • A worker who want to go ahead may have to quit and go some where else. But can not rise in the same organization due to various compulsions. On the job training – many hotels prefer to give on the job training rather than special coaching classes/ tutorial by training cell. It is cheapest but most traumatic for employees. Many receives inadequate training leading to mistakes resulting in discouragement & demotivation. Thus leaving the job. If they have a proper designed training programme to develop this abundant labour force, they can become best work force for the Hospitality Industry. We should concentrate more on this factor as this industry involves relationship & provides so much contact between employees and customers which is not in any other industry. RECCOMMENDATION Training and HR department should be manned with sufficient / required number of staff This dept shouldn,t be neglected or treated as record keeping and payroll maintaining department. Productivity and Efficiency depends upon quality of people we have. Therefore Organisation should pay more attention to this department.