Front Office Operations Management (Distinction Criteria)

This report discusses the role and function of front office management, analysing guest experience with front office operations, and how front office operations manage service quality delivery with respect to Premier Inn hotel. It covers topics such as front office operational functions, use of technology, interdepartmental communication, reservation process, revenue management techniques, and more.

OFFICE OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................3
P1: Front office operational functions within organisations.......................................................3
P2: Use of technology for enhancement of guests experience by front office operations..........4
P3: Importance of interdepartmental communication between front office and other
departments of organisations.......................................................................................................4
M1. Critically evaluating the communication process in between housekeeping and the front
office in ensuring satisfaction of guests within a specific accommodation organisation...........5
D1. Recommendations to improve front desk operations...........................................................5
P4: Reservation process in a range of different accommodation organisations..........................6
P5: Importance involved with forecasting of room availability and room revenue for front
office operators............................................................................................................................6
P6: Application of revenue management techniques and their importance................................7
M2 Analyse the role of the Internet plays within the reservation process for a range of
different accommodation organisations......................................................................................7
M3 Yield Management techniques.............................................................................................8
P7: Front office operations in four stages...................................................................................8
P8: Role of technology in enhancement of guest experience.....................................................9
D2. Recommendation for improving relationship for front office operations............................9
P9: Enhancement of quality service and then application of quality service model.................10
D3. Recommendations for filling the gaps of quality service...................................................11
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Front office management refers to those management of the organisation which manages the
staff of the company and directly interacted with the clients of the organisation. It is one of the
important department of the organisation which deals with the customers so it is important for
the managers of the organisation to make this department one of the attractive part of the
organisation. The organisation which is chosen here demonstrate this report is Premier Inn hotel.
This report is developed to provide the role and function of the front office management and
analysation of the guest experience with the front office operations and to know how front office
operations manages the quality of service delivery with respect to premier Inn hotel.
MAIN BODY
TASK
P1: Front office operational functions within organisations
The responsibility in various accommodation organisations is of front office operations for
handling complaints of guests, answering queries and other information while maintaining
healthy relations(Barnes, 2018). For providing effective services to their customers is yet another
function. These various functions played by front officer operator of Premier Inn are explained
as follows:
Registrating guests: Front office operations of Premier Inn have to conduct registration of all its
guests with all their related activities. these can be check in, prices of rates, their welcoming and
all other related services for them.
Preparing and maintaining guests records: With this function come the responsibility of
creating as well as maintaining profiles, their feedback, solutions to their issues and all the
records related to guests(Cain, 2018). These all activities are done to provide best services to
them in Premier Inn.
Exchange of foreign income and services: As there is a direct connection with accounting and
financial departments, front office operations of Premier Inn is also responsible for taking
collection from guests as these are service charges and also providing them foreign exchange
services.

P2: Use of technology for enhancement of guests experience by front office operations
The first one to interact with all guests is the front office operation management to provide
effective and great services to them. This is mainly done to enhance customer experience within
hotel premises(Camarena Gil, 2019). For more effective services, Premier Inn uses various
technologies. These are explained as follows:
Check-In: Front office operation uses this customised technology. This will help in their check-
in duties related to their room reservations and availability and other related things. This
provides real time information, facilitating efficiency thus reducing their waiting time to their
guests.
Cloud based property management system: It is user friendly as well as user friendly
technology that helps in simplifying and facilitating business operations without the involvement
of people. This will help Premier Inn’s front office operations with the maintenance of their
check ins and check outs detailing and their customised booking of their all guests and their other
records.
P3: Importance of interdepartmental communication between front office and other
departments of organisations
Mutual trust and sense of belonging among staff members and employees with each other and
guests are built by healthy and clear communication (Chiarini and Gabberi, 2022). The
importance of interdepartmental communication is discussed below:
Avoiding conflicts and pointing: With the transparency in working and operating between front
office and all other departments, increases productivity and operating efficiency of every
department. With any miscommunication at any point results in conflicting and finger pointing
among all various departments. Regular communication should be there to avoid future conflicts
in hotel Premier Inn.
Trust building between teams: With effective, proper and clear communication in between
front office and other departments, results in increase in trust building within company. With
delivering of accurate communication, there is accurate information and thus this reduces the
further chances of fast checking steps which will bring down productivity. Front office are the

ones who provide information to other departments within organisation and thus organisation is
reliable on them for improvement in the operational efficiency.
Better customer services: Good interpersonal communication and relations builds customers for
organisation. Customer service depends on interpersonal communication. Customers can be
attended properly, when departments in organisation are very efficient in sharing and passing of
information(Choi, et. al. 2021). The staff and all employees of Premier Inn should effectively
communicate in various departments as it will reduce the chances of overlapping of information
and it will also maintain regular flow of information.
M1. Critically evaluating the communication process in between housekeeping and the
front office in ensuring satisfaction of guests within a specific accommodation
organisation
The presence of communication between the housekeeping and the front office management is
one of the important matter in the hospitality organisation. One of the valuable reason for this is
that the information related to the arrival and departure of the clients are present with the front
office management so they have to inform the house keeping to ready the room after the
departure and arrival of the new client in the organisation(Garner, 2021). There are also some
important guests are arrived in the hotel so it becomes essential for the hotel to provide them top
class services so that it becomes positive for them to provide them world class services. These
information are delivered between the departments with the helps of effective communication.
D1. Recommendations to improve front desk operations
front desk staff refers to those staff of the organisation which established the contact with the
client in very first manner. It is one of the important department of the organisation so it becomes
important to provide valid recommendations which are given below:
 It is recommended to the front desk staff that their uniforms are placed in effective
manner which looks attractive.
 It is recommended to the front office staff that they have effective communication skills
which helps them to establish good interaction with the client.

P4: Reservation process in a range of different accommodation organisations
Reservation process in different accommodations can be explained in the following:
Apartments: There are various steps involved with the reservation process of apartments
(Greasley, 2019). They are making an enquiry about the type of apartment a person is wanting,
its location and all and then choosing an accommodation which will fulfil customer's terms and
conditions, in the last step completion of booking process with completion of all needed
documents.
Hostels: Reservation process of hostels has these steps involved and they commence with
identification of particular hostel, hostel providing services accordingly with needs of customers,
analyses of rules and regulations of that , request of reservation with some advance fees and at
the final stage, confirmation and acceptance from owner of that hostel.
Hotels: The reservation process of hotels involves six major steps within it. These are
identification of a particular hotel, communication and proper enquiry with hotel, reservation
request, reservation acceptance, confirmation and finally pre-arrival activity.
Holiday Homes: Holiday homes can be booked from online process also. This includes
following up of these steps, with visiting to website, check availability, selecting of guest
accommodation, requesting of booking from date of checking in to checking out, submission of
all details and final step with making payments with booking receipt.
P5: Importance involved with forecasting of room availability and room revenue for front
office operators
Availability of rooms and their accurate forecasting helps front office managers and operators to
manage reservation process effectively, leading to great management of rooms (Mazzarol and
Reboud, 2020). The importance of room forecasting includes various points, they are as follows:
Marketing strategy: Room forecasting helps in execution of hotel marketing strategy by
Premier Inn. As the prime key is to activate sales and increase profits and marketing initiatives
and to create demands. On the basis of room availability, hotels do identify targeted marketing
segments from market.
Forecasting of finances: The financial controller needs data from room revenues and profits for
understanding cash flows and all other multiple expenses needs to be analysed, in Premier Inn.

With the help of forecasting of room availability is compared with budget of hotels and
deviations are also tracked.
Decision about staffing: Availability of rooms in a hotel helps forecasting in staffing as less
staff is requires if there is more room availability and less room availability will need more staff
for management (McManus, Winroth and Angelis, 2019). Premier Inn should use room
availability forecasting in hiring process of staff for their hotel.
P6: Application of revenue management techniques and their importance
Revenue management can be known as a crucial and important method or concept used in
enhancement and optimising financial results be it profit or loss but it is used for maximising
revenue. In simple and clear words it can be said that providing right hotel room to right
customer at the very right time and even at the right price with use of right channel having better
cost efficiency. Premier Inn can opt for these following best revenue management strategies to
increase their profit horizon:
Understanding market: Market analysis is important and necessary for attracting customers by
use of effective strategies. Premier Inn needs to understand its customer need as various
customers are from different backgrounds, traditions and beliefs so it becomes necessary for the
hotels to understand their needs and then to satisfy their needs and wants. Once the hotel is
having the proper knowledge of market, it can serve better customer experience to its guests.
Strategic forecasting: With the dynamic nature of business world, it is needed to forecast future
strategies and policies, so that negative factors have no impact on its operations(Szende, Dalton
and Yoo, 2021). In seasons, hotels should prepare for their adjustments of services, staff
availability as its main example.
Operating with other departments:
M2 Analyse the role of the Internet plays within the reservation process for a range of
different accommodation organisations
Internet has played dominant role in the reservation process of the hotel organisation. There are
different types of features are present in internet which completely changes the working of the
hotels. One of the great advantage of internet in reservation is that the visitor can book the hotel

for stay while sitting away from the hotel. The turnover of the clients are increased by the huge
number which makes the hotel to earn huge profits from the market.
M3 Yield Management techniques
It is one of the important and valuable technique of the management under which the managers
has used the past data for the management of the future (Torlak, Demir and Budur, 2019). This
technique are useful for the hotel management because the managers has used past data figures
to evaluate the unavailability of the rooms so that they can offer them in discount. This
management technique can also be used by the managers to forecast the future bookings of the
hotel.
P7: Front office operations in four stages
Behind the success of any hotel, there is an important role that front office has played. They
provide better guest experience to their customers so that they stay longer by maintaining healthy
relations. The four stages are as follows:
Pre arrival: Various activities are performed by front office employees in pre arrival of guests.
They accept reservations and provide guests with their confirmation messages after confirming
the bookings in hotel. They also initiate pickup request from their guests and draft them their pre
arrival letters.
Arrival: With arrival of guests at hotel, front desk officers confirms booking and assign the
room keys to the respective guests. Moreover they send their bags and luggage to their guests in
their respective rooms also.
Occupancy: After assignment of rooms and issuing of keys, the hotel officers try to serve their
guests with their best services. The front office operators also manage their calls and they also
provide them with immediate services if any situation arises.
Departure: When the departure time arrives of the guest, it’s the responsibility of front office
operators to settle their bills and take keys of the rooms from the guests. They even take
feedback from their guests and even ask for any suggestions if they need any improvements for
enhancing or betterment for their services. Finally at the very, they also provide thanks letter to
their guests and wish goodbyes and great wishes to the departing customers.

P8: Role of technology in enhancement of guest experience
Technology has the best ability for enhancement of customer experience. Premier Inn provides
their customers with availability of television sets in their rooms for entertainment, guests can
even avail the facilities of ordering food with tablets that are present in their room. These are
done to enhance customer experiences with Premier Inn. Hotels also provide with voice
assistance based gadgets and appliances that will help guest in easing their operating these
appliances. Technology has a great impact on guest experience(Triche and Flamm, 2018). This
experience starts from the moment guests arrive in hotels and they take overview of in person or
on their cell phones and then can choose according to their needs, wants as well as budget. Very
attractive and eye catchy facilities are shown and focused on their websites that influence the
decision of guests.
Technological advanced gadgets and appliances enhance guest experience in these hotels.
They can even order food and other things from these gadgets that is tablets or mobile phones.
Hotel management software provides great and better services to their customers.
M4. Role of technology in enhancing customer experience
Technological advancement is one of most important factor which changes the complete process
of the organisation. There are new and advance technology are developed in the market which
helps the company to increase and improve the experience of the client. Online payment,
booking are one of the example of technology which increases the guest experience in the hotel.
D2. Recommendation for improving relationship for front office operations
 It is recommended to the front office operations that they becomes proactive so that the
experience of the customers becomes improves in the organisation.
 It is recommended to the front office staff of the organisation that they provide attractive
and beautiful gestures to the client while arriving in the hotel.
 It is recommended to the hotel that they actively listen all the queries and suggestions of
the clients which are having extensive important for the success of the organisation.

P9: Enhancement of quality service and then application of quality service model
In hospitality industry, it is important to know how to deal with any situations or any
contingencies that can occur. How to respond in a very critical situation is important to be
known by front office operators. In order to enhance quality of front desk offices, there as some
suggestions for that and these are as follows:
Treating every guest as VIP: It is the first key recommendation in which every hotel front
desk staff should treat their guest as VIP as this marks a great impression on hotel’s name. It
makes that thing memorable and even has a positive impact on the guest mind and also creates a
favourable image of the hotel at both national and international grounds.
Conducting training sessions: Training is not a one time activity as it provides chance of
learning to employees, it is important to conduct regular training sessions in order to improve
quality and operating along with functioning of entire hotel staff. Training helps the staff in
knowing and understanding of dealing with certain uncertainties that can arise in future and can
provide any results to the hotel revenues and the owners.
Providing personalized service experience to its customers: It is not necessary that every
customer gets the same service and that can be due to many reasons such as time, season, prices,
budgets and many other. There is always change in preferences and customers who are having
different background, taste and preferences so it is important to treat every guest in a
personalized manner and according to their needs and demands(Villa, 2021). This helps in
enhancing the customer experience and it is the responsibility of front desk staff to identify these
needs and preferences and based too also on that personalized service is to be rendered.
In order to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of quality service and other operations of
front desk staff, Premier Inn uses service quality model that is used to describe the ways by
which effectiveness of quality can be measured. This model is based on the desired outcomes
and the current performance and the difference are the gaps which are needed to filled so that the
quality of front office can be enhanced.
M5. Role of Front office that affects guest experience
Front office management is one of the most important and valuable management of the
organisation which enables the organisation to improve the guest experience in the organisation.

There are number of organisation are present in the market which are having effective and
valuable front office which provide effective services to the customers(Williams, 2018). They
should inform about the key features of the company for which they are well known for. The
front staff should present themselves as they are eager and happy to serve their guest as it reflects
the happiness of having such a valuable customer
D3. Recommendations for filling the gaps of quality service
There are different types of gapes are present in the organisation which are having specialised
importance in the organisation. One of the most important gap of the organisation is the gap
between customer and management of the organisation. One of the reason for this gap is due to
the wrong perception of the customer towards the needs of the society. For example- the hotel
management thought customer want better food but the customer's perception is getting the
cleanliness and hygienic room.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from this report that it is very important for the organisation to make the front
office management a one of the most attractive management of their organisation because it is
the face of the organisation. The role and the importance of the front office management are
concluded in this report.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Garner, J., 2021. Third Party Risk Management and Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management.
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Greasley, A., 2019. Absolute Essentials of Operations Management. Routledge.
Mazzarol, T. and Reboud, S., 2020. Operations Management. In Small Business Management
(pp. 277-317). Springer, Singapore.
McManus, J., Winroth, M. and Angelis, J., 2019. Service operations management: A strategic
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customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions at café-restaurants. International
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Operations Management Education, 6(3-4), pp.201-210.
Villa, S., 2021. Operations Management for Healthcare Organizations: Theory, Models and
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Williams, A., 2018. Integrations of Management Information Systems and The Division of Labor
in Apparel Retail Operations.