Reflective Essay: Analyzing Hilton Hotel's Service Flowcharts

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Hilton Hotel's service operations, focusing on the development and significance of front and back stage flowcharts. The essay delves into the importance of service encounters, examining how interactions between the hotel and its customers impact service delivery and customer satisfaction. It also explores the managerial implications of these flowcharts and service encounters, discussing how Hilton can optimize its operations, resource allocation, and employee training to meet customer expectations and maintain its brand reputation. The analysis includes observations of how Hilton manages its services through direct, indirect, and remote interactions, and recommends the use of flowcharts for efficient management and improved service levels. The essay also provides an example of a customer interaction to illustrate the practical application of the concepts discussed. The essay concludes with recommendations for Hilton to use flowcharts for front and back operations and use management and use direct, indirect, and remote interaction as well as management approach in executing the operations effectively.

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Reflective Marketing Relation

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Executive summary
The essay was developed with an aim to understand the importance of front stage and back
stage flow chart in the context of the service organization like Hilton. For this purpose, the
flowchart is prepared and the significance of service encounter was also analyzed along with
the managerial implication. It was found that the flowchart are beneficial in manage the
services and information related to them efficiently in accordance with the international
standards of Hotel industry and satisfying the needs of the customers in an efficient manner.
It can be concluded that service encounter and managerial implications are beneficial
effective in addressing the customer needs and manage the service level in accordance to
them. It can be recommended that Hilton shall use flow charts for front and back operations
and use management and use direct, indirect, and remote interaction as well as management
approach in executing the operations effectively.

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Table of Contents
Executive summary....................................................................................................................2
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Flowchart....................................................................................................................................5
Flow chart for front stage:......................................................................................................5
Flow chart for back stage.......................................................................................................6
Explanation of the service encounter significance.....................................................................7
Managerial implication:.............................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
In a service organization the major functions and operations are performed by coordinating
between the departments of front as well as back stage which are engaged in developing and
delivering the services and products in accordance with the need of customers and visitors.
The essay is focused on analyzing the service flow chart for both the front and backstage
service of Hilton Hotel. The essay also discusses the significance of encountered services. In
addition to this, the managerial implication in regard to the service flowchart for different
scenarios is also analyzed. Moreover, the information related to planning the flow of services
is also drafted in the essay.

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Flowchart
A service flowchart is a graphical representation formally created to showcase a logical
sequence of work and process of manufacturing or represents an organization chart or a
similar structure which is formally created. It is developed and designed in accordance with
the standard of services, visitor’s or customer’s expectation, culture within and outside the
organization, and the service quality of the competitors. The understanding of customer
needs, offering process, limitation analysis, and the required cost for managing the standard
and quality in the operating industry is referred to as services. It is significant for the big
organizations like Hilton hotel to establish a service flowchart for the front and back stage
operations which is well designed and organized so that the developing process and
information delivery can be maintained in a better way. Developing the service flowchart for
Hilton Hotel is also beneficial for the organization in maintain its services and products as
well so that the objectives of internal business can be met with more professionalism and in
an efficient manner (Xie, et al., 2013).
Flow chart for front stage:
The flowchart for front stage is used by the Hilton Hotel to manage the services and
information related to them efficiently in accordance with the international standards of Hotel
industry and satisfying the needs of the customers in an efficient manner. As per my
observation, the front stage operations of service organization majorly includes building
interaction with visitors and customers for the collection of details related to them such as
personal details and their preferred choice for the room and avail services offered by the
hotel. Additionally, the flow chart for front stage operations of Hilton includes reserving
rooms for customers, recording details of the check-in, planning for the waiting area,
handling operation of the rooms, and recording the details of check-out when the customers
leaves the hotel (Bowie and Buttle, 2013). All such operations are handled by the department
of front stage of Hilton hotel. To be particular, I have been assigned the role of supervising
and assisting the customers in relation to the services and products offered by the Hotel. For
instance, it is my duty to supervise whether the member of front office of Hilton are
performing their work in accordance with the set standard and process for meeting the
professional and personal objectives. Moreover, if any staff member face any kind of
difficulty related to the operation of the front stage then I am liable to address the issue and
provide suitable solution to them. For instance, there was a customer named Jeremy who
visited the hotel last week. On his arrival, the system software was not working properly so
the staff member was not able to put his check-in details so I suggested him to make the
manual entry in the hotel register and update the same when the system software starts
working.

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Figure 1: Flow chart of front stage
As per the above flow chart, decisions are made by Hilton based on the details and
information provided by each customers to the front stage. According to the information, the
departments operating in the backstage are directed to develop the products and services.
With the help of this type of process and flow chart the management of Hilton hotel is able to
arrange the required resources and significant level of activities are maintained as per the
expectation of the customers.
Flow chart for back stage
As Hilton is a service organization, the process of backstage plays a significant role in
performing the task and operations internal to the organization. Hilton hotel performs
different kind of operations and services which are accomplished by the department of back
stage. AS per my work experience in the Hilton hotel I observed that these services includes
receiving phone calls, responding to the mails by attaching relevant information to it and
filing the information in the hotel documents properly. In addition to this, the flow chart of
back stage operation suggest that housekeeping, cleaning, and activities related to post
operations also have a significant role in maintaining the standard of the services offered by
the hotel. The management of the hotel proposes the plan of actions which is implemented by
making use of the information given by the department of front office (Rummler and Brache,
2012). Both front office and back office performs the operations of Hilton hotel with mutual
coordination as without coordination the activities will be mismanaged and the organizational
objectives could be achieved efficiently and effectively. Moreover, the flow chart of back
stage is flexible as changes can be made by the top management in the organizational
activities so that the expectation of the customers can be met timely. For instance, more
number of staff can be appointed in the cleaning and housekeeping process in the seasonal
time so that the customers do not have to wait much.

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Figure 2: Flow chart of back stage
Explanation of the service encounter significance
Hilton hotel is a service organization the business of which is operating in the industry of
hospitality at international level. There is great need for the hotel to maintain the quality and
standard in the products and services offered by them so that the position of organization can
be sustained in the industry. The organization attains a competitive edge with the efficient
working of management in anticipating the needs of the customers and analyzing the exiting
and upcoming trends in the industry and accordingly making improvements in the
encountered services (Maister, 2012). More importantly, the interaction between the
organization and the customers plays a significant role in addressing the needs of the
customers and process the delivery of services with a set standard and as per the expectation
of the customers. In this process, encounter of many forms are involved top management and
employees of the organization. Hilton being a service organization faces encounter of three
types which includes remote, direct, and indirect encounters. The decisions related to the
process of resource arrangement, planning functions, assigning responsibilities and roles to
member of different departments within the organization are taken by the management on the
basis of the encounters undertaken by them. The encounters are also beneficial for the
organization for increasing the efficiency of the operation and achieving the goals of the
organization successfully (Cameron and Whetten, 2013). The services encountered by Hilton
hotel are excellent in terms of delivering the food on time and maintaining a standard and
quality in services such as rooms, spas, gym, and swimming pool. These kinds of services
require high maintenance and Hilton has appointed individual team for each section of the
services offered by them to the customers. There is a separate staff for maintain pool area and
horticulture of the hotel. Likewise, the spas also have trained individuals to provide excellent
massaging and related services to the customers. However, in some cases the management of
the hotel faces issues in encountering the services in professional manner due to unethical
behavior and demands from the customers which are out of the scope of hotel.
In the present situation, direct, indirect, and remote encounters are used by the management
in different operations of the hotel such as management of the services, improving the

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process of delivery, and making plans for the development of products and services in a
better way. As per my observation, there are ample numbers of benefits in using the remote
encounter and Hilton uses it an efficient manner. It includes the use of services like net
banking for receiving payment from the customers as well as providing user friendly
machines such as mini-van for dropping the customers to their rooms. It becomes significant
for the hotel to assure quality in the encountered services as it can be modified, tested, and
customized so that the expectations of the customers can be met effectively (Lovelock and
Patterson, 2015). In addition to this, there is also an involvement of indirect personal
encounters which includes interaction over telephone which has the potential to add more
variability scope for entering in the area of services delivery and aids in avoiding the errors
related to communication and enquiry for the services. Moreover, the indirect encounters are
also given priority by Hilton for addressing personal services and understand the
requirements of potential customers and visitors. In service encounter, the organizations like
Hilton form centric goals by merging the services and people within the organization. The
behaviors of various participants are coordinated and regulations and rules undergo a follow
up so that the security and safety in the service encounter process is maintained with the use
of indirect and remote process (Dove, et al., 2013).
Managerial implication:
Hilton being an organization of the service industry is determined to provide the best possible
services to its customers by the service encounter between the employees and the customers.
The process and interaction level aids in analyzing the expectations of the customers and
evaluating the potential of the management in maintain the effectiveness and quality of the
services with respect to the customer expectation (Mitra, 2016). In my opinion, it is
significant for the organization like Hilton operating in the service industry to interact with
the customers in an effective manner so that their preferences regarding the services can be
understood and accordingly the guidelines for the human resources can be developed thereby
improving the performance of the organization. Encountering the services and effectively
monitoring the process of developing services and operations positively impact the goodwill
and image of the brand as well as the effectiveness of the Hilton’s management. Although
Hilton has successfully maintained its brand value and service quality but due to lacking in
the approach of service encounter, the effectiveness of management is getting hampered. In
order to bridge the gap, the management is required to put more efforts in understanding the
demand and need of the customers (Bacchetti and Saccani, 2012). In addition to this, the
employees shall also communicate effectively with the customers to solve their queries and
become more responsible towards the objectives of the organization and exercise their role
defined by the top management.

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Conclusion
It can be concluded from the essay that the organizations operating in the service industry
such as Hilton is required to develop the flowchart for the front stage and back stage and
implement them in determining the level of services with the organization. Such flowcharts
are also beneficial in meeting the standard of coordination and communication. In addition to
this, the significance of encounter service is also explained in the essay which provides
reasonable knowledge in the area of direct, indirect, and remote interactions with the visitors
and the customers of the hotel.

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References
Xie, K.L. and Chen, C.C. (2013) Progress in loyalty program research: Facts, debates, and
future research, Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 22(5), pp.463-489.
Bowie, D. and Buttle, F. (2013) Hospitality marketing. USA: Taylor & Francis.
Rummler, G.A. and Brache, A.P. (2012) Improving performance: How to manage the white
space on the organization chart. USA: John Wiley & Sons.
Maister, D.H. (2012) Managing the professional service firm. USA: Simon and Schuster.
Cameron, K.S. and Whetten, D.A. eds. (2013) Organizational effectiveness: A comparison of
multiple models. USA: Academic Press.
Lovelock, C. and Patterson, P. (2015) Services marketing. Australia: Pearson.
Mitra, A. (2016) Fundamentals of quality control and improvement. USA: John Wiley &
Sons.
Bacchetti, A. and Saccani, N. (2012) Spare parts classification and demand forecasting for
stock control: Investigating the gap between research and practice, Omega, 40(6), pp.722-
737.