MCAST University: Soft Skills within Hospitality Assignment Solution

This assignment solution explores the application of soft skills within the hospitality industry, using scenarios from the 'Wanderlust' hotel. The solution analyzes the importance of communication, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills in managing customer complaints, recruiting staff, and employee training. It examines how front office managers and other staff members can use these skills to improve customer satisfaction and business performance. The assignment also includes a group interview scenario for recruiting food and beverage staff, emphasizing the need for effective responses to customer issues. Furthermore, it highlights the need for training programs to improve employee knowledge and skills, ultimately enhancing customer experiences and maintaining a competitive edge. References from academic sources support the arguments presented throughout the assignment.

Soft skills within hospitality
4/3/2020

Management 1
Contents
Question 1:.......................................................................................................................................2
Question 2:.......................................................................................................................................3
Question 3:.......................................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................6

Management 2
Question 1:
a) Being the front office manager of the Wanderlust hotel, as per my knowledge about the
soft skills, the first receptionist dealt with the situation in the best possible way. The
reason behind this is that she was calm and carries a positive attitude of solving the guest
complaint (Weber, Lee & Crawford, 2020).
b) The soft skills that are being shown by the employee of the Hotel are Communication
skills, problem-solving skills and interpersonal skills to deal with the situation in the best
way.
 Communication skills: - The verbal communication is important soft skills that
include the ability to speak clearly and concisely which is present in receptionist.
Also, the activity listening which is key to soft skills is applied to listen to the
problem of guests in an effective manner (Crawford & Weber, 2016).
 Problem-solving skills: - The soft skills include problem-solving skills which
make the employees resolve the problems faced by the guest. Receptionist
applied this soft skill which is important to make the guest happy for which she
checked the booking system and also talked to the superiors and other
receptionist to provide the guest with refund and compensate for the problem.
 Interpersonal skills: - The interpersonal skill is a soft skill which is essential to
build and maintain the relationship with the guest. This relationship is the only
way through which the client gets satisfied and they would like to visit again
(Naik & Kanade, 2019).

Management 3
c) The range of these soft skills affects the business of the hotel. The business will be able to
improve the performance of the hotel as the employees will help in satisfying the
maximum customers who will bring improvement in sales and revenue. The adoption of
the range of soft skills helps the personnel to be confident and enhance their performance
which makes the hotel to stand out and make the position against their competitors
(Rathore, 2017).
d) In this case, the other receptionist affects the business negatively with the lack of soft
skills. The receptionist listened to the company but there was a lack of problem-solving
skills as she reverted to get adjust with the services that were actually not demanded by
the guest. The guests were not happy as they didn’t get the issue checked with the
supervisors and other staff members.
Question 2:
a) Being the manager, it is essential to recruit food and beverage services and bartenders.
The group interviewees who appeared during the group interview will get the situation
from the manger which might be related to the customer problem and then an effective
answer to deal that situation by using the maximum soft skill will be effective in deciding
the right person for the hotel. In the group interview, there will be an examination of the
skills and experience of the person. One of the scenarios that can be developed within the
restaurant includes that one customer ordered the food and beverages but was not happy.
The customer complained to food and beverage service provider or bartender in which
they said that the food is not hot and beverages quality is not fine with this they are not
liking the taste. They are not happy with the services as they got late order and that was

Management 4
not as per their expectation. On this manager can seek for revert by bartenders or service
provider by applying their skills.
b) According to the best solution, it would be expected that interviewees should deal with
the situation and solve it. The staff would be active listening and should listen to the
entire problem faced by the customer. At that point time, the staff would apologise to the
customer and would have assured that they look towards the complaint and come back
with the positive revert on it. On the immediate basis, the staffs need to discuss the case
to the manager and provided resolution by giving them the fresh order with quality and
complementary in the form of other beverages with different brands that might improve
the experience of the customers (Xu, Martinez & Smith, 2020). However, in this case, if
the customer doesn’t want to avail the service at that point then they should provide the
discount for next time.
c) It would be the best answer for the case study in terms of the hotel’s business as their
motive is to provide the customer with the best service which improves the image of the
business. One negative opinion of the customer might affect the visit of 10 new
customers. By providing a solution to the customer, the hotel ‘Wanderlust’ will show that
they care for their customers and not only they listen but also to provide them with proper
resolution. Moreover, the employee’s reputation in the hotel is also considered as they
applied all their skills to get the best resolution for the customers who mean that they
have same goals (Crawford & Weber, 2016).

Management 5
Question 3:
a) It is a fact that the new employee will need some training within the hotel. The analysis
related to the need for training is vital before developing a training programme. This
analysis will provide what all hotels include to include in their training programme
because this is the way through which the employees will be able to enhance their
knowledge and skills. The need analysis will help the hotel to divide the training based on
the operational and personal level which will improve the productivity of the company
(Prashanti, 2018).
b) The hospitality industry will provide the benefit from the good training as it will
contribute in appraising the skills and knowledge of the employees which will help the
business to improve the productivity and improve the experience of the customers. It will
also allow the business to stay competitive and give tough competition to the competitors
(DeGoias, Cruz & Freilich, 2019). The good training will improve the customer
experience within the hospitality industry.

Management 6
References
Crawford, A., & Weber, M. (2016). Developing soft skills for future hospitality leaders: A case
study.
DeGoias, E., Cruz, L., & Freilich, E. (2019). Meeting the need: The Hospitality Training
Program of the Palm Beaches. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 50(3), 347-351.
Naik, N. K. K., & Kanade, S. R. (2019). Hrm In Hospitality Industry: An Overview. Advance
and Innovative Research, 136.
Prashanti, J. (2018). Hospitality management institutes-the skills training industry
perspective. Journal of Services Research, 18(2).
Rathore, P. S. (2017). Significance of training and hospitality skills for hotel
employees. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research
(IJEMR), 7(3), 53-56.
Weber, M. R., Lee, J., & Crawford, A. (2020). A suggested best practices for enhancing
performance of soft skills with entry-level hospitality managers. Anatolia, 31(1), 76-87.
Xu, S., Martinez, L., & Smith, N. A. (2020). The effects of attractiveness, gender and self-esteem
in service jobs. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.