Operational Roles, Skills Gaps in the Marriott Hospitality Industry

This report delves into the contemporary hospitality industry, focusing on Marriott as a case study. It begins with an introduction to the industry and Marriott's operational structure, including accommodation services, front-house service, sales and marketing, and food and beverage divisions. The report then examines the skills required for various roles within Marriott, such as decision-making, problem-solving, and team-handling skills. It also identifies and reviews the skills gaps present in the industry, including those related to information technology, communication, training, and motivation. The analysis further explores the impact of these skills gaps on hospitality businesses, with a particular emphasis on how these deficiencies can affect a trainee's ability to solve problems, maintain relationships, and motivate employees, ultimately impacting profitability and brand reputation. The report concludes by reiterating the importance of the hospitality sector and the need for continuous improvement in skills to attract customers and ensure business success.

The Contemporary
Hospitality Industry

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
Covered in Poster...................................................................................................................1
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................1
P4. Investigating range of different operational roles within Marriott...................................1
P5. Examining skills required for roles within Marriott.........................................................2
M3. Reviewing skills gaps within hospitality industry in relation to a range of different
operational roles.....................................................................................................................3
D2. Analysing impacts that skills gaps have on hospitality business.....................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality industry is a term that refers to a broad category of fields that is available
within service sector. This service industry includes lodging, event planning, theme parks,
transportation and some additional fields within tourism business. Thus, it has made up 127000
properties and employs around 1.6 million people across world. In this report, Marriott has been
taken into consideration which is an American multinational diversified hospitality company that
is basically headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland in Washington, D.C. In the following report,
range of operational roles within Marriott will be discussed along with skills required to perform
these roles. Also, the skills gaps will be reviewed and their impact on business will be analysed.
LO 1
Covered in Poster
LO 2
P4. Investigating range of different operational roles within Marriott
Marriott is one of the leading organisations in hospitality industry. It has adopted various
functions in hotel that includes following-
 Accommodation services- Accommodation services is very important in Marriott. The
main role of this department is to offer friendly and helpful advice in terms of housing.
This helps person or guests in order to find such place that may be suitable for targeted
customers and also provides various other important information that is required. Marriott
must look after the services that is being offered by them to their guest as if they are
meeting actual expectations of customers (Dopson and Hayes, 2016).
 Front house service- This department also plays significant role in attracting huge
volume of guests towards a particular brand. It refers to as a physical area of business
where customers are being served. Front house department includes receptions,
reservations of a room cleaning etc. this services must be delegated in proper manner to
customers as it is termed as first impression in Marriott.
 Sales and marketing division in Marriott- This department of Marriott plays role in
promoting business or brand in adequate manner. Thus, manager of this department must
look after advertisement and promotion practices and make it creative so that it may help
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them in attracting large number of customers towards Marriott. They must ensure that all
information about products and services that is offered by them is provided to them in
appropriate manner.
 Food and beverages division- this is one of the largest division in Marriott. Thus,
manager of this department plays role of forecasting, planning and also of controlling
orders of foods and drinks that has been placed by customers of Marriott. In addition to
this, managers of this department must provide staffs with proper and adequate
knowledge and skills that is required to conduct smooth functioning of a business. This
will lead cited brand to pull maximum number of customers towards brand.
P5. Examining skills required for roles within Marriott and current skills shortages
To perform roles in Marriott and functional department, there are various skills that are
required by them to achieve long term success and high profitability (Sun and Lee, 2018). Some
of them has been discussed as per below context-
 Decision making skills- This is one of the most important skill that has to be built
between employees that are involved in Marriott. Marriott will have to structure their
organisation in such way so that it becomes easily possible for me to make the best
decision for success of a particular business. Thus, these skills leads manager in order to
take various responsibilities towards him and fulfil various needs of an organisation. In
addition to this, it will also help cited company to identify needs and wants of customers
easily and fulfil me accordingly without any trouble.
 Problem solving skills- Having this skill is also equally important for Marriott in order
to maintain relation between members and also with customers. This will lead me in
finding possible solutions for problems related to customers or employees.
 Team handling skills- handling of a particular team becomes very much essential for
Marriott. This helps me in making all members that are available in a team to share their
views and ideas and also treat me in equal manner. This will make members feel that they
are valued and put their extreme effort towards a particular task.
Skills shortage
Skills I have Skills required
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I have high level of communication skills that
help me in communicating with variety of
people in easy and smooth manner.
Marriott requires problem solving skills so that
they can easily solve any queries related to
products and services.
I also have information technology skill that
helps me in researching on trends in different
markets.
They have team handling skills that may help
them in higher extent to manage team and
make them work as per needs and wants of
customers.
I have high level of time management skills.
This helps me in managing my work on time
and also assist me in meeting every deadline
that has been decided.
Motivation is required in order to make
employees interest in order perform particular
work.
M3. Reviewing skills gaps within hospitality industry in relation to a range of different
operational roles
The skill gaps within Marriott in relation to different operational roles is due to various
reasons which has been discussed as per below context-
Information technology skills- This will help me in production manager role as it leads
in conducting research on various markets that are available in hospitality industry (What Exactly
is the Hospitality Industry?, 2017). It will also lead in finding out the trends of a particular
market in smooth and easy way. Thus, this plays very essential role in Marriott hotel as it may
help them to identify and meet the requirements of customers. This will lead them in achieving
long term success and high profitability.
Communication skills- This will help in order to know the views and ideas of every
member and also customers by communicating with them in an easy manner. Lack of these skills
has affected Marriott and it is required to tackle it. This will help production manager in
achieving good relationship with customers.
Inappropriate training- Marriott must ensure that staffs that are involved with them are
getting appropriate training (Tsai, Dev and Chintagunta, 2015). They must get training in such a
way that they build a positive impression in front of customers from their entry till they leave
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hotel premises. If there is inappropriate training in Marriott, then workers will not get actual
knowledge that is necessary in this type of business and this may lead to loss.
Lack of motivation- Marriott must also try to ensure that all requirements and desires are
being fulfilled. Further, they should also take time in knowing that interest is being built among
staffs to reach certain targets. In addition to this, managers of Marriott may adopt reward system
strategy with employees by awarding them with incentives. This will lead in motivating
employees and make them give their complete efforts in a particular task allocated to them. This
will affect me in motivating staff to perform their task and may affect the working environment
of a particular organisation.
D2. Analysing impacts that skills gaps have on hospitality businesses
Skills gaps has a huge impact on Marriott. Thus, being the trainee in Marriott, my skills
related to problem solving may affected Marriott to large extent (Skill Gap, 2018). I have lack of
problem solving skills. This would have affected my followers as I won’t be able to provide
effective solutions to their problems. For this I would have to consult a trainer so that I can
further train my followers in effective and appropriate manner. Training helps me in building my
skill related to problem solving to a large extent. This also helps me in order to build interest of
staffs in a particular work that may further leads in achieving long term success and huge
profitability. This in turn leads me in building brand image and increasing reputation of a
particular brand. This skill gaps will affect hotel in maintaining relationship and motivating
employees. This will later affect profitability and productivirty and company may result with
huge loss.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that hospitality industry is one of the most
important sectors for boosting the economy. It has also been analysed that it is one of the fastest
growing industries in the whole world. Further, it has also been discussed that there is
requirement of various skills in order to perform business in a successful manner and also to
attract a large number of customers. In addition to this, assignment also states that Marriott helps
in increasing the growth of economy to national, regional and international level. There are
various departments involved in Marriott in which different functions have to be performed in an
appropriate manner that later leads hotel in achieving huge profits and loyal customer base.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Dopson, L.R. and Hayes, D.K., 2016. Managerial accounting for the hospitality industry. Wiley
Global Education.
Jauhari, V. and Bharwani, S., 2017. An exploratory study of competencies required to cocreate
memorable customer experiences in the hospitality industry. In Hospitality Marketing
and Consumer Behavior (pp. 159-185). Apple Academic Press.
Jones, P., Hillier, D. and Comfort, D., 2016. Sustainability in the hospitality industry: Some
personal reflections on corporate challenges and research agendas. International Journal
of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 28(1). pp.36-67.
Kandampully, J., Zhang, T. and Bilgihan, A., 2015. Customer loyalty: a review and future
directions with a special focus on the hospitality industry. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management. 27(3). pp.379-414.
Sun, K.A. and Lee, S., 2018. Competitive advantages of franchising firms and the moderating
role of organizational characteristics: Evidence from the restaurant industry. International
Journal of Hospitality Management.
Sun, K.A. and Lee, S., 2018. Effects of franchising on industry competition: The moderating role
of the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 68. pp.80-
88.
Tsai, Y.L., Dev, C.S. and Chintagunta, P., 2015. What’s in a brand name? Assessing the impact
of rebranding in the hospitality industry. Journal of Marketing Research. 52(6). pp.865-
878.
Online
Skill Gap. 2018. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.mbaskool.com/business-concepts/human-resources-hr-terms/2134-skill-
gap.html>
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What Exactly is the Hospitality Industry?. 2017. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.besthospitalitydegrees.com/faq/what-exactly-is-the-hospitality-industry/>
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