Business Management Project: Staff Performance in Hospitality

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Business Management Project Assessment
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Table of Contents
Introduction 1.............................................................................................................................3
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................4
Task 2.........................................................................................................................................7
Task 3.......................................................................................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
Reference List..........................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
Quantitative research refers to the process of collecting and analysing data in the form of
statistical numbers and calculations. This is done by gathering numerical data and creating
defined statistical measurements to measure the results of the research conducted. The
methods of data collection in quantitative research include conducting surveys through face-
to-face conversations, online surveys, and many other methods. Qualitative research refers
to the technique of research by collecting data based on interviews with individuals and
groups. This allows the researcher to gather data that is based on opinions and trends as per
present in the perceptions of the people related tote topic of research.
In this article, two different published research materials; one qualitative and one quantitative
research articles - have been taken and summarised. A literature review of one of the research
articles is also provided.
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Task 1
Introduction
The chosen quantitative research journal is Assessing Frontline Staff Performance of
Service Delivery in Some Selected Hotels in London that was published in the year 2017.
The aim of this journal details and highlights the assessment of the performance of frontline
staff in providing service delivery in some selected hotels in London.
The background of this article deals with improving the perceptions of the guests of hotels
regarding the service quality, which has now become one of the most important objectives of
businesses operating in the hospitality and tourism sector. In order to achieve the goals of the
hotels, the employees are being given proper training in order to allow them to provide better
services to the customers. The task of the frontline staff in hotels is to deal with the requests
and the grievances of the guests of the hotel. The employees can do so by developing new
and innovative ideas to deal with the issues that the customers have. This has become more
important to the service providers in two and three star hotels in London because the guests
who are residing in the hotels demand high quality service to be provided to them at
affordable prices. This has increased the competition that is present among the hotels of the
area, leading to the hotels recruiting better employees. Front line employees are generally
considered receptionists, cashiers, waiters, and front line attendants and room service
providers.
This article aims to prove the following hypotheses:
 The competency level is required by the hotels when recruiting and hiring new
employees.
 How the performance of the employee effect the businesses in providing quality
services
 Analyse how the guests react to the services provided by the employees of the
customers.
 The strategies the hotels can implement to improve the performances of the
employees to provide better services.
Methodology
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The geographical area for this research is based on London, which is the capital of the UK
and the largest metropolitan city that is present over there. The influx of tourists in that area
has led to the rise of many famous two and three star hotels that have booming business in the
recent years.
The research that is present in this article has been done primarily with quantitative
research. The main source of the information that is gathered in this research has been done
by surveying the guests of the hotels, along with their front line staff members.
Ascertaining the sample size of the research has been difficult for the researchers because all
the hotels that have been included in his research provide similar homogenous services,
making it difficult to get variable data. It was decided that 75 people will be surveyed, that
included the guests of the hotels, the front line staff, and the hotel managers. The personnel
for the survey were chosen randomly.
The research is primarily done using data collection tools like questionnaires, interviews for
qualitative research, and researcher observations. The questionnaires that were prepared are
of three distinct types – one each for the guests, front line staff, and the hotel managers. It
consists of both open and close-ended questions. The respondents were provided with the
questionnaires and were given a period of five days. The researchers then collected the
questionnaires by personally going to them. The first part of the questionnaires contained of
the basic information of the respondents, like their name, age, gender, and more. The second
part constituted of their perception of the service provided by the front line staff.
The collected data has been analysed as per taking into consideration the following aspects
of the research:
 Socio-demographic characteristics of the guests of the hotels
 Department and tenure of the managers of the hotels
 Job, experience, and training of the front line staff
 The frequency of the training provided and the recruitment criteria as per the
managers
 Guests and customer responses on the service provided to them.
Findings and Recommendations
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It can be said from the research that the management of the hotels in London are seeking for
experienced personnel to be the front line staff. The managers also consider capable
candidates with a lot of potential. Most of the guests are not satisfied with the service
provided by the staffs, amounting to 60 percent of the surveyed respondents. 64 percent of
the guests were also regular customers. 68 percent of the guests were also female, with 80
percent of them falling in the 20-30 year old demographic range. 88 percent of the staff
members had previous work experience. 55 Percent of the staff also received some form of
training.
It is recommended that the managers should conduct more training practices to make the
staff more capable and be able to satisfy the customers fully. Reward systems and appraisals
should be introduced to motivate the staff to work harder.
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Task 2
Introduction
The qualitative research journal that is chosen for this report is Employees' Perceptions of
Environmental Impacts of Tourism Activities in Scotland, UK. The article was published
in the year 2018. The aim of the article is to describe the perceptions and ideologies of the
employees on the environmental impacts of tourism activities in Scotland and the other
regions of the UK. The objective of this paper is to emphasise the importance of sustainable
tourism in the area of study, which is explained with a theoretical framework.
This study has a background that deals with the effects of various tourism activities in the
Scotland and other UK areas. The country has a varied and dense wildlife that attracts a lot of
tourists and travellers from abroad. The country has many water resources and many
ecological scenic beauties that are favourites among tourists. Tourists are also attracted to this
place because of many wildlife related activities like camping, hunting, boating, photography,
and many more. The hike in tourism activities have caused the erosion of the natural beauty
of this region, with the wildlife coming under threat. The natural habitat is being more
polluted every day due to tourism. The employees of tourism service providers have also
noticed the downside of heavy tourism in the area, and thus have become the primary study
subjects in this research paper. Rampant hunting has plagued many parts of the UK, including
Scotland. The hunting of sea eagles in Mull has increased dramatically over the last few
years, having an effect on their overall population in the UK.
The hypotheses of this paper are:
 The various factors that are effecting the wildlife and ecological beauty of the country
 The perceptions of the employees in the hospitality and tourism industry
 Steps that can be taken to reduce the negative impacts of tourism
 The positive effects of sustainable tourism
Methodology
Qualitative research was carried out in this research article. Interviews were conducted
face-to-face with the employees of the tourism sector like hotel staff and managers, along
with wildlife experts and other informants. Many famous and old lodges were chosen for this
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research. Old lodges were chosen because the employees of these lodges will be better able to
explain and demonstrate the ecological and wildlife change that is taking place gradually over
time in Scotland. The interviews were conducted on employees who have served the tourism
accommodation service providers. Other participants in this study also include wildlife
experts and informants from the public. The questions that were asked by the interviewers
included:
 How tourism has affected the wildlife and ecological landscape of the country
 Explain the various factors that have played a big role in changing the landscape
 The positive and negative impacts of tourism
 Tourism activities that are affecting the wildlife and ecology
 The types of pollution these activities cause
 Perceptions of the tourists
 What steps can be taken to improve the condition
The research data was analysed using the method of constant comparison. 85 employees were
interviewed with 32 male employees and 53 female employees. 57 percent of the interviewed
staff was in the age group of 21-30 year old.
Findings and Recommendations
As per the research conducted in the paper, it has been found that 80 percent of the tourists
were interested in bird watching, camping, and photography as their main activities, while 50
percent were more involved in boat riding, hill climbing, and hiking. 30 percent of the
tourists were also involved in hunting activities, especially hunting sea eagles. It has also
been found that the hike in tourism activities have occurred due to the reintroduction of
beavers in Scotland. It has been found that the influx of tourist have increased by 23 percent
annually over the last 5 years.
As per the impact of tourism in the country, 41 percent agree that tourism has adversely
affected the wildlife and the beauty of the landscape, with 15 percent strongly agreeing to the
statement. 11 percent of the employees have agreed to the fact that pollution is increasing in
the country due to tourism, with 40 percent strongly agreeing to the fact that tourism is
having negative effects in the ecology of the country.
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It has been recommended that the tourism department of the country should implement
specific measures to curb the effect of pollution and tourism on the wildlife of the country.
Hunting should be banned and the tourist should be always kept under check to prevent any
adverse affects to arise from their activities.
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Task 3
Concept of staff performance
The performance of the staff members of the hospital and tourism sector in the UK is highly
significant to the businesses because the image and the satisfaction of the customers are
dependent on the service provided. In the words of Schreyer et al (2018), this is so because
the hotels provide hospitality services to the tourists, ranging from providing accommodation
services and other facilities the employees are the main individuals who are going to be
involved with the guests. In the works of Naseri et al (2019), the performance of the staff
members in this regard is important, as they are responsible for assisting the customers and
addressing their grievances. Satisfaction of the staff by the hotels and organisations are
important because the levels of performance shown by the employees are dependent on their
levels of satisfaction (Naseri et al., 2019).
Factors affecting staff performance
When the employees are satisfied with their work, they tend to get more productive in their
work, displaying higher levels of performance. In case they are not satisfied, they become
more prone to frustrations, making many mistakes and dissatisfying the customers. In the
words of Sharma and Dhar (2016), the personal wellbeing of the staff members also plays an
important role in shaping their performance and productivity levels. The pay of the staff also
influences the mindset of the employees, affecting their work and service provided. In case
the staff members feel that, the organisations they work for do not pay hem their respective
wages in due time, or is not enough according to his or her skills, their productivity drops.
This also causes the customers to be unsatisfied with the services they receive.
Staff Performance Quality Issues
Many quality issues due to the performance of the staff have been identified in the hospitality
and tourism sector. Issues like bad food, unclean rooms, unhygienic foods and toilets, along
with rude staff members are the most common issues. In the words of Tang et al (2016), other
issues include wrongful billing of the customers and negligence of the grievances and issues
faced by the gusts of hotels.
Ethical Issues in Hospitality Management
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In the book Tourism Ethics, it has been stated that ethical responsibility of the staff members
that work in the hospitality and tourism industry to provide adequate services to the guests.
Therefore, it is important for the employees to follow a code of conduct to ensure that the
services provided by them are not of lower standards and must not be fraudulent. For
example, the cashier of a hotel cannot overbill the guests; the guests should be billed
accordingly to the services provided. The services provided by the employees must also be
fair and just, and must not take advantage of the situation of the guests. Ethical issues also
arise in cases where the guests are carrying out activities that maybe illegal in nature. For
example, if an employee is seen with weapons or drugs in their possession, it is the moral
obligation of the employees to not permit the guest in the hotel. Many instances have been
noted where the staff members were bribed by the customers in order to go unnoticed.
Incidents created by these customers caused the hotels a lot of controversy and bad brand
image.
Ethical management in Hospitality Industry
The moral and ethical obligations of the employees are required to be managed in order to
provide the desired outcomes of various scenarios. For example, the employees can be given
training in how to behave with the customers. This does not necessarily mean that the staff
members will always be kind and polite with the guests. In the words of Köseoglu et al
(2016), actions will be taken if the customers perform actions that are serious and illegal in
nature. For example, the employees can be trained in self-defence training that will be
required in an event where the guests possess illegal arms. The employees must also know
how to assess a situation correctly. For example, it will be unwise to leave a customer who
has overdosed on drugs to the police. Instead, proper care can be given first before being
handed over to the authorities.
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Conclusion
The academic journals that have been used in the completion of this report were clear and
detailed enough to provide the information that is required. The data was presented in a
tabular and graphical format, being easily understood by any reader. This report and research
has been beneficial in understanding the learning outcomes of this module, like using a
reliable and valid research journal that provides qualitative and quantitative research data. A
business management report is successfully created, and the use of a case study is achieved.
The analysis and implementation of qualitative and quantitative data has been assessed
carefully.
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