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Abstract

This paper is intended to shine a light onto an improvement process for the check-in and check-out procedures, as well as more personalized services for the Hotel Escargo. The benefits of changing over to an automatic check-in and check-out system will be reviewed and the control charts will be presented in order to demonstrate the new process to management. The proposed new personalized services, along with an overview of its costs resources and benefits, will be touched upon. Also, the management team will receive a brief review of how the hotel can monitor and control their future performance by using Six-Sigma quality standards.

Process Improvement in Hotel Escargo

Due to the increasing number of clients reporting each day to the hotel, there is a need to change the current manual check-in check-out system to an automatic process (Bulchand-Gidumal, & Melián-González, 2015). It also puts into play a need for a more personalized experience for clients in order to increase customer satisfaction. It is practically impossible to serve all of the customers via the manual check-in check-out system, as it would be human-resource consuming, as well as a delay-causing process. Both the new automatic check- in and check- out process and the personalized services are technological improvements. The automatic check-in/check-out system will allow clients to check in to their hotel room prior to their arrival at the premises; these clients will be assigned special codes for identity purposes and retrieving room keys. This process also allows them to check out easily, at their own convenience. At the same time, the new personalized services will help the hotel to create a relationship with the customers by allowing them to better understand the customer’s needs.

Personalized Services

The new personalized services will entail creating a bond with their customers that will allow the hotel to understand the customers’ tastes and preferences and avoid the need to ask how they need their orders every time they walk into the hotel. The services will entail online interaction with the customers through platforms such as Facebook and the hotel’s web address (Broadman, 2011). Chatting with the customers will develop an understanding of how they like their tea, food or any other services provided by the hotel, thereby, increasing efficiency and their customers’ satisfaction in the process. For instance, the hotel will understand how the customers love their tea or coffee, either very hot or extra sugared or little sugar. The practice will address the problem of delayed services by the hotel’s staff, that often result in customer dissatisfaction. Moreover, the practice will increase the understanding of each customer’s interests, improve the hotel’s services, and address any issues that the customer might be having, promptly (Schmidt, Cantallops, & dos santos, 2008). Moreover, the new process will ensure that the hotel is able to keep up with changing customer and market demands as the bond created will allow easy exchange of information between the hotel and the customers (Drance, Ng, & Westendorf, 2009). The hotel will also benefit from increased customers, as the market information obtained from its close customers will be used to increase the services of the hotel, thereby attracting more customers.

New process Costs

The new process is cost effective and will only require a small portion of the hotel’s funds. Since the hotel already has a web page, the only cost that will be incurred is that of creating an active chat option on the page and of hiring a new employee to be in charge of the communications. In this regard, the approximate initial cost for the chat option is $ 13, 500. The hotel will incur no cost in extending the use of its Facebook page, making the new process a cheap, but effective quality improvement strategy.

Required Resources

The primary resources that are needed for the implementation of the new process are: an IT expert, a public relations officer or an effective communicator, funds, and the management team. An IT expert will be required to develop a chat option for the hotel and provide the company with advice on how to maintain that chat option both on its website and on Facebook (Jackson, & Travostino, 2009). A public relations officer or an individual with excellent communication skills will be required to handle and be in charge of the hotel’s chat option. The individual must have excellent listening and communication skills, in order to create a good relationship between the hotel and the customers. Since all of the people employed will require salaries and the creation of the chat option will require some expenses, the hotel needs some funds set aside for implementing the new services process. What is more, the new process cannot be a success without the direction and input of the management team, who will provide both implementation skills and advice on how to best apply the process.

Management Functions

The management team will also be charged with the responsibility of hiring the required employees and getting the best employee for the new process (Wang & Wang, 2010). Moreover, management is expected to give the go-ahead for the implementation of the process and coordinate all of the individuals involved in implementing the process. In fact, the management team will control the entire extent to which the process is applied in the hotel’s services.

Process Map

Hotel Escargo improvement of its offerings

To improve quality of the hotel services through;

· Personalized services

· Increased hotel-customer communication

Recheck

Are the tasks effective in improving the quality of the hotel services and increasing customer satisfaction?

No

Yes

Ensure they are successfully implemented and enforced as part of the hotel improvement processes

Improve their efficiency by addressing existing challenges to their implementation

Better services and increased customer satisfaction

Check-In Check-Out Process

The check-in/check-out automatic process is activated once the client has booked into the hotel and made the required payment (Dedeke, 2016). The automatic process is enabled through the use of special portals, where a client can comfortably make any changes they desire. Through this portal, the client has access to vital information, such as their room number and the special code needed for the retrieval of their room keys, which are made accessible after the client keys in the special code. This makes it quick for clients to receive their room keys without having to queue-up and wait for quite some time as often happens when using the manual systems.

Apart from that, this check-in and check-out process is enhanced by the use of a language modification feature, which allows it to be modified according to the user’s language (Akazue, 2016). Language barriers have been a set-back for the hotel, as all of the staff are not trained to speak the different languages used by their clients. Apart from that, there is a problem with the receptionist, who is slow in understanding what their clients want to communicate. The language modification feature embedded in the automatic process will solve all these problems by identifying with the clients’ language. With the communication barrier broken, it becomes easier for clients to check in and out easily.

Another feature that the automatic process has, is the ability to change the manual settings of a reception at the lobby of the hotel, replacing them with a bureau box where the activities of checking in and out automatically are provided. It will take the client only a few minutes to complete either checking in or out and will allow the hotel employees to concentrate on other activities in the hotel. It also makes it easier to track the entry and exit of the customers.

In addition to that, this process allows the client to check out easily by enabling him/her to view their bill, which is displayed in the portal. It allows them to get all of the charges that were made during their stay and allows them to make payments through their credit cards. This reduces the time of the check-out procedure, since in the manual system, they have to trace their bills from the different departments in the hotel and come up with a sum total of all the charges. This new process also gives the hotel attendants an easier way of verifying all of the bills. The customer will be better served by a system that allows them to check out fast and efficiently. It also saves the attendant’s time by eliminating the need to explain to a client the reason for the amount appearing on their bill.

Moreover, the automatic system can be strategically placed at different locations on each floor of the hotel, which helps provide quick customer service for clients, who might have issues with their room keys. It allows easier replacement of the keys and helps the client by saving him/her the task of going back to the receptionist for help. On the side of the receptionist, it allows them to serve other customers without stopping what they are doing, in order to attend to a previous client.

New process Costs

The cost of implementing the automatic system might be expensive in the initial stage but in the long run, it is much more efficient than the manual one (Rosenbaum & Wong, 2015). Compared to the salaries paid to the attendants that are employed on the front desk, the automatic system will not require monthly payments, thus reducing operational costs. Reduction of operational costs are beneficial to clients, since the charges will be pocket-friendly, even while maintaining the aspect of price discrimination. Apart from that, the process saves management the cost of training the employees, as the system is technologically modified to meet the specifications of the client. Adopting the automatic process will lead to a 50% decrease in the annual cost of the process of check-in and check–out as shown below:

It can easily be seen that the use of the automatic process will be cost efficient to both the hotel’s management and their clients. Due to this, the business will be able to accomplish the mission of the hotel, while, at the same time, attract more customers.

Required Resources

Through this process, the business will become more efficient in terms of human resources (Melián-González, & Bulchand-Gidumal, 2016). A hotel that uses the manual system needs to employ many hotel attendants, just to attend to the various customers, who are checking in and out of the business and it is not able to minimize its resources in terms of human labor. The automatic process ensures that there are minimum resources used, which is seen by the great reduction in the numbers of employees needed by a business using the automatic check-in/check- out system. This minimum use of resources is efficient for the business as it maximizes the business’s profits. The efficient use of resources is reflected in the profits earned by the business at the end of a financial year as shown.

Management Functions

Another improvement that the hotel’s management will experience is a reduction in management functions and the ability to easily control all of the activities that are supervised by management (Dedeke, 2016). With a manual system, it is time consuming and difficult to constantly keep track of and control of all the activities for which they are responsible, therefore it takes a longer time for management to respond to all of the concerns of both the clients and the employees. With the automated system, management can conduct constant checks on how the clients are adapting to the system and address any concerns they may raise. Therefore, there would be a more personal relationship between the hotel’s management and the clients and this will create a good relationship for the hotel, as a whole. Clients would be able to appreciate the services they are accorded and the managerial goals if improving customer satisfaction would be achieved.

With the implementation of this automated process, the overall performance of management should be exemplary. This is because the automated process offers them the opportunity to be competent and operate at a lower cost than before. The automatic process is more focused to the welfare of the clients and, along with this, it earns more revenue for the hotel by ensuring that its resources are well maximized. There is also time management in the process and hence, the hotel’s management can coordinate and control all of the activities necessary to operate an excellent hotel much more effectively. As a result, management will be able to concentrate on delivering quality services to the hotel’s clients. This leads to greater client satisfaction and therefore, raises the hotel’s status. The automatic system also assists the managers of the hotel to accept clients from all over the globe, since language barriers are no longer a challenge. The adaptation of the automatic system also reduces the number of complaints received by the management from its clients. This indicates an improvement in performance as shown:

To successfully implement this process, the management of Hotel Escargo needs to take into account the six-sigma quality standards (Reddy & Swamy, 2015). To ensure that the process is successful going into the future, management needs to adopt a plan that lays out the steps to success. First and foremost, there is the need for the hotel to inform its employees about the introduction of the new system and to collectively involve them in the implementation process. At the same time, they will need to have personnel who are already, very familiar with the automatic system, in order to attend to their customers efficiently, while the whole team is moving toward the common goal of switching to the automated system.

The second step involves coming up with a document, which spells out the rules that are to be followed by the employees in order to ensure that quality services are accorded to the clients and, at the same time, to explain the goals and objectives that should be achieved (Reddy & Swamy, 2015). It is also important to train the staff on how to use the automatic system, so that they are able to connect to the clients and update relevant information in the clients’ portal. Employees should also be trained on how to improve their service delivery in case the system fails. This will help create a good working relationship between the employees and their management. Apart from this, management needs to constantly update the system, so that the services given are up-to-date and irrelevant information concerning the hotel is archived. Management should continuously work at improving the system in order to obtain the very best service delivery. It is extremely important for the hotel’s management to inform all of their employees that the system is being introduced, and when; this is critical for goal congruency. Last but not least, it is vital that the system be business-focused, so that it creates a win-win situation for both the hotel and the clients.

REFERENCES:

Akazue, M. I. (2016). Enhanced Hotel Management Information System for Multiple Reservation Booking. International Management Review, 12(1).