Write an essay on management.
Bal et al. (2012) have stated that management is the key to a successful business and irrespective of the size, every business need a good management along with strategic and organized unit. The steady developments in the hospitality industry have made all the hotel owners to believe as well as be in agreement with the ever increasing importance of hotel management arrangement with skilled employees. In the last few decades, the hotel and the hospitality industry has witnessed a precipitous rise in the arrival of the customers. Therefore, presences of highly skilled employees are required for the smooth progression of the hotel. I have worked in Hilton London Gatwick for the last 11 months as an intern in the food and beverage department. Brotherton (2012) has mentioned in his research work that successfully managing a resort or hotel operation can be similar to governing a small sovereign nation complete with budgetary concerns, personnel, security, housekeeping, sales, marketing and food and beverages.
I have learnt that managing each of these areas is highly essential to the growth and success of the organization. Most importantly, this requires careful study and I can say that my working experience has helped me to balance between practical knowledge and academic knowledge. In this particular report, I would try to focus on some major aspects like impact of internship on shaping my future perception in the hospitality industry. Most importantly, I would demonstrate how I have gradually developed my interpersonal, vocational and entrepreneurial skills throughout my study and I have understood that all these skills are required for the successful completion of the entire task.
Brotherton (2013) has stated that a hotel management apprentice has to work in close connection with several different departments in a hotel and support them in their every day schedule operations. An intern is mandatory to appreciate the in general operations of the hotel, while concentrating in one or two specific parts. I have understood that a hotel management intern is required to work closely with the front desk managers, event planners, housekeeping and several other departments and learn from them. I have been in Hilton London Gatwick for 11 months and this has helped me to gain practical knowledge because I worked as the intern in the food and beverage department. Being an intern in the food and beverage department, I have understood some of my roles and responsibilities. Greeting the customers properly, escorting them to the seats, taking food and drinks orders, serving foods and beverages, answering questions as per services of the hotels, explaining properly all the menu items and all the specialties along with offering personal attentive treatment are some of the major job roles of the interns (Buhalis and Crotts 2013).
Apart from that, co-operating with all the team workers to successfully plan the events, parties are another major important activity. I have clearly understood that it is highly necessary to work in group and assist the team members. Besides that, I have come to know about competencies and required skills for the interns and these are strong interpersonal skills and excellent communication skill. Apart from that, I have understood that an employee in food and beverage industry must be able to sell food and beverage outlet services to the customers, they are required to have a high service orientation and most importantly, it is required to be a good team worker. Whenever, an organization recruit a person as an intern, these qualities and skills are expected from that person and I have leant all these objectives during my study and work (Buted, Felicen and Manzano 2014).
At the time of working in Hilton London Gatwick, I have clearly understood my roles and responsibilities in food and beverage department. I have found that it is required to work in a group and thus I need to focus deeply on enhancing my overall service. I must develop my skill, especially interpersonal skill and communication skill. I must have the potentiality to manage and co-ordinate properly, otherwise it would be tough for me to co-ordinate with the guests coming to avail our service. Being intern in Hilton London Gatwick, I have understood that this internship would be of great benefit, as this has given me an insight into how the industry operates presently (Chen and Shen 2012). I can proudly say that my first internship experience was really amazing and I would really like to repeat it again without changing. During my internship, I have met many interesting people with different backgrounds and this has helped me to explore myself. However, I have gradually understood that this is the career that I have loved and want to continue. My roles as a team member in Hilton London Gatwick were as follows:
These were some of my basic roles and responsibilities in the team and along with these; I had some administrative responsibilities as well. These are as follows:
During my internship in Hilton London Gatwick, I have discovered several new perspectives in dealing with the customers. I never had strong communication skill and being in this profession, I have gradually enhanced my communication skill. I had several responsibilities and this enhanced my overall personality. Commercial responsibilities that were assigned to be were highly effective in enhancing my career path and thus I always prefer working in hospitality industry (Pereira-Moliner et al. 2012). I learnt to communicate effective with the VIP guests, clients, colleagues and some other individual in the organization and I have learnt several processes in promoting the restaurant. I always feel privileged enough as I have joined in Hilton London Gatwick being the intern. Here, I have come to know it is required for the employees to become a good sales person in order to promote the image and business of the corporation (Mok, Sparks and Kadampully 2013).
Now I can say that my food and beverage management experience would help me to excel more in future. During my internship in Hilton London Gatwick’s food and beverage department, I have gained working knowledge of several computer software programs like MS Office, Restaurant Management Software, POS and some more. With the help of the team leader, I have enhanced my ability to spot as well as resolve the problems efficiently in the restaurant (Testa and Sipe 2012). Moreover, during this time, focus was shed on mastery in delegating multiple tasks along with communication skill and leadership skill. Most importantly, I stayed up to date with food and beverage trends as well as the best practices in the industry and this helped me to serve the students in more convenient ways. Apart from that, I have gradually grown my ability to tactfully manage personnel and meet all the financial targets. I was trained to be guest-oriented and service minded (Sisson and Adams 2013).
After being the intern in Hilton London Gatwick’s Food and Beverage department, I feel a keen interest in pursuing in this field and making this my career. I have gained enough knowledge in the roles and responsibilities of an employee in hotel and hospitality industry and this has ignited a desire in me to select this occupation for the long run. I have gradually grown a keen interest in enhancing my sales ability and adaptability with the changing situation. It is required to mention here that initially I was not sensitive to the customers and this hindered me to understand their requirements (Wang et al. 2012). Gradually, I enhanced my relationship skill and now it is enough easy for me to deal with the customers. Most importantly, my team leaders focused on effective management like delivering profit centre profitability. After being an intern in this fastest growing industry, I have understood that I want to become a food and beverage manager, as food and beverages managers are the leaders in the kitchen and the front of house in the restaurants of all kinds (Wolf 2013). Apart from that, it can be stated that Douglas McGregor’ Theory X and Theory Y is another theory that I have learnt during my study and this has justified my personal experience during my internship in Hilton London Gatwick’s Food and Beverage department. This theory has helped me to learn that how the employees are motivated in the workplaces and I believe that team leaders, managers and the employees are required to be familiar with this theory properly.
During the course, I have learnt that food and beverage managers are responsible for overseeing the operational aspects of a restaurant or food service establishment. Wolf (2013) has stated that from recruiting and training of human resources to ordering supplies, the responsible food and beverage managers assume a variety of responsibilities in this fastest growing hospitality industry. Most important thing that I feel I need to talk is that during internship, I have understood that theoretical knowledge differs largely from practical knowledge. During the course, I have learnt from books and journals that food and beverage industry might be the largest division in a hotel depending on the number of outlets that food and beverage operates (Wang et al. 2012).
However, in this part, I want to discuss about the importance of team work among the team members and have seen that not all theories match with the practical experience in the work field. Testa and Sipe (2012) have stated that team work is one of the great ways to get all the things done. Many research scholars have proposed several theories of leadership and teamwork, but all the theories do not work properly in practical scenario. However, I have seen that Bruce Tuckman’s Model of Team Stages is one of the appropriate theories that I have learnt during the course. The progression in this model is forming, storming, norming and performing. In the first stage, high dependence is seen on leader for guidance and direction. In the next stage, it can be seen that decisions do not come easily within the group and this leads towards norming stage. In the third stage, agreement and consensus largely forms among the existing team, who respond well to facilitation by the team leader (Hoon Song et al. 2012). The large stage focuses on the part that a team is more strategically aware and they all know properly that what they are doing and why they are doing. Therefore, this theory has helped me to balance between my educational knowledge and practical experience.
While working at Hilton London Gatwick, I realized that interpersonal skills are very important to perform `fittingly. I had to provide spectacular customer care service and communicate with the customers daily. I also figured out that developing ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing would help to establish positive connections with clients, guests, vendors and other employees. Interpersonal skills are highly important, as it would also help to take and deliver orders to the customers properly, which demonstrates high levels of customer service (Lee et al. 2016). Interpersonal skills are also necessary to comply with hotel restaurant security and fire regulations.
While doing internship in Hilton London Gatwick, another thing that I realized is the importance of entrepreneurship skills. In restaurant industry, having an entrepreneur is highly important. An entrepreneur serves to maintain a restaurant business. According to Leeet al. (2016), the success rate of a restaurant business is much lower when compared to other industries. Therefore, in order to run a restaurant business, it is important to have an entrepreneur, who will perform tasks such as,
Getting a website:
In today’s business culture, people do not thumb through a thousand-page book to find a local business (Songet al. 2015). That is why;it is paramount to create a website in order to gain success for your restaurant.
Developing relationship with online vendors:
Another important job of an entrepreneur isto build a positive relation with the vendors. Several websites provide online equipment such as Instawares (Chenand Elston2013). In restaurants, some items demand more frequent replacement than others such as dinnerware. An entrepreneur is required to keep a regular communication with its vendors who are responsible for supplying dinnerware. Those items and fragile, that is why; whenever a dinnerware is dropped and broken an immediate replacement is important.
Doing precise communication
I also understood that in restaurant industry it is extremely important to listen to the customers in order to understand what the market wants. Restaurants are the biggest examples of “word of mouth.” Success of a restaurant entirely depends on its current customers. That is why it is important for an entrepreneur to listen carefully what the customers are saying and what their complaints are (Koutroumaniset al. 2015). For general staffs it is not possible to perform their duties and note down the problems and suggestions of the customers. That is why; it is the duty of an entrepreneur to do that. Entrepreneurs can use several channels to keep an eye on the customers and on their advices. Some of those channels are Facebook and Twitter.
Keeping track of customers:
In any restaurant it is important to keep track of the most regular and loyal customers. Entrepreneurs are responsible for developing several ideas through which they can keep track of their customers. For example, some restaurants would do giveaways where customers would drop their business cards or contact information for chance to win a free meal (Guilletet al. 2012). Building a customer database is essential. However, what you will do with the database is more important. Entrepreneurs will do the job of deciding what the organization should do with that database. For example, a properly developed database can help a restaurant to employ email marketing.
After completing my internship in Hilton London Gatwick, I realized that employment skills are highly necessary in order to perform properly in restaurant industry. Some important employability skill that an employee must have are mentioned below,
Teamwork: Teamwork in any business would develop productive working relationship and outcomes. In restaurant industry, it is important to work with people who belong from different ages, race, gender and religion. It is important to apply teamwork in situations such as planning and problem solving (Kimet al. 2013). While performing teamwork I also understood that it is important to figure out strengths and weaknesses on my team members. It will help us to divide the team load according to our capabilities.
Problem solving skill: Restaurant business not only depends on quality of food and drinks but also depends on innovation and creativity. Having knowledge on mathematics along with budgeting and financial management will also help to solve several problems.
Planning and organizing ability: Ability to plan and organize events or things properly helps to contribute to long and short-term strategic planning. It mainly includes organizing time and priorities by setting timelines and coordinating tasks for self and others (Gentzlerand Smither2012). Proper plans should be developed in order to use resources carefully. Besides, it is also important to understand basic business systems.
Self-management: The most important thing while working in any organization is to achieve satisfaction and growth. It can be gained though self-management. It is important to have vision and goals by calculating and monitoring own performances (Torresand Kline2013). Besides, it is also important to have confidence in own ideas and visions.
Learning: I was working as an intern in Hilton London Gatwick food department. I had no knowledge and experience about this sector before. Therefore, from the first day my target was to gain knowledge and to learn new things (Welltonet al. 2016). I knew that through learning I could improve and expand my knowledge and capability as an employee. However, it is also true that you will have to become open to new ideas and techniques. I had to invest a lot of time and effort to learn new skills that are essential in restaurant industry.
Technology: Technology plays a major role in restaurant industry. However, it is not easy to learn all the technical skills that a restaurant gets from different operators. Besides, technical tools are upgrading almost every day; therefore, learning those enhancements is very important and tough. That is why; it is required to have basic knowledge on IT skills so that one can understand the primary operation procedures (Alonsoet al. 2016). IT tools are used as management tool that serves to organize data. It is important to learn new IT skills and gain knowledge on WHS to handle technologies related to restaurant industry.
Personal skills that I learned while doing my internship in Hilton London Gatwick food department are already discussed. However, I also learned some professional aspects during this period (Traceyet al. 2014). While working there I figured out the biggest problems that a restaurant business could face. Some of those issues are hereby mentioned,
Customer care problems: Restaurant business entirely depends on customer; therefore, it is highly important to implement a proper customer service. Most of the restaurants face problems while maintaining a satisfying customer service. Poor customer service is considered as a deal breaker for customers. Even if your food is outstanding, your table settings are superb and your vibes is delightful, your poor customer service will affect your business proceedings (Ballesteroset al. 2012). A restaurant will have to employ staffs who will be dedicated to your customers’ wellbeing. As a manager, one should make sure that your restaurant staffs are providing pleasant, welcoming and accommodating services to the customers.
Management: Management is considered as the most important puzzle of restaurant business. I learned that it is paramount to analyze your business, which will make sure whether it is running properly or not. Many restaurants do not pay attention to some aspects that hampers their business. Having a perfect idea about how many customers you are feeding each day by breaking it down by mealtime will help the management to manage their resources (Boellaand Goss2013). Another important pat is to keep track of ordered menu items. For example, if one of your items is not ordered by most of the customers, then you must take it down from your menu list. Managing budget is another issue faced by the restaurants. It is highly important to stick to your budget as over budgeting will affect your business goals.
Employee hiring and training: Most of restaurants focus on their food quality and architecture. However, it is highly important to put more emphasis on your employees who are working in your restaurant. Most of the restaurant managers think that training staffs is not necessary in this business (Durraniand Rajagopal 2016). However, from what I learned from these 11 months clearly indicates that restaurant business needs training programs included in their systems. Training the staffs will help to improve your services and to reduce the cost overtime.
Along with training, it is also important to hire proper employees. If a restaurant hire candidates who are not willing to learn, then training methods will be useless. Therefore, extra attention should be paid at the time recruitment.
Marketing: Marketing is another issue that restaurant businesses face. Most of the managers fail to pay attention to marketing that causes pitfall. From the organization where I worked as an intern, I learned some method that can help to develop a proper marketing plan. Formalizing the brand standards such as mission statement, guidelines for employees, graphics and logo is highly important for a restaurant business. Developing a compact but user-friendly website that will look good is also an important part of marketing. Advertising through social media is paramount, as it will help to get attention of thousands of potential customers (Traceyet al.2014). Besides, I also learned that while developing a marketing plan one should not forget about his budget. There are several ways to implement a proper marketing strategy within the budget.
Selling point: A superior customer service and excellent menu items are vital for a restaurant business; however, they are not selling point for a restaurant. One restaurant would need an original idea such as something better than only great food service. Develop some unique reasons for people to eat at your restaurant. For example, create a nostalgic 50’s feeling. If you have a rare selling point then your customers will remember you long after they are gone (Lolli2013). You can develop such as situation where your food, your services and selling point can make an emotional connection.
9. Conclusion
In the end, it can be concluded that I learned many things after doing my internship in Hilton London Gatwick. Mostly I figured out some skills that a person should know in order to perform perfectly in a restaurant business. Most of the restaurants do not put focus on building interpersonal skills of their staffs. However, developing such skills is important in order to provide a superior customer care service. Based on those learning, now I can develop my own career in the restaurant or food and beverage industry. I also understood an entrepreneur plays a major role in a restaurant business. He makes all the decisions that help that restaurant to gain attention from the customers. He is the person who decides what should be done and what should not be done. That is why it is important to become a positive entrepreneur. However, I realized it is not easy to become an entrepreneur as it requires a lot of skills and experience to make right decisions in tough times. However, from my internship I learned some of the skills that an entrepreneur must have and I am willing to apply them in my own business. Overall, that internship was a good experience for me from where I learned a lot and could understand what I need to own a successful restaurant.
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