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Comprehensive HRM relation with Service Quality
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Service quality is directly linked to front line employee morale, knowledge, skills and
motivation.
Introduction.
The purpose of this study will look into the relationship between service quality and
frontline employee morale, motivation, knowledge and skill in Mauritian resorts hotel. This
case study will be made on resorts hotel, as in Mauritius, most of the hotels are classified as
resorts.
Service quality management is now identified in tourism as the cutting edge practice and
one of the factors contributing to this rising prominence is that " ... superior quality is
proving to be a winning competitive strategy" (Zeithaml et al., 1990). As Seaton and Bennett
(1996) pointed out: "Everyone appreciates good customer service when they see it or
experience it. Similarly a poor service is equally instantly recognisable. The quality of service
provided in any given situation is thus appraised very quickly indeed. Nowhere is this more
pertinent than in tourism by its very nature the tourism product is service driven making the
quality of the product intrinsically linked to the level of service provided. "
According to Kandampully (1999), "... service quality refers to the customer perceived
quality. It is the customer who determines and is the final judge of quality; hence it is the
customer's definition (interpretation) of quality which counts." Bitner (1990) is of view that
service quality is the customer's overall judgement about a firm's excellence or superiority.
Another definition of 'service quality' is that of Horowitz (1990) who claims that service
quality is ", ...the minimum level of service that a firm chooses to provide in order to satisfy
its target clientele. At the same time it' is the degree of consistency the firm can maintain in
providing this predetermined level of service.
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The main characteristics of service quality are closely related to front liners. The attributes
of service quality are Assurance, Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, and Empathy.
Tangibles: Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and
communication materials.
Reliability: Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.
Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.
Assurance: The knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey
trust and confidence.
Empathy: The caring individualized attention the organisation through it front liners
provides its customers.
Empathy, responsiveness, availability, reliability and tangibles cannot be dissociated to front
line employees, as the hotel industry is a service and people oriented business, these front
liners who are the first and last contact with the customer and also delivering the service.
Service quality depends essentially on the aptitude and the attitude of the front liners to
attend guest satisfaction and expectation. The service encounter goes to the heart of
hospitality and tourism industry. The success of the service encounter depends on the
extent to which customer needs are satisfied or exceeded and further, hospitality and
tourism organizations depend on satisfied customers for their survival (Pizam and Ellis,
1999).
Being internal customers to the organization, frontline employee’s needs also these
attributes in order to achieve organizational objectives to service quality. Albrechts (1990)
suggested a quality service triangle which notes the relationships between the organization
success and the customer contact staff. This new approach value the front line employees
through different aspect such as investment in people rather than machine, where machine
are the considered as liability and people as an asset to the organization, which will led the
employees to deliver high quality service.
The achievements of individuals and organizational goals are independent process linked by
employee work motivation. Individuals motivates themselves to satisfy their personal goals,
therefore they invest and direct their efforts for the achievements of organizational
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FOR TOURISM & HOSPITALITY BTHM/PT/10B – 102122/
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objectives to meet with their personal goals also. It means that organizational goals are
directly proportion to the personal goals of individuals.
The major issue in all services organizations is the motivation of employees whether they
are skilled or unskilled or professionals. Employee motivation is also a major issue for
hospitality industry. It is a today’s challenge for the management in this competitive world
to motivate employees to offer efficient and good services that customers expect so for. The
employees’ motivation, their enthusiastic and energetic behaviour towards task fulfilment
play key role in successes of an organization to benefit (Cheng, 1995).
According to Petcharak (2002), one of the functions of human resource manager is related
to ensure employees’ workplace motivation. The human resource manager’s function
should be to assist the general manager in keeping the employees satisfied with their jobs.
Another goal in organization is the goal for the services manager is to develop motivated
employees and encourage their morale regarding their respective works. The employee
work morale, such as supervisors, peers, organization, and work environment can be
defined in a sense that the employee has the feeling and be conscious about all aspects of
the job. The performance is poor if the employee is not satisfied and happy. Workplace
dissatisfaction often leads organization and its employees’ poor performance.
In many studies (Mei et al., 1999; Kandampully and Suhartanto, 2000; Gounaris et al., 2003)
it has been established that service quality depends on more than one variable, and the
main variable is where the time which the frontline employee meets the demand of a
customer. Consistency in service quality reveals to be a main issue in customer satisfaction.
Valuing employee’s enhanced motivation and commitment of front liners, organisations
who are committed to satisfy the employee’s needs would definitely have a competitive
edge. By giving simple attention to front liners such as some giveaways, recognition letters
for personal or group achievements can help to motivate these employees, thus will be a
boost to service quality. This matter that been identified to be an important as mentioned
by Chiang and Jang 2008, Wong, Siu and Tsang 1999.
In hotel group such as Sun International, many programs are made available to motivate
staff, a program was proposed by the management, in first instance for front liners; called
FLAG, “Feel like a guest” had an important impact on the employees moral and motivation,
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FOR TOURISM & HOSPITALITY BTHM/PT/10B – 102122/
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where they were invited to come along as a guest, so that they can indulge in all hotels
facilities and also they could noticed all the problems that may arises during their stay, at
the end of the program the employees were invited to filled out a questionnaire where they
will express their ideas, remarks and comments about the services that they have received.
This program had a positive impact on the front liners employees due to its success and it
was then extended to all staff. (Sugar Beach, Newsletter Issue 22 – October 1999)
This example shows that when employees are well treated, in return they feel proud of their
respective establishment and also they provided better service to guests. The human
element needs to be considered, as the nature of service is tangible and intangible. No two
service interactions are identical and this situation gives rise to uncertainty in the service
delivery process. As a result it is not wholly possible entirely to prescribe job tasks to ensure
quality standards. The service provider and customer are both liable to introduce variation
to the service, with the individuality of customer needs or the service provider lacking
consistency. The quality of service may vary between different service encounters, and this
variability can lead to difficulties for companies in defining standards and ensuring
consistency of service.
It is without doubt that knowledge and skills are considered to be an important feature in
delivering service quality. Years back, it was possible to work in a hotel, with no formal
training, there was no pre-requisite for hospitality employment, but as more and more
competition occurs within the hospitality and tourism sector, it has shift to a new
dimension, nowadays this sector is looking for people who have followed training courses
and also have at least good secondary school results. In order to grow and maintain a
workforce that is customer oriented and focused on delivery quality service an organisation
must train, and work these individuals to ensure service performance ( Zeithhaml & Bitner,
2000).
In Mauritius, most of the hotels offered multiple on-job training and courses for their front
liners; foreign language courses, health and safety courses, communication skills. This
empowers the front liners to be more proactive toward their job, therefore enhancing
service quality. Another way of promoting skill and knowledge is the knowledge sharing
among employees. Most of the hotels have internal trainers among their personnel and also
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FOR TOURISM & HOSPITALITY BTHM/PT/10B – 102122/
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a training department attached to the Human Resource Department to provide training
among employees, to provide specific training to new comers and refresher course to
existing employees. This exposure creates a prospective working environment for
employees who have long service.
Frontline employee’s moral can be affected by various factors; social and family background,
supervisor`s attitudes and also working conditions. Generally most of the employees ignore
their rights and are mostly exploited to undertake some tasks that are not prescribed in
their usual duty, when an employee explained his grievances to their immediate supervisor;
the supervisor will tend to be more disinclined towards this employee, consequently
affecting his moral.
Working conditions in hospitality sector reveals to be long hours with low pay, in many
circumstances, front liners are affected in two ways, firstly they have to cope with family
problems and secondly the long contact hours that prevails in this sector, moreover it seems
that most of new comers who could not adapt with this lifestyle leave the hospitality sector,
which causes staff turnover. Moreover as most of the hotels have more and more difficulty
to recruit qualify staff, some of the front liners need to assume extra job without any proper
compensation, but only pledge that he might have a promotion in the near future. This
attitude sometimes prevails in some hotels; many front liners perform their job by
obligation rather than a pleasurable job.
Conclusion
What we attempted to examine in this study is the complex relationship between service
quality with employee morale, knowledge, skills and motivation in resorts hotels.
The success of a service encounter depends, therefore, on the availability of aware, service
oriented, competent employees who understand the context in which they work, and are
well versed in the specific organization’s strategic objectives and culture. This is not just
about levels of proficiency but also includes different types of skills that are appropriate for
the particular customer segment and characteristics of the business establishment. A
waitperson may carry plates with proficiency, but still be unsuited for a five star dining
environment.
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Win-win scenarios must be applied in this sector where human contact cannot be replaced,
imitated. There is an urgent need to focus on the human side rather than on sales and
revenues. Aspects of profit sharing can be part of this focus, which will make the front liners
are more enthusiasts to give beyond guest expectation.
The service quality does not only enable a firm to learn from customer’ complaints, it
effectively compels the organization to respond to customer feedback immediately. In
realizing the cost involved with each failure, the company has an additional opportunity to
learn from the mistake and so eliminate the possibility of further similar mistakes.
In essence the service quality assists an organization to create a customer-driven standard
of service. Service management literature suggests that well managed service guarantee
programs substantially affect organizational benefits whose success has been linked to their
service quality programs.
Service quality is influenced by expectations, that is the standards of service is defined by
customers, customers who has already experienced that service uses his former experience
to form a judgment. In order to achieve a quality service organization, commitment from
employees and support from all levels of management is necessary. Therefore, it is
important for managers who provide services to keep track of information about the
company’s well being as far as meeting its customers’ needs are concerned.
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References and Bibliography
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