Introduction
Hilton Hotels & Resorts is a global brand of luxury and full-service hotels operating in multiple countries around the globe. The company accounts for more than 215 thousand rooms in 85 countries and areas across six continents, including Australia. In Sydney, the Hilton Hotel is located on 488 George street, which is a central location for a five-star hotel (“Hilton Sydney,” 2020). Hilton Sydney offers visitors easy access to the most popular attractions of the city, including the Opera House, Bondi Beach, and Darling Harbor. Moreover, inside the hotel, visitors can enjoy a variety of attractions, such as award-winning restaurants and modern guest rooms with the latest amenities.
The Hilton Hotel in Sydney targets customers with high expectations of quality and service, which points to the need for hiring skilled personnel that would serve their clients. For example, there is the Zeta Bar located at the rooftop terrace of the hotel as well as a restaurant brasserie, One Hat, under the leadership of celebrity chef Luke Mangan. Such top-quality dining amenities require the engagement of employees who are highly skilled in servicing clients and could ensure an unforgettable experience for the restaurants’ guests. Thus, because of the variety of services and amenities available at Hilton Sydney, the staff should have the highest level of preparation and expertise in the sphere of hospitality services.
When it comes to the positive qualities of personnel at Hilton Hotel Sydney, it is crucial that the workers are friendly to the visitors, exhibit high levels of professionalism, are knowledgeable of their work, as well as are efficient and attentive to the needs of their guests. When workers have these qualities and exhibit them in their interactions with clients, the latter are more likely to be satisfied and leave positive feedback about the hotel.
Friendliness is an important indicator because it is one of the measures of customer satisfaction on hotel-related websites. Raising the levels of friendliness is important because staff may sometimes show frustration in their communication, which would be negatively reflected in the hotel’s image (Mullen, 2019). Being professional ensures a positive first impression and a lasting reputation while knowledgeable staff can assure clients that they chose the right hotel for their needs. It is also necessary to have attentive staff who would listen to the demands and the feedback of clients to provide the best quality service at the Hilton Hotel Sydney.
Research Ethics
In researching the desired qualities that employees at such hotels as Hilton Sydney should have, it is imperative to communicate with staff directly as well as hotel visitors who could give their feedback. Because of the need to deal with individual participants, ethics should be considered as they represent moral principles that researchers should follow in answering their questions. Research ethics focuses on moral principles that scholars should follow in their work. These moral principles matter in academic research because they are concerned with providing maximum benefits to study participants. By maintaining research ethics when dealing with hotel personnel and guests, it is possible to ensure research integrity.
Moreover, research ethics is crucial for preserving the interests of potential study participants as well as their anonymity in the case if they do not want to reveal their identity. Making ethical decisions is possible when researchers are committed to ethical principles and choose ethical behaviors regardless of the nature of the study (Resnik, 2015). Ethics are also essential for determining the authenticity of the facts and evaluating the credibility of the information. Besides, ethics in research will allow building trust between scholars and participants. Trust is important because it would facilitate the sharing of valuable information that would contribute to the study at hand.
Research Implications
The report expects to reveal important information on the positive qualities of hotel staff using the example of Hilton Sydney. Successful hospitality employees are not born; rather, they are being consistently trained in order to facilitate the qualities contributing to the high satisfaction of visitors with the quality of services provided to them at hotels. Not only are hotel employees expected to show excellent communication skills when engaging with guests but also show high levels of decision-making. The latter is concerned with being efficient and knowledgeable as these qualities would facilitate making the decisions that would benefit the experiences of hotel guests.
Since Hilton is a company that has operated in the hospitality industry for decades, using its experience as an example of high-quality service may shed light on best practices. The feedback given by customers from around the globe who stayed at Hilton Sydney could illustrate what the hotel has done well as well as what should be improved eventually. Overall, the report will be useful for offering first-hand perspectives on the work of the hospitality industry. Exploring the perspectives of hotel guests and the staff is important because of the possible differences in their views, thus providing a full view of the problem.
Literature Review
Customer Satisfaction
In this global and dynamic society, customer satisfaction is becoming a defining element of a successful business, and such characteristic is even more emphasized to hotels and other tourism departments (Chi & Gursoy, 2009). This is because satisfying guests can provide customer loyalty to the hotel, positive word of mouth to potential customers, and paying premium prices (Ali, 2015).
Since these results lead to amplified financial profits, hotels aim to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction. Many scholars attempted to define customer satisfaction in their methods. The most widely accepted definition is by Richard Oliver, who sets expectancy-disconfirmation theory as the foundational basis of customer satisfaction (SpringerLink, 2000). The theory states that satisfaction or dissatisfaction is determined by the discrepancies between the customerâs prior expectations and the actual performances the customerâs received (Caruana, 2002).
There are three types of disconfirmations resulting: Positive disconfirmation develops when received performance is better than the expectation, zero disconfirmation occurs when perceived performance is in equal level to the actual performance, and negative disconfirmation happens when the performance is worse than the expectation (Oliver, 2010). Other scholars and researchers establish variable factors into their definitions, making them produce meanings from different perspectives. However, all the experts concur on the notion that satisfaction is the final stage of psychological progress that is carried out from activities of purchasing, observation, and consumption (Cengiz, 2010).
Employee performance and its enhancement in relation to employee satisfaction
The hospitality industry constantly attempts to achieve high customer satisfaction as it is one of the most competitive factors required to attract target markets. Previous findings from relevant researchers show pieces of evidence that employees, especially the front lines, provide a significant contribution to customer satisfaction as they have a direct confrontation with the guests (Chi & Gursoy, 2009).
It may be safe to assume that the performances of the employees are closely correlated to customer satisfaction as well. Thus, better performances of employees will likely improve the satisfaction of customers and vice versa. Numerous ways are being utilized to improve employee performance in which one of them is the commonly recognized method: staff training. The purpose of staff training is to provide professional knowledge and responsibilities of the business, which results in not only the enhancement of the quality of service but also the commitment towards the organizational goal (Elnaga & Imran, 2013).
Studies suggest that the training also increases employee satisfaction which in turn leads to improved employee retention. (Elnaga & Imran, 2013). Retention influences employee performance because various studies suggest that employees who are satisfied with their occupation and have decided to work in the same business for a long time will excel in their job performances (Elnaga & Imran, 2013). Another method that needs attention is positive organizational behavior. According to Luthans (2002), this behavior is defined as âthe study and application of positively oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed, and effectively managed for performance improvement in todayâs workplaceâ.
If such behavior is achieved in the workplace, employees will be satisfied with their jobs and workplaces. Besides, findings by various researchers propose that employee satisfaction leads to better services, which eventually results in better customer satisfaction (Ramlall, 2008). Jeon and Choi (2012) agree to this statement and further explain that there is a unilateral relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction in which employee satisfaction affects customer satisfaction but not the other way around.
Research Methods
Quantitative Methods
Quantitative method presenting the major comment reviews through online tourism website related to customer satisfaction under five groups in Figure 1. This study has evaluated 100 relevant customer reviews related to Hilton Sydney. Quantitative questions are focused mainly focus on 2 groups.
Qualitative Method
In this report, we used literature research method to find the best model in service measurement. (SERVQUAL model). Comment reviews related through Trip Advisor Website are collected for secondary source. Comments were showed using charts and table to understand more about customer loyalty via their customer experience. Qualitative research focus more on âwordsâ and give a guidance for researchers examine on valuable resources.Objective of this study is finding the finest and comprehensive strategies to achieve our title report. Besides, identifying research review to our study, showed academic article from Google Scholar, Academia, Research gate, and Emerald database.
Hence, all the database performed a wide range of business related, peer reviewed journal. In order to maintain the quality of this report, extracting the title and search keywords such as âcustomer satisfactionâ and âhiring right employeesâ. Customer satisfaction is a preceding topic and have been published in the past 25 years. Therefore, expanding our research on relevant articles between August 2003-January 2019.Next, we covered a total of 22 references to select the best research product for detailed investigation.
Research Findings
Explanations for the Findings
In Figure 1, friendliness and professionalism scored the highest and highlighted that majority tourists are satisfied and positively proved their service quality in Hilton Sydney.
The study has identified the items based on each role. Figure 3 showed the rating of overall hotel review. Kandampully, Zhang and Jaakkola (2018) mentioned customer experience indistinct assumption as having difficulty to define, let one measures because of its component and privacy. Hence, ensuring 100% customer oriented service is highly achievable since hotel industry mainly rely on man power.
Researchers mentioned customer experience assigned personal feelings, expectations, past experiences and attitudes on deciding direct(service consumption) or indirect(advertising or word of mouth)purchasing decision making. Therefore, everyone has different level of satisfaction. Li (2013) suggested hoteliers should add more perceive value as an action to ensure service quality and up to standard level. In general, customers often doubt if the money that pay is worth for the cost of the service.
Researcher illustrated customer satisfaction as consumer overall intellectual and consumerâs evaluation of satisfying level (Wang,2016). Leventhal(2008)stated first, understanding character of tourists on the point of social nature of baby boomers and then pursuit fundamental products and services to satisfy consumer needs. Hence, what customer intention can become customer essential therefore place authority on good and services and continually advance with innovation.
Hisaka(2012)believed substantial customer relationships is vital in a companyâs success. For instance, each interaction with customer experience is a chance for business to retain customer and directly related to the word of mouth marketing. SERVQUAL model is a tool for measuring service quality that influenced organization image which in turn of customer loyalty. Based on this model, figure 2 showed difference between perception and exception of quality of service through five dimensions.
Based on Figure 4, the highlight that the majority of tourists are satisfied with the products and services offered by Hilton Sydney. After revaluating all comments, the study categorised determinants that affect customer satisfaction among all customers under each role; porter, housekeeping attendant, food and beverage attendant, front desk and concierge. For the responses, Figure 4 performed the detailed changes of the determinants of satisfaction. This indicate that majority of guests are satisfied the service level most impacting to their stay.
Research Discussions
Strategies to hire suitable employees
Providing detailed information when advertising for recruiting employees, more qualified and professional people will apply to the hotel. The hotel advertisement should include information such as their job duty and the role detailly as well as describes the hotel’s value of their employees.
Make the job definition through three steps. The first step is described duty that what will their worker do in their workplace. Second designate employees’ standard what qualities’ employees do the department want, such as knowledge, academic background, personality traits, value, and abilities. Third, Identify the job condition. The hotel should consider their environment in which their employee performed their workâfor example, interior or exterior, protector or risky.
Defining the job is the foundation for recruiting. Because failing to hire the right person also can head to a high turnover rate and reduce the production description of the ideal applicants, there are two categories when recognizing the ideal applicants. First tangible, practical skills follow relevant to the job requirement such as serving experience, food safety knowledge, and cocktail certificate. Intangible attributes and attitudes related to the real job, for instance, the capability to work in a stressful situation and how much are they meticulous. It can measure with using a biographical test that can be proved, making questions such as level of education or their hobbies.
Scrutinizing applications is essential to hire the right person screen resume to will filter out unsuitable candidates while taking resumes that suit a job goal and job description. See resume that follows the staffs’ qualities involve experience and character. Examine for consistent career promotion. It helps them each department to know the possibility of leaving their workplace. Moreover, check reference is useful because millions of people find jobs with false, fabricated resume yearly. As prevention for hiring the wrong person, the hotel has to check applicants’ background and track record.
Making checklists including names and details help interviewers to remember about their applicants at the same time creating checklists of the essential qualities such as academic background, characteristic, work experience, and ability that the company needs. it is crucial to select new employees while evaluating applicants based on their standard checklist to see they meet the criteria
Asking the right questions that related to their job’s needs to their candidates. For hiring the right person, the expected questions should concern about their potential employees will adapt within their organizational culture with having the right skills and relevant job experience. Besides, the questions should consider their potential employees to have a strong passion or motivation for their work as well as do they have a team building, leadership, and management skills.
Advantages of hiring suitable employees
The hotel employees are essential resources. Because they directly deliver customers’ satisfaction, so hiring employees is one of the outstanding jobs for the hotel. When the hotel hires more professional, knowledgeable, efficient, friendly, and attentive employees, they will be likely to commit their organization or satisfy the job. In the hospitality, area identifies that employees’ satisfaction and commitment is closely connected to customer satisfaction. (U. Colakoglu, O. Culha, H. Atay, 2010). Moreover, hiring the right person for an organization is influential in saving money, enhancing productivity, growing quickly, and sometimes prevent the lawsuit. (BENNIE L. GARCIA, MALCOLM G. MEADOR, JR., & BRIAN KLEINER, 2003)
According to the customer and business, some facts distinguish excellent service and poor service. One is good at personal service, and the other is the staff’s ability to handle complaints. Because usually, the customer thought it prove money value (Mohsin, A., & Lockyer, T, 2010). the hospitality business has many issues from the absence of commitment to their employees who have a different hierarchy.
These kinds of issues come from a lack of communication skills. Based on real hotel customers’ survey questionnaires, most customer experience moments happened when they meet employees such as front office, room service, and restaurant, which directly deliver service to the guest. Besides, it leads to customer experience. Customer experience happened when competent workers welcome their guests or first communication with the hotel worker, food, and beverage quality. As well as the staff knowledge for the hotel and region is helpful to their customers. The staffs’ performance will affect the customer experience. The hotel should work hard to over customer expectations then the customer will satisfy with the hotel.
Furthermore, the study shows that customer satisfaction is connected with business profit as well because if the customer satisfied their hotel, they would visit the hotel. More, they will recommend the hotel to others. On the other side, hiring the right person will prevent the hotel from legal liability in Australia, when the hotel’s employees made some mistakes that any negligence acts while doing their job and if individuals sue the hotel.
As vicariously liable, the hotel has the duty of solving the issues, and usually, they use negotiations; it means they will spend the amount of money on protecting the brand image things. So, having Professional employees, the hotel can prevent such accidents in advance, and it will reduce the amount of expenditure.
Hiring unfit person can affect the high turnover rate and high turnover rate lead to wasted expenditure, including all the hidden expense such as training new employees and inefficient handling of work before familiar about their work. On average, approximately 1.5 times the annual salary of the place being filled. (BENNIE L. GARCIA, MALCOLM G. MEADOR, JR., & BRIAN KLEINER, 2003.). Furthermore, it requires their staffs to work at least one year for the hotel can retrieve the money again. Hiring the right person tends to have more passion and motivation for their work, so they are less likely to quit their job as well as, they build a good relationship with their customers.
Research Problems
Research problem is having specific difficulty that located in your research. This report mentioned does hiring right employee affect customer satisfaction. Figure 1, 2 and 4 are secondary source that might be oversimply and there is no researcher review on it. In Figure 1, 100 reviews are confirmed as reliable information as there could be fake review existence during collecting analysis progress. Based on the customer review through Trip Advisor analysis, unspecific comments from guests are to be found and get in trouble of choosing the applicable material.
Conclusion
To conclude, this paper explored employee performance and employee satisfaction based on the Hilton Hotel in Sydney. The review of the survey on the online tourism website and the comments from Trip Advisor website were used to collect the necessary data. In addition, academic articles were included to support the arguments and link the theory with practice. It was found that customer satisfaction is a subjective criterion that may include personal feelings and expectations, while the majority of tourists of the identified hotel reported that their experience was positive.
Hiring suitable employees was recognized as an effective method to improve personnel performance and maintain their satisfaction. The three-step method of hiring included identifying duties, setting standards, and discussing working conditions. The checklists and promotional strategies were mentioned as the methods of a properly-designed hiring process. Among the advantages of such hiring, there are excellent service, staff satisfaction, and positive customer experience.
High turnover rates as well as wasted expenditure can be the consequences of inappropriate staff hiring. The research problems included a lack of review by researchers and potential fake information, which limit the value of this study. Nevertheless, the findings that were obtained in this paper allow establishing a link between employee performance, namely, proper hiring, and customer satisfaction.
References
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Appendices
Figure 1: Overall Service Quality in Hospitality.
Figure 2: Determinants of Customer Satisfaction in each hotel job roles.
