Hotel Sunnybank’s Service Quality Evaluation

Executive Summary

This report discusses service quality dimensions and service management strategies in the context of Hotel Sunnybank. Customer reviews were used as a means of evaluating key service quality dimensions that are accepted within the hospitality industry. The analysis showed that guests are generally satisfied with the quality of service the hotel provides. However, specific aspects need immediate attention because customers often leave negative reviews about the work of the front desk department. Also, some visitors do not find the visual appearance of the hotel’s facilities as acceptable. While it is tempting to blame service workers for these issues, managers should be the ones to be accused of mentioned shortcomings. Not all managers express inspirational leadership and do little to motivate their subordinates. Also, communication issues demonstrate the incompetence of department managers in facilitating teamwork. Managers often neglect the opinions of their subordinates and pressure them to work according to pre-defined scripts. Workers that are not empowered are likely to leave the hotel if the situation does not change. Therefore, a significant shift in managerial approaches should take place to improve the condition.

Introduction

Customer service is a central topic when discussing hospitality and hotel operations. To be able to improve guest experiences, it is imperative to be able to dissect customer service into individual components. Key service quality dimensions provide an overall picture of how a hotel handles its customers. These dimensions are influenced by both individual performances of service workers and decisions made by managers; this paper will analyse both of the aspects.

Evaluation of Key Service Quality Dimensions

Reliability

This dimension plays a significant role in the context of customer experience. According to statistics, reliability is among the most critical predictors of guest satisfaction (Wahid, Dangi, Jabar, Muhamed, & Paino, 2017). Despite this importance, Hotel Sunnybank seems to overlook this dimension. Numerous customer reviews mention that front desk employees were not able to check customers in within promised time period. When a customer receives a promise or guarantee, that pledge should be fulfilled. In case it is impossible to fulfil that promise, a reasonable explanation should be provided (Mok, Sparks, & Kadampully, 2013). However, employees have failed to explain why issues had occurred, and no reimbursement in terms of gentle communication was given. In summary, Hotel Sunnybank has severe shortcomings regarding reliability, which requires immediate managerial intervention. The hotel may lose valuable customers if the problem is not resolved.

Tangibles

The physical appearance of hotel facilities and employees fall within the scope of tangibility. Tangibles are essential because the first impression that customers have before using any of the hotel’s services is generated by how the hotel looks, how its employees are dressed, and how clean the hotel’s entrance and surroundings are (Marić, Marinković, Marić, & Dimitrovski). While the quality of provided services is more important than visual look, tangibility may have the final say when a customer comes to form a definitive opinion about the hotel (Marić et al., 2016). The same happened in Hotel Sunnybank – customers left a negative review in regard to the visual appearance of hotel rooms and shared facilities. Clients emphasized that there was a strong need for reconditioning and repainting. Therefore, Hotel Sunnybank has issues with its tangibles and should invest the necessary financial resources to resolve the problem.

Responsiveness

This dimension refers to the willingness of the hotel personnel to help its customers and provide timely assistance in case clients have difficulties. It should be noted that problems may not be connected to the services offered by the hotel (Tung, Chen, & Schuckert, 2017). One notable example is the case mentioned by one of the customers. The family forgot their child’s doll, and while the hotel was not obliged to mail the toy to the family’s address, they did so. The hotel’s concierge showed a positive gesture and demonstrated that the hotel’s employees are ready to support customers in unfavourable situations. Concierge department is the one that receives the majority of positive reviews, while front-desk is often blamed for incompetence and indelicacy. Therefore, although the overall responsiveness levels are excellent, specific departments need improvement.

Assurance

All service employees need to possess sufficient amount of applied knowledge in order to be able to provide quality service. They also need to express courtesy and be compassionate when interacting with customers (Syarifuddin, 2017). There have been conflicting reviews on behalf of customers in regard to professional competence and kindness of employees. While the Concierge department has received positive reviews, front desk personnel has been inconsistent. Some praised their knowledge and the quality of service they had given. However, the majority of reviews have been negative – customers had to wait longer than expected during check-ins. Also, when there was a mistake on behalf of the employees, the front desk personnel was not kind to confess their errors. Such situations left guests unpleased with the customer service and showed that front desk employees are not competent to be able to handle conflict situations.

Empathy

All customers require an individual approach when interacting with them. They want to feel that they are special and important to the hotel (Koc, 2019). While it may not be possible to pay individual attention to each of the guests when the hotel is fully booked, employees do need to express empathy in each conversation with customers (Umasuthan, Park, & Ryu, 2017). Generally, guests are satisfied with how they are treated during their stays. Concierge department is always ready to assist with any problem, and the Food and Beverage (F&B) department is attentive to detail. There are several negative reviews in regard to room service and front desk. However, these issues do not happen consistently and may be related to specific employees. It should be noted that front desk personnel need to be more caring and courteous.

Identification and Analysis of Existing Service Management Strategies

Inspirational Leadership

In the hospitality industry, service employees are the most significant portion of human resources. Therefore, increasing employee retention and job satisfaction is one of the primary goals of management. Scientific evidence suggests that the type of leadership that is employed within a hotel has a significant impact on employee perception of their job. In a study conducted by Folakemi, Adenike, Olumuyiwa, and Osibanjo (2018), 65.5% of service employees that participated in the survey indicated that inspirational leadership has a substantial effect on job satisfaction. Employee feedback suggests that not all departmental managers motivate and inspire their subordinates. Some employees even suggested that certain actions on behalf of management significantly demotivate the workers. Therefore, it can be summarized that the service strategy of motivating and inspiring the employees is not applied consistently throughout the hotel.

Teamwork

In any business, it is essential that different departments effectively communicate and interact with each other. Customer experiences in a hotel are not dependant on a single department (Guchait, Lei, & Tews, 2016). Instead, different teams need to attempt to provide positive experience collectively (Anitha, 2016). In this context, communication is critical – the consistent flow of reliable information allows various departments to operate seamlessly (Van der Molen & Gramsbergen-Hoogland, 2018). In Hotel Sunnybank, however, there are severe issues with teamwork. For instance, front desk and housekeeping departments do not communicate effectively with each other, which results in delays in check-ins and unfavourable experiences for customers. Also, there is no consensus on how communication issues should be resolved. Instead of participating in a constructive conversation, employees from these departments often blame each other for shortcomings that appear during service.

Performance Improvement

The competition between different participants in the hospitality industry gets more intense as the customers constantly demand service of a higher quality. In this context, performance improvements on behalf of service employees are necessary in order to cope with increasing market demands (Chung & Chung, 2018). In Hotel Sunnybank, however, a different scene is being observed. Employees reported about bottlenecks that pose a hindrance to offering a quality service. Instead of discussing the issue with personnel and developing the most suitable solution, managers often neglect the opinions of subordinates. This attitude leads to bad design decisions which worsen the performance instead of improving it. One notable example is the new layout of the service area – renovations executed by the management team made it difficult for F&B staff to operate efficiently. Employees reflect that they would have been able to provide valuable advice had the management team decided to ask them.

Service Scripting

Usage of scripts is a controversial topic from the perspective of customers. There are two dominant views on the notion of service scripting – some clients believe scripts make conversations less personal, while others claim that using scripts ensures that all aspects of a task are covered (Kao, Tsaur, & Wu, 2016). Authenticity is important in this context in order to avoid being perceived as robotic (Victorino, Bolinger, & Verma, 2012). Employee feedback suggests that the management team is not concerned with the authenticity but rather emphasize complete memorization of scripts. This approach is not effective because employees will not be able to help customers when there is no appropriate script. Instead, personnel needs to be equipped with strategies that will allow them to tackle different customer issues while retaining the quality of speech and coverage of all aspects of the task.

Managing Employee Discretion

The ability of employees to make independent decisions is significant in the context of professional growth. Also, it motivates workers to perform well and contribute to the organization (Huertas-Valdivia, Gallego-Burín, & Lloréns-Montes, 2019). The management team of Hotel Sunnybank, however, limits such endeavour. Employees report that managers often question their autonomous decisions and make them revert back those actions. As they indicate, such an attitude on behalf of managers serves as a significant demotivating factor. In summary, managers of Hotel Sunnybank neglect the opinions of their subordinates and demand that they strictly follow the script when interacting with employees. While demanding better performance, they fail to equip service employees with the necessary knowledge and strategies. If such a situation continues to persist, much of the staff may decide to leave the hotel in search of a more favourable workplace.

Recommendations

The majority of the issues are a result of incompetence on behalf of the managerial team. While service employees often take the blame, it is the managers who need to revise their strategies and grow professionally. The first aspect that should be improved is communication – teamwork struggles because department managers fail to build a clean communication framework. Also, in Hotel Sunnybank, performance issues rarely result from individual mistakes. Instead, they are caused by unfavourable design decisions, which were made by the managers. Department heads need to promote collaboration by seeking advice from service workers. Not only will it motivate the employees, but will also improve individual performance. Another aspect that is overlooked in the hotel is the appropriate usage of service scripts. They are important because they serve as the foundation in communication with customers (Buswell, Williams, Donne, & Sutton, 2016). However, employees need to be provided with knowledge that is necessary to construct new scripts and augment the existing ones depending on circumstances. Managers need to develop their leadership qualities and need to gain expertise in directing employees in the hospitality industry.

Conclusion

Hotel Sunnybank provides its customers with a pleasant experience, but there are severe issues that should be considered. Employees are demotivated, which decreases performance and increases the likelihood of their leave. There are issues with teamwork and interdepartmental collaboration. Also, managers do not seek advice from their subordinates when making decisions that will affect the operation of service workers. These problems should be resolved to stay attractive in the eyes of customers and to improve employee retention

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