Hospitality Service Delivery System Midterm

MEASURING AND MANAGING SERVICE DELIVERY  Service Standards Any good delivery system begins with careful planning. Careful analysis and detailing of every step in the entire service delivery process will make the difference between having it mostly right and reaching the lev...

MEASURING AND MANAGING SERVICE DELIVERY  Service Standards Any good delivery system begins with careful planning. Careful analysis and detailing of every step in the entire service delivery process will make the difference between having it mostly right and reaching the level of excellence that the very best service organizations deliver. Service standards should be established early in the planning process. They are the company’s expectations for how the different aspects of the service experience should be delivered every time to every guest. Service standards are one of the most important tools that hospitality managers must ensure that the service expectations of guests are at least being met. Service standards need to be established in the planning stage, before the guest is present.  Monitoring the Service Experience The need for measuring what is happening to the guest in every step of service delivery is critical in assuring continuing guest satisfaction and, if problems arise, in recognizing them, applying solutions, and in determining if the solutions have succeeded. Organizations should measure the quality-of-service delivery against service standards whenever possible. Such standards help to make the intangible experience tangible for purposes of measurement and control. These standards, carefully created during the planning stage, are an excellent way to focus everyone on what is important to the guest. After planning the system and monitoring the experience through measurement comes the last step: assessment and improvement. Collecting and analyzing information about what has occurred drives system improvement.  TECHNIQUES AND METHODS IN ASSESSING SERVICE QUALITY Employee Service Process strategies include various ways in which observation guarantees organizations can avoid failing their guests by monitoring the delivery while it is taking place, while it is in process. A means of comparing what is happening against what is supposed to happen, usually, but not always, expressed as a measurable service standard. Sometimes process strategies are the experience and training that managers and employees have in delivering the high- quality service experience that organizations want their customers to have. The idea behind process strategies is to design monitoring mechanisms into the delivery system to find and fix failures Structured before they affect the quality of the guest experience Job performance guest interview MBWA standards Management by Wandering Around (MBWA)  Measuring Service Quality Service Quality is one of the key factors and result oriented strategies to satisfy customers and to convince them to become loyal customers by delivering quality-based products and services to satisfy their needs. Two suggested criteria to measure service quality: Soft standards - Rate based on nonquantifiable process that are not easily observed. Hard standards – type of measure that is collected or processed based on the activities and outcomes that can be calculated, timed, or computed.  Measuring Service Quality Service Quality is one of the key factors and result oriented strategies to satisfy customers and to convince them to become loyal customers by delivering quality-based products and services to satisfy their needs. Two suggested criteria to measure service quality: Soft standards - Rate based on nonquantifiable process that are not easily observed. Hard standards – type of measure that is collected or processed based on the activities and outcomes that can be calculated, timed, or computed.  Understanding service quality dimensions The perception of Service quality may be influenced in different ways. Customers may also have different appreciation of an organization’s service when the yields are varied and may not suit the customer’s expectation. Service quality can be highly affected by the perception of the customers; therefore, it is important that service organization must be consistent in their outputs and be sensitive to the needs of their clients. SERVQUAL (short for “service quality”), was developed by A. Parasuraman and his associates. An adaptation of the SERVQUAL survey instrument, designed to evaluate service quality using five dimensions: Assurance, Empathy, Reliability, Responsiveness, and Tangibility.  service quality dimensions Assurance – ability of organization to communicate guaranteed quality service to customers. (trust and confidence to organization) Empathy – ability of organization to be compassionate and responsive to guests needs and wants. Reliability – consistency and dependability of organization to deliver service based on expectations of guests. Responsiveness – manner on how the organization reacts to guest’s needs. (promptness, enthusiasm, flexibility) Tangibility – physical facilities, tools, equipment, competent personnel or other guests often influence customer satisfaction.  Other systems to measure service quality Total Quality Management (TQM) – assists organizations related to service excellence, productivity, and innovative process improvements. International organization for Standardization ISO Certification – deals with assessment and certification of an organization’s quality management system. (guarantees quality & efficiency of products & services) Six Sigma – deals with organization that have high-volume processes which aim to reduce defects and cycle times to improve productivity. Malcom Baldridge National Quality Award (MBNQA) – develop to promote best practices in quality management and to recognize quality achievement among U.S. organization.