SUPPORT SERVICES
Support services are any services which are required by a department within a hotel such as restaurants in order to operate efficiently. Such services may be required on a regular or ad-hoc basis.
There are two forms of support services:
1. Internal support services
2. External support services
1. INTERNAL SUPPORT SERVICES
Internal support services those are provided by a department or area of operation within the organisation or hotel to a food and beverage department. The departments within the organisation or hotel that provide such services are known as internal support departments. The following are internal support departments within a hotel :
• Housekeeping Department
• Engineering Department
• Front Office Department
• Security Department
• Finance/Accounts Department
• Human Resource Department
• Sales and Marketing Department
• Other departments within the Food and Beverage Division
1.1 Housekeeping Department
The Housekeeping department provides the following internal support services to food and beverage outlets:
• cleans public areas including food and beverage outlets;
• maintains public area facilities by replenishing customer supplies such as soap and toilet paper in areas such as rest rooms used by customers of food and beverage outlets;
• maintains the hotel's Lost and Found Department;
• operates the laundry department, linen and uniform room and thus provides linen and uniform to food and beverage outlets; and
• provides flower arrangements and fresh flowers as table centrepieces to food and beverage outlets.
1.2 Engineering Department
Often mistakenly commonly referred to as the 'maintenance' department, the Engineering Department is responsible for more than just general maintenance of equipment in restaurants. The following are some of the services and facilities in food and beverage outlets that are the responsibility of by the Engineering Department:
• maintains water, steam, electrical and air-conditioning facilities and equipment
• fabricates, maintains and repairs furniture, fixtures and equipment.
2.2.3 Front Office Department
The Front Office Department provides the following support services to food and beverage outlets by:
• directing customers to food and beverage outlets;
• providing information about the hotel's food and beverage facilities;
• issuing meal vouchers to tour groups to facilitate breakfast arrangements;
• handling the distribution of mail and messages to food and beverage outlets;
• maintaining customer room folio accounts and ensuring the settlement of bills incurred in food and beverage outlets; and
• operating the telephone department and re-routing telephone calls and messages for in-house customers who are dining in the hotel's food and beverage outlets
1.3 Security Department
Customers who use any hotel's food and beverage facilities expect and must be provided with a safe, friendly and comfortable environment. Food and beverage outlets must therefore depend on the hotel's Security Department to :
• ensure the safety of staff, customers and the security of their belongings;
• maintain security within the hotel premises; and
• handle emergencies such as fires and if necessary, evacuation of customer and staff
1.4 Finance/Accounts Department
The financial status of the hotel's various food and beverage outlets are recorded and analysed by the Finance/Accounts Department. Thus, the Finance/Accounts Department provides the following support services to food and beverage outlets by
• handling of staff payroll;
• maintaining the food and beverage outlets financial records;
• generating timely reports and analysis of financial performance;
• providing cashiering services at food and beverage outlets point-of-sales; and
• providing purchasing services (which includes receiving, storing and issuing items).
1.5 Human Resource Department
The Human Resource Department in hotels serve three basic functions: personnel-related matters, staff welfare, and development of its employees. Food and beverage outlets therefore depend on the Human Resource Department for the following:
• recruiting, orienting, training, evaluating, motivating, disciplining, promoting and communicating with food and beverage staff; and
• overseeing the welfare and employee benefits of staff
2.2.7 Sales and Marketing Department
The Sales and Marketing Department generates business for the hotel by marketing the hotel, its services and facilities. It is usually made up the following departments :
• Marketing
• Public relations
• Catering sales
• Room sales
The Sales and Marketing Department thus provides support services to food and beverage outlets by :
• generating catering (banquet) sales;
• generating convention sales with food and beverage arrangements;
• increasing room sales and thus maintaining a high occupancy of in-house customers who are likely to use the food and beverage outlets; and
• promoting hotels food and beverage outlets through advertisements, by soliciting publicity and generating good public relations
1.6 Other departments within the Food and Beverage Division
The other departments within the food and beverage department or division are also a source of internal support services to a food and beverage outlet. Food and beverage outlets receive support from the Food and Beverage Manager's office or administration, Stewarding Department, Beverage Department, Kitchen and other food and beverage outlets.
These support services usually include :
• secretarial support;
• maintenance of equipment inventory;
• provision of manpower from other restaurants;
• crossing-selling by other food and beverage outlets; and
• provision of cleaning services to the food and beverage outlets
2. EXTERNAL SUPPORT SERVICES
External support services arc those which are not available within the hotel but are required for the smooth operation of food and beverage outlets. Such services may be required on a regular or ad-hoc basis and include the following :
• Laundry
• Contract cleaning of back-of-the-house areas such as kitchens
• General maintenance of customer areas
• Fabrication, maintenance or repair of furniture and, equipment
• Landscaping services
• Supply of floral arrangements
• Contracted security services
• Printing and graphic design work
• Catering of staff meals
• Catering for specialised meals (Muslim Halal meals, vegetarian, etc.) -
• Provision of props and decorations for banquet function rooms
• Photography and video-taping services
• Rental of audio-visual equipment e.g. karaoke equipment
• Entertainment services such as musicians, magicians, disc or karaoke jockeys,
dancers (cultural, modern, ethnic or non-ethnic), master of ceremonies, etc
2.1Co-ordinating external support services
Due to the wide range of external support services required by the food and beverage department, some form of co-ordination is required when dealing with external support services.
The following lists the likely departments within the hotel and food and beverage department which are responsible for the co-ordination of these external support services :
• Housekeeping Department
The Housekeeping Department may co-ordinate the following external support services:
1. laundry services;
2. florist, landscaping and gardening services; and
3. general maintenance of public areas.
• Food & Beverage Manager's Office/Administration
This area within the department serves to co-ordinate the following:
1. printing of menus and promotional materials;
2. graphic design for menus and promotional materials like brochures; and
3. provision of 'live' entertainment, e.g. a string quartet for the New Year's Eve dinner in an restaurant.
• Banquet Operations
Customers using the hotel's Banquet services may require items, services or equipment which is not readily available within the hotel. As such, the Banquet Department may be required to co-ordinate the following external support services:
1. hiring of entertainment services;
2. rental of audio-visual equipment;
3. arrangement for photography or video-taping services; and
4. provision of large scale props, signs, banners and decorations.
• Kitchen
The following external support services are co-ordinated by the kitchen :
• staff meals e.g. on the hotel's family day; and
• catering for food and beverage items which cannot be prepared in house
It may not be feasible for a hotel to prepare all the items required on a menu. Such menu items may require specialised skills, equipment or conditions. Foe example, Halal or Kosher meals must be prepared under very specific and strict religious requirements. Thus, it may be more feasible to have such food items prepared outside of the hotel by registered caterers who specialise in such meals.
Menus items may require specialised skills which are not found in the hotel. For example, vegetarian food, roast sucking piglets, satay, Nonya kueh, etc. may not be possible to produce in the hotel due to lack of manpower, equipment, space, knowledge or skills. Such items may instead be purchased for either a particular function or as a regular (daily) purchase.
• Stewarding Department
Besides the regular daily cleaning of the kitchen areas, equipment such as cooker hoods, ovens, gas ranges, grills and griddle tops must also be cleaned on a regular basis if hygiene and sanitation standards are to be maintained. However, the specialised tools, chemicals, knowledge and skills required are usually not available in the hotel. The Stewarding Department may therefore co-ordinate contract cleaning services for the back-of-the-house areas and equipment.
• Front Office Department
The Front Office usually co-ordinates contracted security services for the hotel. Hotels may choose to hire the service of firms providing security for several reasons :
1. higher operating costs;
2. lack of available and trained manpower; and
3. in-house security staff become too familiar with other staff to prove effective.
• Engineering
The Engineering Department may not be equipped, knowledgeable or skilled enough to fabricate, maintain or repair all existing equipment. Thus, the department may instead co-ordinate the provision of external support services by contractors or vendors to fabricate, maintain or repair these equipment, furniture and fixtures.
No comments:
Post a Comment