Front Office Duty Manager

Job Purpose:

To take responsibility for the day-to-day floor management and guest service of various departments as a roaming hotel operations generalist working in varying duty management capacities as required by hotel business needs.

Organisational Positioning:

· Department: Rooms Division

· Reporting to: Front Office Manager

· Functionality to: Guest Experience Manager and Head Concierge

· Location: The Twelve Apostles Hotel Premises

Minimum Experience or Qualification:

• Must have at least 3 years 4/5* Hotel experience of which at least 2 years should be in Front Office
• International experience advantageous
• Hotel School Diploma or other relevant qualification
• Computer literate with working knowledge of Microsoft Office Outlook, Word and Excel
• Knowledge of a Property Management System at Operator Level; exposure to Opera advantageous
• Highly presentable
• Excellent command of the English language with solid verbal and written communication skills
• Fluency in a Foreign Language, particularly German, advantageous
• Proven administrative strengths and financial understanding
• Proven experience and understanding of the Night Audit Procedures
• Previous experience in Reservations
• Must be able to work flexible hours including week-ends, public holidays and evening/night shifts

ADVANTAGEOUS EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATION DESIRED:

· Fluency in a Foreign Language, particularly German, advantageous

· Exposure to Micros

Behavioural Summary:

The focus of this position is working with and through others, building and maintaining relationships, and working closely and accurately within established guidelines. There is a need for an effective communicator, someone who is able to stimulate and motivate others while being aware of and responsive to their needs and concerns. There will be many different people to meet and work with. The person in this position must be friendly and genuinely interested in the business, agenda, and needs of others, including the company, its management, the team, the company's customers, or all of the above. A persuasive, teaching style of communication is required to communicate the company's policies, programs, and systems. A faster-than-average pace will be the norm for this position. Detail work is a major focus of the job, and those details need to be handled quickly, correctly, and efficiently. This portion of the work will often focus on relationships with others; correct handling of details dealing with others is necessary to maintain and grow relationships. If the job involves managing others, following up carefully, closely, and cheerfully is required to ensure both correct work and maintenance of the relationships. Necessary corrections must be made in a constructive, supportive manner. As time is usually a factor, the work must be done on time, as well as correctly. In general, this is a position where guidelines, structure, and established policies must be followed fairly closely, while working with and for others.

Key Performance Objectives:

· To be a Red Carnation Hotel Ambassador by:

• Actively living our company mission and values and striving to deliver on our promise of "No Request too Large; No Detail too Small" at all times
• Owning and practicing our "Top 12" Service Standards every day in every interpersonal encounter whether with guests, colleagues or suppliers
• Ensuring that you are familiar with, and adhere to, the Hotel's code of conduct as set out in the Employee handbook
• Creatively seeking opportunities to surprise and delight our guests by actively listening to them and building positive relationships and emotional connections
• Working together with your manager and team to be as effective and productive as possible by accepting constructive feedback and embracing all training and development opportunities made available to you
• Being aware of the emergency evacuation, security and fire procedures of the Hotel and to be constantly vigilant of the health, safety and security aspects; and reporting any risks to the Health and Safety Chairperson and/or Security Manager
• To actively seize opportunities to minimise our carbon footprint by reducing wastage as much as possible without compromising on guest service standards
• To be happy in your work environment, to make constructive observations to improve working conditions and maintain a culture of teamwork and guest orientated service

To support the management of the Hotel in accordance with Red Carnation Hotel Management principles by:

• Ensuring constant floor presence during peak operational times; interacting with both staff and guests in a constructive manner, fostering positive relationships; and by taking personal responsibility for every guest and staff situation, seeing it through to its solution.
• Applying the performance management and corrective action tools in accordance with the Hotel's Code of Conduct with the aim of exhausting all opportunities to correct and support staff before utilising avenues for employment termination.
• Recommending updates to hotel policies and procedures, in order to maintain high standards and provide the best possible service to guests, and implement improvements where required.
• Managing and preparing the communication planner setting goals and providing constructive areas of developments for team members allocated accordingly

· To assume the duties of the Front Office Duty Manager by:

• Taking ownership, responsibility and control of the front office duties relating to that shift by preparing and coordinating the team to ensure highest delivery of guest service to all guests.
• Overseeing all communication between Front Office and other departments in the Hotel so that all parties are properly informed in order to deliver at the highest standard to guests.
• Ensuring that the lobby standards are all met in terms of presentation and that there is a constant presence of staffing at the front door and a manager roaming the lobby.
• Effectively trouble-shooting any concerns or challenges raised by guests or staff ensuring that they are resolved promptly and making every attempt to preserve the trust relationship between the Hotel and its guests and staff.
• Controlling that all fiscal procedures on a shift are being properly adhered to and executed (the includes but is not limited to cash-ups, floats, account updates and reconciliations etc.)
• Ensuring that a thorough handover is given to the next shift, properly communicating all activities and challenges on shift; as well as any matters outstanding so that they can be properly attended to on the next shift.
• Accurately complete the daily manager checklist and ensure all duties for the entire team are completed, cash-up checked and signed off by yourself.
• Ensuring that guests gifting is sourced, ordered and stocked at all times for all guest occasions and gifting purposes.
• Configuring and sending BDA (Before, During and After) reports with Agents
• Ensuring all voucher emails are answered and vouchers for guest experiences put together according to company guideline while ensuring that the voucher account is always reconciled
• Ensuring the appropriate stationary levels are kept to ensure the team have the tools they require to perform efficiently
• Prepare and training analysis and design SST trainings for Front office departments.
• Quote and process and gift voucher requests. Reconcile and validate gift voucher redemptions.
• Reconcile and validate charges on the Front office house accounts – Gifting, Duty Manager, welcome drinks.

NB: Preference will be given to employees from the designated groups with the provisions of employment equity act, no. 55 of 1998, sisa internal recruitment policy as well as units employment equity plans.

Job Type: Full-time

Work Location: In person