Are great hotel general managers born or can they be made? The answer is probably a little bit of both. Education, training and on-the-job experience are all important elements that contribute to the effectiveness of a hotel general manager. The very best-of-the-best hotel general managers hone their skills and used their innate senses to make the hotel they manage stand out from the competition.
Personality Traits
As trite as the expression may be, you have to be a "people person" if you want to work in the hospitality industry. While management styles do vary, there are certain characteristics that are universal. The best hotel general managers exude confidence and enthusiasm in the work they do. They truly love what they do and it shows. Honesty and integrity are a given and your hotel GM should be straightforward and able to accept criticism. He or she should be consistent, focused, and able to motivate employees.
Employees
First, let’s start with the fact that no two days are ever alike for a hotel general manager. It is typical to encounter something new every day. Most hotel GMs start their day early and spend a full day on the property site. Many arrive at 7:00 am and do not get home until 7:00 pm.
Walking through the lobby door as daylight emerges, the hotel general manager heads directly toward the front desk to check-in with the manager and clerks. Greetings are exchanged and then any issues from the previous night are addressed.
While most of the guests are still up in their rooms, the hotel GM uses the quiet time to walk through the lobby and make sure it is ready when guests come down and are ready to start their day. The GM may tidy up a bit, straightening magazines and making sure the current day’s newspaper is available. He or she will make sure the lights are all turned on and the TVs are tuned to the right channels.
All of the time, while the GM is walking around the lobby and other public areas of the hotel, he or she is interacting with employees and guests. Communication is a big part of the job and a friendly smile and some encouraging words puts everyone in a positive mood.
Early morning is also the time for meetings. Each department usually holds a pre-shift meeting to get ready for the day. The hotel GM tries to make time to attend meetings with the housekeeping staff, the front desk personnel, sales & marketing team, and other departments that all contribute to the success of the hotel. While the hotel GM meets with individual departments, he also schedules a group meeting with all the department heads.
All of this usually gets done before 9:00 am, but that does not mean that the GM can slack-off the rest of the day. The rest of the day is filled with responding to voice mail messages, reading and writing emails, masking phone calls, reviewing documents and checking key statistics and hotel performance data.
After finding some time to grab lunch, the hotel GM may do another tour of the property. He or she may check a few rooms for cleanliness, talk with staff members, and have an engaging conversation with a hotel guest. While walking around the grounds, the GM always carries his smartphone so he can be reached at any time or can make a call at a moment’s notice.
You have to love your job to be a great hotel general manager. Being an effective hotel GM requires energy, enthusiasm, technical knowledge and excellent leadership skills. Even when you go home for the day, you are never really off-duty. If there is an emergency at the hotel, your phone will ring.
Realted Articles:
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5 Top Reasons Why Hotel Managers Have The Best Job
http://www.hcareers.com/us/resourcecenter/tabid/306/articleid/1273/default.aspx -
10 Ways to Help an Effective Hotel General Manager
http://hmghotelsblog.com/2014/09/29/10-ways-to-help-an-effective-hotel-general-manager -
The Day in the Life of a Hotel GM vs. CEO
http://hospitality.cvent.com/blog/charmed-by-hospitality-marketing/the-day-in-the-life-of-a-hotel-gm-vs-ceo
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