This research work was developed with a central idea: the improvement of the Accommodation process from the design of a functional model and its operating procedure for the hotel product, of tourist facilities in Varadero, given the shortcomings presented in visits to facilities and the need to increase performance as a way of competitiveness.
Based on the information collected through research and the practical theoretical experience acquired by the author in specialty courses in floor management, as well as in Operations Management by processes, a functional model is described below for the improvement of the management of the Accommodation process, based on a conceptual model described in the bibliography prepared by Negrín Sosa (2003).
The aspects included in this article are:
Theoretical conception and description of the functional model.
Description of the operating procedure for the implementation of the functional model for the management of the accommodation process.
Introduction
Design of the functional model for the management of the accommodation process.
At this time the tourism sector is involved in complying with Resolution 26/2006 of the MTSS, for which its entities are called to make the necessary change to strengthen the Cuban economy.
The application of the Process Approach inside and outside the framework of Business Improvement constitutes a way to get closer to customers and to obtain better results in tourism activity.
Due to the characteristics of the service organizations and especially the tourism sector, it is necessary to emphasize the impact that the processes can have on the client and within them the basic or key processes, which are those that add value and they come into direct contact with him.
According to Negrín Sosa (2003), the essential flow processes or also called keys are processes that have a significant relevance for the performance of hotel activities; hence the importance for the tourism sector of having highly qualified HR in each of these essential processes.
Formerly people of low condition, in one way or another, generally entered the ranks of the qualified hotel reception positions. The management staff in this area consisted of people who had learned the trade; These positions are currently held by those who have studied for at least two years in technical schools or community colleges that offer courses in Hospitality and Tourism; but it continues to happen that despite the fact that all those who work today in the management of floors have knowledge related to the specialty.
The technological acceleration of our times has caused a rapid aging of the necessary knowledge to carry out the task with high levels of excellence and an improvement is essential that guarantees the improvement of work in the area that cannot be reduced only to obtaining a degree accredited by an academic institution. Experience shows us that permanent Training and Development plans must accompany the life of the company.
The peculiarities presented by the waitresses who work today in the Cuban facilities of the Varadero region, are not common to those that could appear in other similar places in the tourism sector, so in the present investigation, in response to these limitations in the performance of HR in this process and with the intention of putting a tool in the hands of the managers of the facilities, based on the focus on processes that allow support, facilitate decision-making, project training actions and guarantee the improvement of the performance of the apartment management personnel graduated from FORMATUR, in an approximation to Negrín Sosa (2003), a functional model for the improvement of tourist processes in the area of Accommodation is exposed to be considered, based on the bibliographic review carried out, which is one of the models that best adapt to tourist operations in Cuba.
Development
For the adaptation of the functional model for the Accommodation management process, it is necessary to classify the processes of hotel facilities in: strategic, essential flow and support, achieve the integration of multidisciplinary work teams for the study and improvement of the processes of the essential flow, and diagnose the current situation of the Floor Management sub-process in hotel facilities as an integral part of the Accommodation process, formulate improvement projects to solve the deficiencies detected, ensure that the process improvement projects are implemented as a permanent and systematic practice in the Floor Management department, use informative feedback mechanisms to evaluate the validity of the proposed improvement actions.
Points of contact that are necessary for the description of the functional model and the operating procedure for the management of the Accommodation process
The client: It is inescapably involved in the development of the service. It is an essential element and its presence is essential.
The physical support: It is the material support necessary for the production of service. It includes two categories: the instruments necessary for the service (furniture, equipment) and the material environment in which the service takes place (location, buildings, decoration).
Contact personnel: They are the people employed by the company who are in direct interaction with customers.
Business processes: Include strategic processes, essential flow processes and supporting processes.
The service: It is the result of the interaction of the client, the physical support and the contact personnel, through a process that will allow obtaining a benefit that must satisfy the client's needs.
The functional model designed includes the visible and non-visible elements for the client, necessary in the provision of the different services in the Accommodation area. The essential elements of the visible part are the physical support and the service or contact personnel and also the presence of other clients. The proportion of the total service operation that is visible varies depending on the nature of the service. On the other hand, the part of the system not visible to the customer is given by the rest of the Installation that interacts internally and is the technical nucleus that performs the support tasks.
For the adequate instrumentation of the functional model, the following is required:
A very specific definition of the result to be achieved, that is, of the service and its characteristics, as well as the existing restrictions.
Identification of the elements necessary to carry out the service, such as type of clients, profile of contact personnel and characteristics of the physical support.
The nature and type of relationships that these different elements will have, in order to facilitate the desired result.
By adjusting the Quality offered to the requirements of the clients, their full satisfaction will be sought (provided that the organization obtains economic benefits), as a way of achieving their loyalty to the supplier company. It will therefore be necessary that the products and services, their realization, the way to deliver them, the assurance mechanisms and the performance of human resources; are designed, organized, and implemented in such a way as to meet those goals.
The instrumentation of an information management system is considered one of the key factors for the successful application of the model. This system must have as essential characteristics being: efficient, flexible, transparent, timely and relevant, in such a way that it guarantees at all times the really necessary and useful information that allows making timely and effective decisions.
Considering that the proposed model is based on the focus on processes, it is developed as a complementary element to this, the General Process Map of the Facility, for its elaboration it was taken as a fundamental reference to Negrín Sosa (2003)), since its proposal was the more adapted to the characteristics of the hotel company, making the adjustments in correspondence with the facility that is taken as the object of study.
The Essential Flow Processes are made up of sub-processes and activities, generally several functional departments of the hotel intervene in their operation. The interaction of these processes forms the Essential Flow of the Hotel installation.
The identification of the Essential Flow allows, having the client as a fundamental objective, define the main points of contact, emphasize the actions of the personnel at these points and develop systematic improvement actions that contribute to a better functioning of the service delivery system, having as an effect the achievement of external customer satisfaction and the efficiency of the organization. The room cleaning service is carried out following the procedure established by noemas that are governed by the Floor Management sub-process.
In terms of control, it will enable the analysis of deviations between actual and expected performance in each of the moments of truth at the defined contact points.
Eleven phases are described below that make up the operating procedure for improving the Accommodation process. Particularities in the Floor Management sub-process.
The phases that make up the proposed procedure are the following:
1. Selection of the work team to improve the sub-process of flooring management.
This initial phase of the procedure includes the integration of an Interdisciplinary work team that will put into practice the improvement in the sub-process of floor management in the tourist facility under study.
A planning must be established for the meetings taking into account the objectives of the meetings, establish intermediate milestones to evaluate the degree of progress of the work, schedule the meetings in time, use a project planner, establish periodic releases with the management and take minutes. with the commitments acquired.
2. External and internal analysis of the object of study.
For the study of the general environment, the elements that may influence the behavior of the installation will be analyzed, the need to detect the opportunities to enhance them and also the threats to timely counteract the risks that may affect the strategic direction of the installation is raised. It seeks to create a culture of change in the face of the dynamics imposed by the environment.
3. Study of the accommodation process.
Identification of hotel processes, determination of the priority order of the Accommodation process, selection of sub-processes, detailed characterization, preparation of the Process Map. Flow diagrams, sub-process objectives, suppliers, inputs, customers and Outputs. Sub-process content, included activities, related processes, and related activities.
4. Identification of objectives of the sub-process to be evaluated.
In this phase, two different stages are distinguished that are mentioned below:
Contrast with the strategic objectives.
Contrast with the needs of customers.
5. Definition of the key factors to measure.
Here the qualification of the personnel, the flow of information, the quality of the personnel, the organization and standardization of the functions, the environmental requirements, among other factors considered by the work team, will be taken into account.
6. Establishment of the comparison pattern.
This is an aspect of great importance and is often forgotten by the personnel responsible for developing this type of activity. Based on the rigorous evaluations that are carried out, weak points can be determined and in this way a complete strategy can be established aimed at improving performance, which contributes to increasing efficiency, an important and essential task in current conditions, where competitiveness plays a major role.
7. Comparison of patterns and performance. Analysis of deviations.
For the measurement of the operation of the processes under study, the following stages are proposed.
Preparation of the sub-process evaluation questionnaire.
Sub-process evaluation.
8. Evaluation and selection of improvement alternatives.
Once the process performance measurement has been developed, the work team evaluates the possible actions to follow to solve the problems that have the greatest effect on the performance of the sub-process, taking into account its feasibility of application and its comprehensive impact on the entire system, under These conditions elaborate alternative improvement plans for later selection.
9. Establishment of the improvement plan.
In this phase, we start from the results of the previous stages, where the problems that have the greatest impact on the sub-process individually and in an expanded way on the strategic objectives of the company have been defined.
10. Execution of the improvement plan.
In this phase, the previously defined improvement plan is put into practice, its implementation can be prolonged in time, so it is necessary to develop a detailed planning with the definition of responsible parties and deadlines for each of the proposed improvement objectives.
11. Monitoring and evaluation of results.
The person in charge of the improvement team promotes the implementation of the Implementation Plan, controls its compliance and evaluates the effectiveness of the work carried out by monitoring the results obtained and making periodic presentations to the management of the Tourist Facility, the highest responsible for compliance with the plan of improvements in the flats management sub-process, which is entirely related to the Accommodation department.
Conclusions
With the completion of this research, the proposed general model can be adapted to the particularities of the Facility that is taken as the object of study, it is based on the focus on processes and considers a group of factors necessary for its successful instrumentation that are grouped in elements related to: Strategy, Information, Resources, Behavior and Organizational Structure.
The researched proposal allows to demonstrate that the structuring of the general process map of the hotel facility under study is an effective means to visualize the processes at all levels; ordered by their hierarchies and relationships; highlighting the significant importance of the essential flow processes for the performance of the installation areas, as it is in these areas where the service is materialized and the moments of truth take place.
As a mechanism for measuring the operation of the sub-processes, a synthetic meter has been developed, which allows the integrated evaluation of the meters of excellence of the same, quantifying the level of performance of these as a basis for the definition of improvement projects in which they manifest insufficient action.
Bibliography
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