Graduate Diploma in Business International Hospitality Management (Level 7)
Industry Practicum and Research Project-7501
Name: Priyanka R Patel
Student Id: 18285
Programme: WG5
Assessment number: 1
Name of assessment: Practicum Report
Submitted to: Rashmi Kotin
Industry Practicum Report
onChiles Mexican Taqueria
Westfield St. Luke’s Mall, Auckland
Training Period: 10th July 2017 to 24th September 2017
INTRODUCTION
The practicum training is an vital part of the Graduate Diploma in Business International Hospitality Management (Level 7). It is intended to provide students learning experiences and the application of knowledge and skills in hospitality industry. The practicum is a co-operative education which aims to achieve a balance between classroom study and off-campus work experience in hospitality-related industry. The goal of the practicum is to prepare the student for competent and responsible practice in the hospitality sector. The practicum training is an exciting and memorable experience for the student because it gives the first opportunity to employ the skills and theories that is learned during classroom studies.
In 300 hours of my duties, I have so much to learn about my hospitality skills at my workplace at Chiles located at St. Luke’s Mall, Auckland. It is a food-court store serving only Mexican menu to the customers. My duty starts from morning till afternoon during the week .Thursday and Friday is full-time working days. The types of duties are handling the till, kitchen hand work, basic pre-preparation of the menu, stock management, taking the orders and preparing the menu and cleaning at the closing time of the store. I am assigned in the area that should have to clean and wipe the glasses, mop the floor, wipe the pan and arrange the fillings in the pans for the menu. We have to make it sure that are clean all the day.
The menu at Chiles are Quesadilla, Burritos, Burrito Bowl, Tacos and Nachos, Enchiladas and Salads Also, I have learned how to prepare the above items after taking the orders. I learned how to decorate the menu items with the different fillings and some toppings. At starting it was hard to do the assigned tasks but later during the busy days it developed my confidence to do work effectively and work faster.
There are 6 staff people including Head Chef cum Manager at my workplace. All of them have the same role for having multiple tasks starting from the basic hand-work to cleaning the store. The Restaurant Manager plays the vital role for the entire store management. The basic function includes responsibility for maintaining a smooth and efficient flow of operation in the store, and looks after everything is that is carried out in accordance with required standards and policies.
Also, he organizes the flow of the front-of-the house and back-of-the house. He also delegates side duties to subordinates. In addition, he conducts job orientation and training and has 9 years of job experience in the hospitality field. He also checks productivity report of each position in the store. Talking about the other staff, they are always nice to me they are also nice to serve the customers. They are always alert to handle the customers at busy hours. They also trained me how to prepare the menu, taking the orders and the payment. Also, how the next thing must to do after finishing the order, how the proper serving of food and beverage, what should the good posture of serving the customers. They are advices like when serving the customers you must wear a smile with the eye contact, and good communication. In taking order you must aware, and alert, always in the favour of the customers. The staff is always a friendly to, they makes us a confident to learn many things of the work to share with me. Also, they make sure to serve the food in correct order and while cash handling make sure the correct receipt they distribute to the customers and correct bill and right change of their money. Lastly, the staff is always open minded and listen complains of the customers, whether it is good or bad.
THE MANAGERIAL PROBLEM
Effective communication amongst employees would lead to customer satisfaction
This report helps to present the findings of issues, challenges and trends that hospitality industry. Some issues that will influence the global hospitality industry include sustainable development of the organisation, labour cost, multicultural issues and higher education. Challenges that facing the hospitality industry includes the operating issues, marketing issues, technological issues and economic issues. Some managerial issues that affect the hospitality industry including work tardiness and turnover. Most hospitality jobs are low paying so employees may be less reliable.
The managerial problem that I have identified within my workplace is the level of the communication. Excellent communication skills enhance customer service experience as it conveys that you are listening to your guests, valuing their feedback and conveying clear messages. Good communication skills will impress your customers which will further prove beneficial to your business. Few of the staff members might be able to speak in manageable English but those who don’t have English as their first language suffer due to their inability and fail to understand simple instructions and information. CITATION HOT14 l 1033 (HOTELOGIX, 2014)Within the hospitality industry, communication plays a very important role in the hospitality industry. A customer not only pays for the food, room, or product, he also pays for the services. A customer can be in a bad mood but a broad smile on the faces of the employees in a restaurant can change the mood of the customer and make him feel good. You need to be very patient, cool and composed and need to keep yourself calm while handling difficult customers. Some steps on how to improve hospitality communication are discussed below:
In hospitality industry the staff should be very well trained. So that they can provide good professional services.
A good command over communication can help you satisfy your customers because after all hospitality is all about services.
All correct and right information should be provided to the customers. It is very essential to keep your customers well informed ahead of time.
The staff should be very fluent in English. Even if they are not aware of any foreign language they can interact in English with them.
All the staffs should know about the day’s menu and should be able to respond to the questions of the customers regarding menu and food.
Staffs should talk very politely and softly with the customers and do not disappoint the customers.
