The purpose of our interview was to familiarize us
in the aspect of the hospitality industry. We choose John Hartwick the
Night Operations Manager at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites in Duluth,
Minnesota. One member of our group is interested in hotel management,
one interested in travel administration, and is interested in becoming
a probation officer. John was a good choice because his job encompasses
a little bit of each of these three careers.
John Hartwick is the Night Operations Manager and
the person who oversees the security department. He has worked a
total of 12 years in the hospitality business, all of them at the Holiday
Inn. He started his career as a banquet houseman and has worked as
a waiter, reservations assistant, banquet manager, and front desk supervisor.
John has a Baccaularate of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stout
in Hospitality Management.
John's typical day starts out with departmental
communication, because communication is the foundation for any business.
This usually consists of verbal communication with department managers,
memos to the department, and e-mail. He then works on any correspondence:
confirmation letters, letters of apology, vendor correspondence, or written
employee warnings. The rest of the "typical" day is geared towards
troubleshooting. He says that there is not any specific day of time
that something can and will go wrong.
John feels that one of the biggest challenges that
his position hold, is that of staffing. This is not so much of a
labor pool that is difficult to choose from, but more so because of a shift
in work ethics. Over his 12 years working at the hotel, he has noticed
a definite attitude change, especially in that of college students.
These students know that this job is for a short time because they are
working for a future goal, and do not put their all into the job that they
hold at the moment. So, keeping motivated and enthusiastic employees is
rather difficult.
The purpose of the hospitality industry is to serve
people, to host people, and to keep people happy. Especially with
a hotel, there are certain generalities that need to be taken care of,
but each person has special needs and you cannot gauge what they may need.
As with any business, you want people to have a pleasant experience and
keep them coming back. In a hotel, the key term is "guest", and it
is very important because when you are a guest in someone's home, you often
get special treatment and personal attention. This is the basic concept
of what the hospitality industry is about, making people happy to keep
them coming back.
Duluth Visitors
and Convention Bureau Duluth
Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites
University
if Wisconsin - StoutThis interview was completed as a part of a project for Composition
3160 at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
The interviewers were and can be reached at the following:
Carrie Gervais
cgervais@d.umn.edu
Cheryll Patterson cheryll@uslink.net
Lynn Uberecken lubereck@d.umn.edu
