Ms. Farah, nicknamed Farah, is already familiar with the tasks and activities in her position as the Shift Leader. For her, the job is not something requiring intense effort. She regards work as a hobby and claims that she never feels stressed in handling her tasks and daily work problems. However, she is very focused in getting the job done and will try her best to serve the guest and achieve work objective. As Shift Leader, she is aware that customer satisfaction is her first priority.
Ms. Farah is a practical worker, a doer rather than a planner. She solves problems by using her past experience and gut feeling. She is a fast worker with great physical energy and stamina. She claims that she has to come up with quick action to ensure customer satisfaction. She is flexible in managing her tasks and activities, even though she still wants her people to work according to the systems and procedures.
Ms. Farah projects herself as a team player who has high sense of responsibility. She treats her team members as family. She is willing to give help and support when her team needs it. On the other hand, she admits that it is difficult for her to be strict and firm because she does not want to offend others. She applies personal approach in motivating her team and gives them a chance to change and improve their behavior.
As to decision making, Farah claims that she is already familiar with daily work problems, which are normally related to guest complaints. She tries her best to give explanation tactfully even though sometimes their complaints cannot be resolved because it is not supported by the hotel facility – like there is no cable TV provided in this 5-star hotel. She relies on hotel standard procedures to carry out a decision and consults her direct superior when problems are outside her line of authority.
A. PERSONALITY
Ms. Farah comes across as a calm but friendly individual with smile in her face. She enjoys social interaction and meeting people. She develops good relationship either with group and individual. Emotionally balanced, she can control her emotions and will express feelings appropriately. She will use tact and diplomacy when persuading people. Basically she dislikes conflict situations and tends to be accommodative in settling conflict with others. She adapts to routine work with ease and naturalness.
Ms. Farah sees her work as something enjoyable and claims that she is currently happy working in Sun Jaya hotel. She envisions that she will stay longer in Sun and sees a good career prospect in the future. Currently, she is at her best to support her team and superior to achieve company’s objectives.
B. STRENGTHS and AREAS FOR DEVELOPMENT
STRENGTHS:
• A practical worker, she likes using past experience and shortcuts to handle tasks and anticipate work problems.
• She is a fast worker. She is active and can be effective under time pressure.
• She has high sense of responsibility. She is willing to help her team members and be accountable for their work and action.
• A good follower, she works within company rules and regulations and direction given by her superior.
• She is sincere and modest, displays empathy in dealing with others both as group and individual
• She is calm and patient but can defend her opinions when the situation calls for.
AREAS FOR DEVELOPMENT:
• She does not project strong leadership qualities. She tends to use her social skills and personal approach in managing people. She may be difficult to discipline people and take unpopular decisions.
• She is a doer who is only effective within structured environment. She may be too dependent to the organization and expects to be given clear direction and guidance to conduct her role effectively.
• She tends to maintain her usual work systems and approach. She may require sufficient time and needs to be convinced once change is going to be implemented.
C. SUMMARY and RECOMMENDATION
Ms. Farah started her work history in Sun Jaya hotel in 1989 as F & B staff. After this, she was transferred to several sections, like reception, guest relation officer in the executive floor and in the lobby. She was promoted to Shift Leader in 2001 and holds this position up to present. She reports directly to the Front Office Manager and is mainly responsible for supervising the front desk officers to be able to handle front desk daily activities and serve guests properly.
Ms. Farah is a type of a good follower who is supportive and very accommodative towards his team members and organization. She has genuine loyalty to organization and respects the hierarchy. Her sincerity and social skills are her major assets, which are supporting her in dealing with guests, her team, colleagues and boss. On the weaknesses’ side she may have difficulty in operating in loosely defined situations, likewise, she needs clear guidance and back up to be able to work on her tasks. She may be seen as too cautious and reliant to her boss and the organization.
Based on the above findings, we find that Ms. Farah functions quite effectively and her personality profile seems to support her well in her present position as Shift Leader. Although she is eager to learn and develop her knowledge and skills, she does not show high ambition to further strive for success. We recommend to keep her in the current position. She can be a good backbone for supporting company operations in the front office department.