Soft Skills In The Hospitality Industry

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In today 's world, a lot of times we think hard is better. Work hard! Play hard! Drive a hard bargain! Hard may mean strength such as "hard as a rock" versus soft which may seem weak as in "Don 't be a softy." Apples taste better hard and, to many peoples ' tastes, so does cheese. There may be lots of things that work or seem better when they are hard but when it comes to service, it 's the soft skills that will enable the most memorable results, not the hard ones. While it is true that hard skills are essential and important and will get the job done, it is, in fact, the soft skills that will make the emotional connection and inspire the lasting impact most hospitality leaders desire, and which is much more important than simply ‘getting the …show more content…

These skills are often also referred to as interpersonal skills. The most important soft skill, possibly in any industry, is communication. Communication is key in the hospitality industry as a majority of the work involves talking to customers, understanding what they require, and providing it in a manner that makes them feel welcome. For example, while a front desk agent may be efficient at checking people into a hotel, if he or she does so in a manner that seems hurried, or that in any way suggests that he is insincere in his welcome of the guest, it would immediately tarnish the experience for the guest. Therefore, we can see how important it is for employees in the hospitality industry to have superior communication …show more content…

No matter how good one’s hard skills may be, this is an industry where it would indeed be difficult to get very far without the adequate soft skills to help the person along. It is, after all, the soft skills that will generate customer loyalty and positive feedback. One example of this is of a butler working in a Taj hotel in Mumbai, Neville, who was tasked to serve at a party that Captain Bhasin, a guest at the hotel, wanted to host in his suite. Captain Bhasin had brought his own refreshments, exotic nuts from his travels abroad. However, when these nuts were served at the party, a lady guest came up to the butler and informed him that they were stale, and went on to rebuke him for the same. Although Neville could have easily passed on the blame to the host by saying that the nuts had been brought by him, and were thus not the hotel’s responsibility, he knew that this would make things awkward for the Captain Bhasin as well as his guests, and so stayed mum on the topic. When Captain Bhasin found out about this, he was most touched, and thanked the butler profusely. This is an important lesson in the importance of soft skills; although technically, Neville had done his job by serving the guests and looking after their needs, he went the extra mile to save Captain Bhasin unnecessary embarrassment, and so managed to gain not only the respect and gratitude,

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