Shangri-La\'s Summer Internship Experience

¶ … summer internship at Shangri-La

Hotel Shangri-La is situated in SuZhou's new district, which is of one of the major cities located in Jiangsu Province southeast and adjacent to Shanghai. Having 2,500 years of rich history, it is one of the rapidly developing cities of China. The unique factor about this city is the intermingling of traditional and modern culture. Shangri-La is one of the luxurious five star hotels of the city. Hotel comprises of 410 rooms which include 275 deluxe rooms, 29 Premier Suites, 86 Horizon Club and 20 serviced apartments. Hotel has a lobby lounge on the first floor which offers cocktails, drinks, wines, snacks and have seating arrangements for78 people. There is also a library in the lounge to provide reading facility. Moreover, next to the lounge is a "cafe Soo," pronounced as "Su." This cafe offers buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner and can accommodate 196 people at a time. SLSZ has special arrangements for the frequently returning Japanese customers and it offers a Japanese restaurant which is opened at the same floor. There are three ballrooms on the second floor and a Shang Palace Chinese restaurant which offers variety of Chinese cuisines. Spa and gym facilities are available on 5th floor. There are a total of 51 floors. Floors from 6th to 27th are rented to different companies. Guest rooms starts from 28th to 51th floor. The Horizon club lounge is there on 48th floor and serves floors from 43rd to 48th (Chen, 2011).

Brief description of the job for which you were hired

I moved to Horizon Club after working for one month at the concierge from June 6th to July 11th. In the Horizon club lounge I supported the section of Food and Beverage while the other section I worked at was the front desk. In Horizon, there are four different shifts labeled as A, B, D and S. Shift A works from 6am to 3pm as the breakfast buffet is served from 6:30 to 10 am. Shift B. works from 14:15 to 11pm and mainly serves "Happy Hour" buffet. Manager's shift, which is D, starts from 8:30 to 17:30. Shift S. works from 7 am to 11 am and 6 pm to 9 pm (Chen, 2011).

The first task which was assigned by the HR department during my internship was to assist the trainer for the TTT program. Also, I was assigned the work of Medical Insurance Data Sheet Update along with basic statistical analysis in SPSS. The last task assigned to me was assisting in a program called "Staff Product Purchase Scheme" (SPPS) (Subedi, 2012)

Describe the training you received

Staff for shift B. from every department got together every afternoon at the back office before job started. Thereafter, the Duty Manager, named Peter, used to provide us with customer information. More than 70% of hotel was occupied and there were many VIP arrivals to be served as well. As mentioned above, team B's major task was to prepare "happy hour" buffet along with next day's breakfast (Chen, 2011). Grace's job (my co-worker) was at front desk and she was assigned to do some paper work along with handling guest's check in/out. My job was in kitchen and I was assigned to fold napkins. I had to serve napkins for 76 seats. Every seat required 2 napkins which meant a total 152 napkins had to be folded. I also had to prepare the table ware for that day and next day's morning shift too. At times we also had to serve guests with snacks and soft drinks. Since Horizon club lounge serves limited floors, and most of the guests are business travelers, there are fewer customers coming in the afternoon. There are five hot dishes served in happy hour along with fresh vegetables, salads, smoked salmon, nuts, fruits, ice creams, cheeses as well as desserts. This buffet is free of cost. My job was to guide guests to their seats, offer drinks and dishes, take away empty plates and also ask for their feedback and suggestions. Regular and long-stay customers got very friendly with us. There used to be almost 30 guests coming in every evening. After happy hours, we had to place everything back in the kitchen. One person used to calculate the cost of total drinks while another counted the table ware in case of any loss. Our work used to finish at 21:00. Shift S, then moved in and cleaned the plates outside as we needed them the next day. My next task was to set tables, change the table cloth, place egg menu, salt, pepper, tooth pick, sugar and jams on the table. I had to close the area till 22:45. I had to ensure that all air conditioners are closed, meeting rooms, two side entrances, kitchen and two storages are also closed. A trainee may require two to four weeks in order to be familiar with the Horizon Club Lounge's food and beverage section. After one month, however, good trainees can touch front desk tasks (Chen, 2011), which is what I did. I worked for the first 200 hours in food & beverage department, and the next 200 hours within the human resource department.

Working as an intern in the HR department made me realize that I successfully acquired a lot of significant learning experiences which might be very useful in my career. The HR division of this hotel allowed me enough space and opportunities to learn and showcase my skills as a HR team member. I was able to use my theoretical information about HR while practicing the job and discussions. I actively participated in the department's meet-up and share my knowledge and views related to the performance of HR department of Shangri-La hotel. Moreover, I tried to gather more information about basic job functions of other departments in order to have good understanding of those departments with Hr department. I really appreciate their warm welcome and how they acknowledged my efforts and new ideas (Subedi, 2012).

Tasks you actually performed and job skills developed on the job

Throughout my internship program, I decided to work under the HR department in order to learn workflow of HR and other significant aspects pertinent to HR department along with understanding the corporate culture of a five star luxurious hotel. My aim was to bring my fresh perspectives to the department and I was fortunate enough to do so. HR department of Shangri-La hotel is responsible for attracting new employees, recruiting and evaluating performances. Employees' record is updated every day and accessed via the "System for Time and Recording' (STAR). All kind of leaves like sick, annual, casual and complimentary are also updated regularly. There are numerous tasks occurring in HR department which keep the senior assistant and senior supervisor busy the entire day. Medical insurance files of employees are updated every year. HR department also handles various trainings which include intra-department training, supervisor training, TTT and employee/trainee orientations. During my internship, SPPS (Staff Product Purchase Scheme) program was launched for the first time. Through this program, employees with at least one complete year on tenure were allowed to purchase any listed products from two dealers on annual installment basis (Subedi, 2012).

TTT - Train The Trainer

TTT was a three day workshop which was offered to senior executives of all departments. It was designed to coach about the effective procedures and techniques of training. Every participant was offered with team building activities, games and lectures about training their employees or subordinates. Throughout this training, every participant was required to organize a training program as well as give training to the co-apprentices. These co trainees then shared their trainings experiences and rated them as well. Next two days were given to practice what was taught in the training program. To get the completion certification, every participant was required to hold three trainings for his subordinates within one month. HR department makes sure that the newly trained trainer holds training program for his sub-ordinates on a regular basis. My responsibility was to gather and arrange resources for the programs and assist the trainer. However, I attended the training on my own. I, then prepared my own training module, and held practice training for my co trainees. To my and every one's pleasant surprise I received the best grading and ratings amongst all which eventually broke the stereotypes that interns are mere learners with nothing to offer. Everyone appreciated and acknowledged my effort which was remarkable (Subedi, 2012).

Company's mission statement

Shangri-la hotel is a five star luxurious hotel and the management is well aware of their social responsibilities. The mission statement clearly reflects their sense of responsibility and leadership for sustainable development.

The mission statement of the hotel is: "We envision a community of responsible and educated citizens who are environmentally conscious, practice social responsibility in their daily lives and inspire others to do the same. We commit to operating in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner whilst balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders. We strive to leader in corporate citizenship and sustainable development, caring for our colleagues and guests, seeking to enrich the quality of life for the communities in which we do business, and serving as good stewards of society and the environment." (Shangri-la's Social Responsibility)

Internal customer profile (list demographics; i.e., who works there? are there any common characteristics and/or qualifications, education of the associates)

Shangri-La is dedicated to providing highly personalized guest service. The hotel recruits for attitude as well as trains for talents and skills. Shangri-La hotels and resorts provides a highly acclaimed training program named Shangri-La care which is divided in to four modules and it is also in line with the group's strategic plans to become an industrial leader. All members and staff have to review these modules within six-month of joining the group (Rizal, 2007).

Within the group, Shangri-La is a living culture and it is highly supported by senior management and is constantly cascaded through the organization. Every hotel is required to allocate a certain budget for training and development. General Manager of the hotel makes sure that funds are spent year after year. To make sure that the guests at hotel feel special, the hotel focuses on five core values which include Respect, Hospitality, Courtesy, Sincerity and Helpfulness. The service hallmark of the hotel has the imbued value of "Pride with Arrogance." This hallmark focuses on the significance of guest loyalty which is achieved by pleasing the guests every time they visit the hotel. Every employer is required to be guest obsessed by doing more and going an extra mile, by being flexible and never saying no, by responding quickly and by focusing on their individual needs and anticipation (Rizal, 2007).

External customer profile (who is the customer; list as many customer demographics as you can)

The target market of Shangri-la hotel and resorts belongs to upper class mostly as it has been providing hotel services for business travelers. Company has proven itself the world's best hotel in management and services through serving this target market. Hotel not only provides with room services but also provides suitable venues to organize business meetings, conferences or any other event. Shangri-la hotel and resorts provide with stress-free and efficient accommodations for no less than 3000 people. The hotel has also launched a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. This program is a comprehensive approach towards their stakeholders beyond any revenue, legal obligations and profit. Stake holders include community members, customers, employees, suppliers and shareholders (Rizal, 2007).

People refer to the target market of Shangri-La hotels and also to the service personnel. Staff members who deliver their services at Shangri-la hotels are also referred by people. Since it is a five star hotel, the target market is upper class and business people who have higher financial and consumption capability. The project focuses on three Shangri-la hotels and resorts; trader hotels at George Town, and Golden Sands Resort at Batu Ferring beach. Tourists especially from eastern and western Europe visit the Batu Ferringgi Beach. It is said that these tourists from eastern and western Europe posse good financial and consuming abilities as compared to local travelers. The management of this hotel has positioned itself towards the tourists of high financial and consumption group (Rizal). Business men can afford five star hotels as their expenses are paid by their company, which chooses a high prestige hotel for their representatives to give a good impression of the company (Rizal, 2007).