Use of English and Communication Factors in Hospitality in Kazakhstan

This chapter describes a project conducted in order to study the use of English and other communication factors in hospitality business in Kazakhstan. The research method involved interviews with employees in a Kazakhstani hotel.

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The following questions were asked

In what ways should employees communicate to their guests?

What is the impact of good communication skills in the service of customers?

Is writing knowledge critical to communication?

What problems do departmental heads encounter?

What is the function of English in communication in hotel industry in your experience?

What are the main language problems in hotel industry?

What are the ways to overcome language problems in the hotel industry?

The following people were interviewed: Asyl Toibayeva (Guest Relation Manager), Natalya Mukhranova (Revenue Manager), Zhassulan Seitkaliyev (Duty Manager), Tatyana Kan (Quality Manager), and Artem Tronin (Operation Manager) on January 26 at their hotel offices.

3.2. Analysis

The analysis of the answers revealed various aspects of communication between employees and hotel guests as well as use of English.

In their answers to question 1 (In what ways should employees communicate with their guests?) the respondents stressed the politeness factors in communication (A.T.: My opinion, in communication between employees to their guests, employees should be very polite and be able to listen to the guest. And also very important to talk to him friendly but the same time he should keep the distance between guest and himself because they are not friends and not colleagues. This is a customer, they need always remember become polite and professional manner., N.M.: smiling polite, Z.S. staff should communicate politely) as well as training in the norms of etiquette and professional behavior (A.T. professional manner, N.M. there is communication etiquette, Z.S. staff ethics and internal company standards, T.K. According to the procedures and standards). The answers indicating the aspect of training show that the hotel industry requires its staff to be most of all trained for the job. Training is a primary factor over intuitive personal attitudes, although personality factor was also noted, e.g. T.K. mentioned personal touch in dealing with guests and Z.S. finding individual approach, which are more likely to result from the staff members intuition than training only. Other factors contributing to proper communication with customers which were indicated by the interviewees referred to the ability to listen, but also developing the right relationship, such as not becoming too friendly (A.T.), as well as assuming the quests perspective and point of view (Z.S.), and being supportive throughout the guests entire stay (Z.SZ.). In conclusion it is highly recommended that employees should communicate to the guests with respect and courtesy. Reviews and complaints from visitors may be presented to the hotel management in written form or through verbal communication. Anyone who deals with such matters has to be well trained to settle scores on issues and shortly wisely and not to dismiss the question. Excellent behavioral and good communication skills help businesses to handle tabled issues with ease and quickness.

In their answers to question 2 (What is the impact of good communication skills in the service of customers?) the respondents felt that communication is very critical in the hospitality industry (A.T.: In the hotel industry the communication skills are the most important skills of the person or any employee because this is the bridge between customer and hotel. And this can impact for the future business or future well-being of the guest. Hotel industry means to work with people, who are with different mood, character. Communication skills will help any kind of employee to work., T.K. Better communication enhances exemplary results, N.M. When you have good communication skills, you can easily demonstrate that you are listening attentively and more knowing when to say sorry, Z.S. This may also lead to increase of the level of income that the hotel generates). They also believe that the knowledge of writing is critical to communication. Respondents agreed that writing and communication skills go handy in the provision of quality service in the hospitality industry. In conclusion, excellent communication skills tend to improve customer services as guests tend to spend more where they receive quality services. Employees greatly understand instruction from their supervisors, and they can cope with technological trends in the business.

In their answers to question 3 (Is writing knowledge critical to communication?) the respondents asserted the significance of writing skill: A.T. Of course, it is very important, because one of the ways of communication between customer and employees are writing. Communication means not only verbal but also written way, so it means emails, messages or info letters to the guest. Employee should have enough knowledge in grammatical and written way in order to provide correct information to the guest. Z.S. The good written forms are the positive or negative attitude of your customer. T.K. It shows your responsibility to ensure that the information to be transmitted is correct and objective. N.M. The receiver of the message must be able to understand. Z.S. The workforce in the hotel industry is also becoming more widespread). They asserted that writing is critical because it is one of the ways of communication between customer and employees. One of the respondents, however pointed out that significance of the writing skill depends on the employees post (N.M. It depends on the department actually). In conclusion, it ought to be said that spreading writing knowledge is a necessity for better corporate understanding. Supporting staff members and not assuming that they have background writing knowledge and experience of various customs and nationalities is essential for success.

In their answers to question 4 (What problems do departmental heads encounter?) the respondents asserted the significance of good communication: Failure of effective communication leads to poor provision of quality service to the customer and this in turn results to receiving tones of complaints and this reduces the number of customers they receive. Difficulties in the use of English resulting from inadequate pronunciation and fluency may cause difficulties (A.T.: accent problems and fluency.) but also lack of appropriate cross-cultural competence resulting in inadequate attitudes and styles of communication (attitudes towards authority and hierarchy all these may result in conflicts N.M. differences in direct and indirect communication, Z.S. if one of the team members can accurately find the cause of the problem, they can use appropriate strategies for the solution). Additionally failure to process documents, for example reports, that are essential to the running of the hotel affects the smooth running of the hotel.

In their answer to question 5 (What is the function of English in communication in hotel industry in your experience?) respondents stressed that the use of English is essential. A.T. In our hotel 80-85% of the guests are foreigners. So it means that function of English in my experience in this hotel is very big and most of the guests, who are coming, approaching my desk and asking any kind of questions, are foreigners and we are talking only English. N.M. Many will speak different languages from their own but plenty of them will be speaking English Z.S. Better communication is of great importance in the hotel industry which is now multicultural

In their answers to question 6 (What are the main language problems in the hotel industry?) they asserted communication challenges in the industry (A.T.: It seems we have overall world wild language English but it does not mean that there are no problems or barriers between foreigners in communication. For me the first language problems in my job are the dialects. All the guests in our hotel speak in English but they are from different countries, nationalities and they have different ways of speak in English and sometimes it causes problems. Some speaks very fast and not clear. Difference has very incorrect way of communication in English that also causes misunderstanding. , N.M. The most successful cultural teams deal with challenges in various ways such as structural intervention which entails the changing of the shape or the makeup of the team, Z.S. The best approach to tackling the many challenges depends on the particular circumstances). In conclusion, employers or the managers need to be fluent in the language that is commonly used in the place of work. In most countries English is commonly used therefore for one to head a hotel or department he or she must be conversant with the language used so as to issue instructions to the workers and this enables better leadership due to greater understanding between the employer and employee.

In their answers to question 7 (What are the ways to overcome language problems in the hotel industry?) they asserted ways in which language problems could be overcome (N.M.: of course, in every hotel we can face foreigners who do not speak English, Russian or Kazakh. For example guests from UAE, Saudi Arabia who speak only Arabic and do not understand English at all. In this case first of all very important to keep eye contact with the guest means a lot of things for example you can give a lot of information; if there is no language, they can show it, write, and draw pictures even., To achieve high performance and set a goal, the hospital managers must make huge attempts to proactively synchronize their operational environments with precise needs, lifestyles, values and cultures of their workforce, Z.S. employing the use of a team that comprises of members of different cultures could offer numerous advantages ). Within the hospitality workforce facing diversity varying in terms of generational, educational background, ethnic and socioeconomic, the main hindrances for effective communication can be a result of cultural and language differences. To achieve high performance and set a goal, hotel managers must make huge attempts to synchronize their operational environments with precise needs, lifestyles, values and cultures of their workforces.

Conclusion

Findings from these interviews indicate that Multicultural teams in the world face various difficulties such as differences in direct and indirect communication, accent problems and fluency, attitudes towards authority and hierarchy. All these may result in conflicts. If one of the team members can accurately find the cause of the problem, they can use appropriate strategies for the solution. Findings indicate that the hotel industry requires its staff to be most of all trained for the job so as to settle scores on issues wisely and not to dismiss questions. Training has been found to be a primary factor over intuitive personal attitudes.

Apart from that Employers or the managers need to be fluent in the language that is commonly used in the place of work. In most countries English is commonly used therefore for one to head a hotel or department he or she must be conversant with the language used so as to issue instructions to the workers and this enables better leadership due to greater understanding between the employer and employee.