Welcome back to our “Who is” series! If you’ve just joined us, the “Who is” series is all about job positions and career opportunities in the hospitality industry. We’ve already had a look at the organisational structure of a hotel and the role of a General Manager. Today we’ll be finding out more about what a Resident Manager does.

What does a Resident Manager do?

A Resident Manager is a manager who lives on the hotel property. He/she is on-call any time of day or night and his purpose is to to assist the General Manager with the smooth and profitable running of the hotel. Resident Managers are sometimes General Managers who live on-site.

Resident Manager responsibilities

The Resident Manager is responsible for:
•    Assisting the General Manager to run the hotel
•    Financial matters of the hotel including budget forecasting and control and training staff to correctly deal with the financial side of customer service
•    Setting a good example of service excellence to those under his authority
•    Training staff to meet service standard requirements
•    Preparing and carrying out detailed marketing and sales plans
•    Dealing with potential security problems and safety hazards
•    Resolving on-site issues at the hotel (relating to guests, employees or the property)
among many other duties.

The Resident Manager’s responsibilities depend on a number of factors including the organisational structure of the hotel. If he works under a General Manager they will share the workload of managing the hotel. If he is the General Manager, he is responsible for the successful and profitable operation of the hotel.

Who does the Resident Manager report to?

The Resident Manager reports to the General Manager. If he is the General Manager he reports to the hotel ownership, a management company or a board of directors.

Who reports to the Resident Manager?

A Resident Manager is usually employed at a large, full service hotel as an assistant to the General Manager so that there’s always a senior manager available on-site to deal with any immediate issues (for example, an upset customer or a safety emergency such as a kitchen fire). Because of this, the people who report to the Resident Manager are the same people who would report to the General Manager: the various department directors and managers.

Qualifications

A Resident Manager needs to have a good education such as a diploma in hospitality management and plenty of industry experience.

Skills

Vital skills are similar to those of a General Manager. They are:
•    Excellent communication
•    Working well independently and in a team
•    Outstanding problem solving abilities
•    Clear thinking and good decision making under pressure
•    Superb relational skills

Working conditions

A Resident Manager, like most hospitality industry workers, will work unusual hours. He is on call 24/7. Some Resident Managers work a normal 40 hour workweek and are then on-call after hours.

Earning potential

The earning potential of a Resident Manager depends on the property he’s managing. Salaries vary considerably from “Assistant Manager” type positions in small, limited service hotels to Resident Manager/General Manager positions in large, upmarket hotels. A range from R13 000 to R30 000 can be expected.

Job opportunities

A Resident Manager is likely to work at a large hospitality establishment like a hotel, casino hotel, ski/sports/beach resort or destination lodge.

The role of Resident Manager is high in responsibility and reward. It’s similar to a General Manager role (if not combined with it) and suits people who thrive in a fast paced, high pressure, people-intensive environment. Check in next week for more info on awesome careers in the hospitality industry.