There is little doubt that quality front-line service is a competitive advantage in the hospitality industry.

1. IDENTIFYING THE QUALITY FRONT-LINE EMPLOYEE: AN EXPLORATION
by David Harold Moore

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Foreword
Upon entering the research for the topic selected, I came upon a pertinent area of
interest. To approach the area of interest I had to develop a broad train of thought
which eventually narrowed into the specific area of interest. I have summarized the
general knowledge gained from my readings and class discussions in HOA 703 and
HOA 607. The summary leads to a quality front-line employee identifier known as the
self-monitoring concept. I found this concept to be exactly what I am looking for and I
believe it to be the essential characteristic of the quality front-line employee. As a
positive example and a subject of personal interest, I have indexed and discussed the
Outback’s selection process to further expound upon the selection process.
INTRODUCTION
There is little doubt that quality front-line service is a competitive advantage in the
hospitality industry. To achieve that competitive advantage a primary objective must
be to hire quality front-line personnel that can carry out the quality front-line service.
With that primary objective, the question arises; how does one identify the quality
front-line employee? Well, before an answer to this question can be found, some of the
necessary characteristics of the front-line employee must be identified through the job
analysis. The job analysis enables us to create an effective selection process of which
identifying a quality front-line employee is part.
However, even before this can be done, that which makes services different must be
stressed.

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SERVICES
It is the unique aspects of the service which makes identifying the quality front-line
employee difficult. The unique aspects of a service include the intangibility of the
service (can’t touch), the inseparability of the employee and the customer, the
heterogeneity, and the perishability. (Bowen, 1994)
The intangibility of a service creates a perceived high risk by the consumer. Service is a
deed, a performance, an effort -- the customer can’t physically consume the actual
product. Services do include tangible actions such as; sitting in an airline seat, eating a
meal, and sleeping in a room. However, it is the service performance itself that is the
intangible.
The inseparability of the product refers to how the customer is a part of the product and
how the employee is a part of the service. In the service delivery system, both the
customer and the employee interact. This also means that customers are frequently
involved in helping to create the service product itself. In addition, in high contact
services, customers may also ‘rub elbows’ with other customers. So, there is no final
‘product’ without both the customer and the employee. In other words, the actual
product is the service.
In services, the product cannot be inventoried. That is what is meant by perishability --
there is a ‘real time’ assembly process. This means that the product/service is
simultaneously produced and consumed.
The heterogeneity of the product refers to how no two service experiences are the same.
This means that quality control is difficult due to the lack of consistency. This lack of
consistency is caused by the immense amount of human interaction during the real time
assembly -- mistakes are harder to conceal. These factors make it hard to control service
quality as well as offer a consistent product.

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SELECTING QUALITY SERVICE EMPLOYEES - A PROCESS
A key element in taming this beast is the selection process. It is in the selection process
that we identify the quality employee.
JOB ANALYSIS
As stated earlier, an effective selection process can not be created without the products
of the Job Analysis. Those are the job specifications and the job description which lead
to the job evaluation.
A job specification is a personal summary statement of the qualifications required in
order to perform a specific job up to a predetermined standard of acceptability. It
should include knowledge, education, experience, skill, physical attributes, ability, and
aptitude. (Goll, 1995)
A job description is an impersonal summary statement of all tasks, duties, functions,
responsibilities, authority, relationships, and liaisons of a specific job and its
relationship to other jobs in the organization (Goll, 1995).
A job evaluation attempts to determine the relative and comparative worth of different
jobs in the organization so that jobs of greater worth are rewarded by greater pay (Goll,
1995).
It is with these ground working tools (mostly the job specifications) that one builds the
platform from which one begins to identify the quality employee.

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THE SELECTION PROCESS ELEMENT OUTLINE
An outline of the selection process from G.E. Goll’s, Employee Development-A
Continuous Flow, has been included here for completeness. As he states, the ten
elements are not necessarily steps and if all are not included in the selection process
then let that be from analysis and not oversight.
1. Reception of applicants
2. Preliminary interview
3. Application form and/or resume’
4. Employment tests
5. Follow-up interview
6. Background information
7. Physical Examination
8. Interview with ultimate supervisor
9. Placement
10. Final Selection
It is through the use of these elements that we identify the quality front-line employee.

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THE QUALITY EMPLOYEE
The selection process needs to be studied and improved upon continuously to
consistently find the most qualified employees. The role of the employee in the service
encounter is much too vital to allow any unqualified employee to represent the
company. Therefore, the first step in identifying the quality employee is to identify the
organization’s values. This is so you can look for a commonality of values in the
potential employee.
Although values were not mentioned in the Job Analysis discussion, this is the most
important element in identifying the quality employee. It is the values of the
organization which underlie the norms & goals of the organization. And, of course, the
necessity that the employee relate to these values is essential to the success of the
employee and eventually the success of the organization.
With relating values being the core characteristic of the quality front-line employee, one
of the most important characteristics is the desire and will to provide good service
(Heskett, 1986). The desire to provide good service comes from the server’s personality
and not the individual’s capability in the technical skills (Samenfink, 1992)). For front-
line employees, the analysis of technical abilities, while important, does not seem to be a
crucial issue; rather, the stumbling block is the quantifying of the individual’s
interpersonal skills (Task, 1990). The front line employee needs to posses skills in both
public relations and interpersonal areas (Chase, 1978). The actual interpersonal skills of
the employee and the process to identify those skills should play a prominent role in the
selection process (Samenfink, 1992). The selection focus must shift from the trainable
technical skills to the seemingly untrainable personality skills of the employee while
keeping a balanced approach in mind. So, how do we identify those seemingly

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untrainable personality skills. A piece of the identification/selection process is
employee testing.
EMPLOYMENT TESTS
There are many employment tests in use today. However, for the purposes of this
paper, a promising personality test will be discussed. While discussing the personality
test one should remember that they are less reliable due to the value-masking behaviors
of the test-taker (Goll, 1995). Although considered to be less reliable, the personality
test may well be considered the next step in attaining the all too necessary competitive
advantage.
PERSONALITY TESTING
To tap into the dimension of personality, Tschol (1989) recommends the use of selection
instruments that identify job applicants with values and personalities that make them
want to provide friendly and helpful service. The use of personality tests in the
selection process allows the organization to identify the necessary personality style for
the successful completion of the job. One of the most promising personality tests has to
do with the concept of self-monitoring.
Self-Monitoring Concept
Heskett (1986) proposed that the orientation of successful front-line employees should
include flexibility, tolerance for ambiguity, the ability to monitor and change behavior
during the service encounter and empathy with the customer. The comparison of these
characteristics to other researchers show a high similarity, especially in the area of the
ability to monitor and change behavior (Samenfink, 1992). The characteristic is
important in the hospitality industry since it involves interacting with groups whose
values and norms differ. The need for servers to adjust their service level depending

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upon the cues given by the consumers is a prominent need. If it is possible to identify a
personality measure that would tap into the ability to monitor and change behavior,
then it would be beneficial for use in the selection process.
As it stands now, the use of testing devices in identifying the service potential of an
employee is still in its infant stages in the hospitality industry. However, the test that
enables us to identify an employee with the ability to monitor and change behavior
during the service encounter will obviously make the selection process more effective
(Heskett, 1986). For example, self-monitoring employees pick up non-verbal cues from
customers and adjust their own behaviors in response to these cues (Task, 1990). A self-
monitoring scale/test has the potential to identify employees with this behavioral
flexibility that is required in the hospitality industry (Samenfink, 1992).
The High Self-Monitor
Snyder, the man who developed the self-monitoring scale in 1974, defines a high self-
monitor as an individual who “out of concern for acting appropriately in social
institutions, has become particularly skilled at controlling and modifying social
behavior and emotional expression to suit his surroundings on the basis of cues in the
situation which indicate what attitudes and emotions are appropriate”. The high self-
monitor “is particularly sensitive to the expression and self-presentation of others in
social situations and uses these cures as guidelines for monitoring own self-
presentation” (Snyder, 1974). Snyder (1987) later refines the definition by stating that
high self-monitors “are individuals who are aware of their own performance and
skillfully adjust their behavior to convey the desired image, acting like different people
depending on the situation and their audience. They are in a large measure social

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chameleons, using their finely tuned self-presentational skills to slip in and out of a
wide variety of social roles to promote smooth social interactions”.
CONCLUSION
The self-monitoring scale/test is currently being developed and tested. Once the test
becomes relatively reliable, the ability to quantitatively identify the high self-monitor
becomes attainable. With that ability we are better able to control the intangibility, the
inseparability, the heterogeneity, and the perishability of the service product.
Furthermore, by accepting the self-monitoring concept and making it an essential piece
of the selection process, total reliance on the few selecting elements available is
eliminated. The addition of an essential dynamic creates less uncertainty. In addition,
by placing the quality individuals in the front-line service position, the service manager
will increase the probability of achieving total service quality - the competitive
advantage all must seek!
Afterword
In the use of all these selection tools one must ensure that their questions and
practices fall within the EEOC & ADA legislation. This is a necessity. One must also be
aware of the necessity for having a quality recruitment & orientation process. These are
both essential steps in selecting & identifying the quality front-line employee. Finally,
once the employee is identified and selected, it is a-whole-nother thing to keep the
employee stimulated and satisfied with the job the employee was selected for. (No one
said managing a quality service was easy.)

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•REFERENCES•
Bowen, John. Class Notes from Hospitality Service Management at UNLV. Spring,
1994.
Chase, R.B. Where does the customer fit in a Service Operation? from Harvard
Businees Review Volume 56. 1978 page 137-142.
Goll, G. E. Employee Development - A Continuous Flow. 1995
Heskett, J. L. Managing in the Service Economy. 1986
Samenfink, W. H. Identifying the Service Potential of an Employee through the use of
the Self-Monitoring Scale. from the Hospitality Research Journal Volume 15, issue 2.
1992 pages 1-10.
Snyder, Samenfink, W. H. Identifying the Service Potential of an Employee through the
use of the Self-Monitoring Scale. from the Hospitality Research Journal Volume 15,
issue 2. 1992 pages 1-10.
Task, Samenfink, W. H. Identifying the Service Potential of an Employee through the
use of the Self-Monitoring Scale. from the Hospitality Research Journal Volume 15,
issue 2. 1992 pages 1-10.
Tscholl, Samenfink, W. H. Identifying the Service Potential of an Employee through the
use of the Self-Monitoring Scale. from the Hospitality Research Journal Volume 15,
issue 2. 1992 pages 1-10.

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The Outback Selection Process
The employee selection process consists of four stages as shown on the flow chart
following this page. The first step is the application review and initial screening. The
second step is a four part test consisting of a simple Gauge and Dial Reading Aptitude
Test; a Restaurant Employee Aptitude Test consisting of 40 psychological questions; a
Self-Description of Feelings and Emotions over the past year; and finally a Biographical
Questionnaire. This test must be passed for the potential employee to continue on in
the selection process. The third step is a patterned interview given by the assistant
manager in which certain responses are looked for. The fourth step is the final
patterned interview given by the managing partner. Upon completion of the final
patterned interview inconsistencies and consistencies are looked for between the two. If
the potential employee passes all four tests then the employee is considered qualified.
Since I have passed all four stages of the selection process and am now working at the
Outback, I am able to comment on its effectiveness. First, I found a mistake on the final
question of the Gauge test -- the longitude and latitude answers do not have
North/South and East/West directions. Therefore many may choose none of the above
as the answer when the key says letter ‘b’ is the answer. A minute mistake. Besides
that and a few other unrealistic question/answers (question 18 on the Employee
Aptitude Test) I believe the selection process to be extremely effective. The only
problem I have found is that no one seems to realize that all the process does is help
identify the quality front-line service employee. The real work begins upon the hiring
of the employee. The training, educating and developing of the employee leaves much
to be desired at my store. In other words, there is little to no follow up. The employee
is practically released upon the customer. Of course, this is where management fails to
see the continuation of the swamp!