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What does a front desk supervisor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a front desk supervisor do

The primary role of front desk supervisors is to oversee the front desk of an establishment. Their duties and responsibilities include welcoming guests, taking their personal information, and selecting the rooms that suit their needs. Other responsibilities also include communicating and guiding other hotel staff members, providing extra services as requested by guests, and resolving any problems that might experience by guests. You are more likely to be hired as a front desk supervisor if you meet several qualifications that include having relevant hotel experience, attention to detail, and committed to delivering the best customer service.

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Front desk supervisor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real front desk supervisor resumes:

  • Organize all large group events, manage company website and Facebook page.
  • Utilize extensive manage care knowledge including Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare to support business objectives.
  • Manage the doctor's agenda, reception area, phone calls, emails, POS system, and accounts receivables.
  • Manage POS deposits and reconciliations for membership and accessory sales.
  • Assist customers with reservation and hotel procedures, consistently manage PBX and hotel operations and customer relations
  • Manage facility procedures relate to insurance and billing and solve patients' queries regarding their insurance renewal and expiry.
  • Process and handle group rooming lists, guest reservations, and employee reservations requests using OnQ PMS.
  • Practice medical safety and CPR.
  • Authorize revenue allowances to remedy guest relate issues.
  • Set work schedules and staff meetings for CPR training.
  • Create new posting diagram for bellmen to maximize guest interaction.
  • Serve as a direct supervisor for the bellmen, drivers, and doormen.
  • Handle calls from pharmacy & other Dr offices with questions & issues they need addressed.
  • Schedule therapies, and class appointments using spa booking system; monitor wait lists, standard spa operational procedures.
  • Participate in hotels advertisements that assist in the booking of large companies, helping to increasing hotel's revenue.

Front desk supervisor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 23% of Front Desk Supervisors are proficient in Reservations, Guest Service, and Room Availability. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Integrity, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Front Desk Supervisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Reservations, 23%

    Streamlined effective operations when acting as swing manager, coordinating personnel scheduling and developments with guest reservations and large-scale bookings.

  • Guest Service, 10%

    Developed, implemented and monitored programs to maximize guest satisfaction and manage on-site guest service representatives.

  • Room Availability, 7%

    Greet guests with professionalism and provide them with room availability and hotel facilities information.

  • Computer System, 4%

    Screened potential applicants, assisted with default accounts and input information into multiple computer systems as necessary.

  • Customer Service, 4%

    Introduced and managed new cross-training programs, increasingly flexibility of scheduling, and enhancing effective customer service strategies.

  • Guest Rooms, 3%

    Partnered closely with four Housekeeping Supervisors to ensure guest room readiness.

"reservations," "guest service," and "room availability" are among the most common skills that front desk supervisors use at work. You can find even more front desk supervisor responsibilities below, including:

Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a front desk supervisor to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "information clerks must be able to explain policies and procedures clearly to customers and the public." Front desk supervisors often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "suggested and implemented daily operational procedures to ensure total guest satisfaction, department communication and shift transition. "

Integrity. Many front desk supervisor duties rely on integrity. "information clerks, particularly human resources assistants, have access to confidential information," so a front desk supervisor will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways front desk supervisor responsibilities rely on integrity: "used group specific learn and guest process insuring guest service recovery, building brand trust and overall guest satisfaction. "

Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of front desk supervisors is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday front desk supervisor duties, as "information clerks who work with the public and customers must understand and communicate information effectively to establish positive relationships." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "exercise conflict management with excellent interpersonal skills resolving guest complaints/problems in a professional and courteous manner. "

Organizational skills. For certain front desk supervisor responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "organizational skills." The day-to-day duties of a front desk supervisor rely on this skill, as "information clerks must be able to retrieve files and other important information quickly and efficiently." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what front desk supervisors do: "honed my organizational and time management skills through the successful completion of my night audit training. "

See the full list of front desk supervisor skills

The three companies that hire the most front desk supervisors are:

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Compare different front desk supervisors

Front desk supervisor vs. Team leader/supervisor

A team leader or supervisor is an individual who leads and supervises a workgroup's functionality through instructions and guidance in an organization. Team leaders provide support to staff members by way of coaching and skills development. They are responsible for preventing and resolving conflicts among staff members by setting ground rules and assigning tasks properly. They also organize team meetings and report the progress of a project to the management. Since they lead a workforce, team leaders must possess excellent verbal communication skills and have a great work ethic.

We looked at the average front desk supervisor salary and compared it with the wages of a team leader/supervisor. Generally speaking, team leader/supervisors are paid $15,956 higher than front desk supervisors per year.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between front desk supervisors and team leader/supervisors are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like customer service, payroll, and customer complaints.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, front desk supervisor responsibilities require skills like "reservations," "guest service," "room availability," and "computer system." Meanwhile a typical team leader/supervisor has skills in areas such as "safety procedures," "quality standards," "sales floor," and "process improvement." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

On average, team leader/supervisors reach similar levels of education than front desk supervisors. Team leader/supervisors are 3.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Front desk supervisor vs. Staffing supervisor

A staffing supervisor monitors work procedures and manages staff. They are responsible for hiring and training staff. They also create schedules and assign duties to junior staff members. They must ensure a positive work environment.

Staffing supervisor positions earn higher pay than front desk supervisor roles. They earn a $13,644 higher salary than front desk supervisors per year.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that front desk supervisor responsibilities requires skills like "reservations," "guest service," "room availability," and "computer system." But a staffing supervisor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "administrative tasks," "performance reviews," "eeo," and "loss prevention."

In general, staffing supervisors achieve similar levels of education than front desk supervisors. They're 3.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Front desk supervisor vs. Billing supervisor

A billing supervisor is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing the billing procedures of a company. Typically managing a team of billing specialists and clerks, a billing supervisor must set goals and guidelines, gather and analyze billing data, develop reports to be presented to directors and other executives, and create strategies to optimize billing processes. They must also monitor all procedures, ensuring it complies with the company's policies. Furthermore, as a supervisor, they must lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals while implementing the rules and regulations of the company.

An average billing supervisor eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of front desk supervisors. The difference in salaries amounts to billing supervisors earning a $21,370 higher average salary than front desk supervisors.By looking over several front desk supervisors and billing supervisors resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "computer system," "customer service," and "customer complaints." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from front desk supervisor resumes include skills like "reservations," "guest service," "room availability," and "guest rooms," whereas a billing supervisor is more likely to list skills in "patients," "billing procedures," "medicaid," and "billing system. "

Billing supervisors make a very good living in the professional industry with an average annual salary of $61,827. On the other hand, front desk supervisors are paid the highest salary in the retail industry, with average annual pay of $38,648.billing supervisors typically earn similar educational levels compared to front desk supervisors. Specifically, they're 3.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Front desk supervisor vs. Guest service supervisor

A guest service supervisor supervises and trains guest service staff to have a high standard for guest delivery and efficient communication between all service staff. They ensure all guests are assisted with any complaints or service issues, with tour and travel information provided. As a supervisor, they must ensure that all forms and documents/printing going into the suites are accurate at all times and approved by the hotel manager. They must be aware of each guest's name as soon as possible and support guest service staff with queries from guests and control issues with guests when escalated beyond their level of responsibility.

Guest service supervisors typically earn lower pay than front desk supervisors. On average, guest service supervisors earn a $472 lower salary per year.According to resumes from front desk supervisors and guest service supervisors, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "reservations," "room availability," and "customer service. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "guest service," "computer system," "good judgment," and "cleanliness" are skills that commonly show up on front desk supervisor resumes. On the other hand, guest service supervisors use skills like pos, local attractions, bellmen, and room revenue on their resumes.guest service supervisors enjoy the best pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $36,493. For comparison, front desk supervisors earn the highest salary in the retail industry.guest service supervisors reach similar levels of education compared to front desk supervisors, in general. The difference is that they're 1.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of front desk supervisor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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