HEAD OF QUALITY

PRESENTATION

With 39,000 hotel and tourist accommodation businesses in France, the competition is getting tougher every year. To keep ahead of the competition, a hotel complex needs a quality manager. This intermediary accompanies each customer throughout their stay, to effectively determine their level of satisfaction. A customer experience that will enhance the organisation’s services.

WHAT IS A HEAD OF QUALITY? 

Also known as the quality and attitude manager, this professional’s primary task is to establish a bond of trust between users and the hotel establishment. This connection, made up of positive, negative and constructive criticism, will encourage the hotels to evolve.

As a key element in a company, they represent one of the faces of the organisation, so as to make a good impression on the reputation, notoriety and prestige of their establishment.

Able to professionally manage and supervise a team, the quality manager can also thrive in different fields (industrial, environmental, agri-food, electronics, etc.).

WHAT ARE THE HEAD OF QUALITY‘S TASKS? 

Focused on compliance with protocol and customer satisfaction, quality managers communicate regularly with the general management of their hotel franchise.

Here are a few examples of the tasks that define this job:

• Define, ensure and maintain the organisation’s good brand image
• Train and manage your team
• Co-ordinate the action of internal and external control bodies
• Supervise and control compliance with the establishment’s rules
• Draw up a schedule of controls
• Dialogue with your colleagues and managers
• Monitor and support several hotels in the same chain (if necessary)
• Analyse and learn about the various standards, Gather information on the hotel’s status
• Lead meetings
• Manage interpersonal and organisational conflicts
• Secure the company’s future
• Use tools to monitor customer feedback
• Ensure compliance with health, safety and environmental standards
• Carry out quality management
• Draw up effective action plans

In order to optimise, standardise and improve customer satisfaction, the customer satisfaction officer contacts the hotel’s various department heads personally or with his team. Interacting with all the players in the hotel is therefore essential.

Most of the time, this employee is on the move and frequently works outdoors. Accustomed to stable and regular working hours, the employee may work evenings, weekends and public holidays, depending on the period.

WHAT QUALITIES AND SKILLS DO YOU NEED TO BECOME A HEAD OF QUALITY? 

To shine in your profession, you need to have or develop a host of professional qualities and great personal skills.

• A diplomat with a synthetic mind: available and willing to listen, a quality manager knows how to show firmness to bring a project to a successful conclusion. With a keen sense of analysis, they are able to adapt to the difficulties they encounter.
• Uncompromising rigour: motivation, responsiveness and discipline are the hallmarks of this profession, which is little known to the general public. In the long term, budgeting and negotiation skills will be of great importance to your career. You will also need to be familiar with hygiene regulations.
• Between creativity and linguistic mastery: Capable of coming up with bold, avant-garde ideas, the manager is adept with foreign languages. Skilled and adept when it comes to using office automation tools, they are equally at ease with communication and management techniques. Finally, being sensitive to sustainable development in such a professional environment remains a decisive factor.

WHAT ARE THE SALARY AND PROSPECTS FOR A HEAD OF QUALITY?

In terms of salary, a quality manager earns between €2,900 and €4,100 gross per month (between €35,000 and €50,000 per year). With experience and time, this salary can increase. Like most jobs in the hotel industry, the salary varies according to the hotel and its standing. So there are a lot of parameters to take into account before defining your exact salary.

After many years of professionalism, a quality manager can hope to become operations manager/director or director. This is still within a similar framework, but will require greater responsibility and organisation.

Alternatively, they could take over the management of a hotel complex themselves, or join a consultancy specialising in Quality consulting and training. Finally, thanks to their versatility, quality controllers also have the opportunity to become project managers.

HOW DO YOU BECOME A HEAD OF QUALITY?

To become a quality manager, students must first have a baccalauréat (general, technological or vocational baccalaureate). With a baccalaureate in their pocket, young graduates can enter a school specialising in the hotel industry, such as the CMH Academy, which specialises in hotels, tourism, luxury goods, communication and events.

The CMH Academy offers both initial and sandwich courses (apprenticeship or professional training contract), ranging from bac+3 to bac+5, including :

• The Grande École Programme (in 5 years)
• The Bachelor’s Degree (in 3 years)
• The MBA (in 2 years)

Recognised on a European and international scale, the CMH Academy’s two professional qualifications are RNCP level 6 and 7 diplomas accredited by the French State.

Offering bilingual courses, this school in Paris’s ninth arrondissement offers its students sandwich courses. These courses are punctuated by work placements and assignments abroad. The aim of such in-depth learning is to prepare students as well as possible for the job market and to facilitate their post-graduation career prospects.

Aside from a possible venture into higher education, recruiters will greatly appreciate students with a solid, well-rounded CV (curriculum vitae). Multiple experiences (work placements, fixed-term contracts, permanent contracts, sandwich courses, etc.) in the hospitality industry will add real value to your application. Whatever role you’ve played (baggage handler, receptionist, barman, etc.), getting to know this world will be to your advantage.

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