PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF GUEST SERVICE AGENT IN THE FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT AT THE WESTIN RESORT & SPA UBUD, BALI

Purpose: The purposes of this research were to found out the performance of Guest Service Agent (GSA) in Front Office Department at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, and to find out the most significant indicators that affect the performance of Guest Service Agent in Front Office Department at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali. Methods : The data collection methods used were literature studies, observations, observation sheets, and interviews. The data analysis techniques used were qualitative descriptive data analysis techniques. Results and discussion : The results of the research on the Observation Sheet Hourly Performance Process Form and interviews showed that the overall performance of the Guest Service Agent (GSA) at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, was considered reasonable by the superiors of Guest Service Agent (GSA), and has met the expected standards but requires continuous supervision and direction. Indicators rated Strong Performance (SP), including Problem Solving and Decision Making, Adaptabil-ity/Stress Tolerance, Time Management, Communication, and Customer Relations. Implication : The indicators assessed Key Contributor (K), which includes indicators Contributing to teams and Professional Demeanor. One of the seven indicators considered the most influential to the performance of Guest Service Agents was the Contributing to Teams indicator.


INTRODUCTION
The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, is a five-star hotel under the Marriott International Group and opened on December 29, 2019.It is located on Jl.Raya Lod Tunduh, Br.Kengetan, Singakerta Village, Ubud District, Gianyar Regency, Bali, Indonesia, and it can be reached in about 1 hour from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.A hotel is an accommodation business entity or a company managed by its owner by providing food and beverage services, bedroom facilities to traveling people, and service for customers staying at the hotel can pay a reasonable amount for the services received without any special agreement.(Nurnawati & Ardyrusmarryya, 2017;Sulastiyono, 2011:5;Ningrum, 2019).The room facilities owned by The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, are 120 rooms consisting of 92 deluxe rooms, 26 suites, and two villas, and all rooms are non-smoking.Hotel facilities are usually adjusted to the number of stars in the hotel.The increasing number of stars in a hotel, the more facilities are provided to the people who stay in a hotel (Chandra et al., 2015).In addition to room facilities, The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, also offers other facilities to support guests' comfort during the stay, such as Tabia Restaurant, Tall Trees Restaurant, Pool Bar / Tall Trees by The Pool, Lobby Bar, Heavenly Spa by Westin, Westin Workout® (Fitness Center), Westin Family (Kids Club), Chakra & Prana Meeting Room.Besides, the hotel's strategic location, The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, has also been certified CHSE.
CHSE certification is the process of granting certificates to Tourism Businesses, Tourism Destinations, and other Tourism Products to provide guarantees to tourists to the implementation of Hygiene, Health, Safety, and Environmental Sustainability.The aim is to improve efforts to prevent and control COVID-19 for people in public places and facilities to avoid new epicenters/clusters during the pandemic (Ministry of Tourism, 2020).With some requirements of this health protocol, it is expected that tourists are interested in traveling and feel comfortable about the cleanliness of the tourist attractions they visit (Bascha et al., 2020).This success is supported by all departments in the hotel that work together to improve the quality of service so that the hotel's operations will run well.One of the leading departments in The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, is the Front Office Department.
The Front Office is a department located at the front of the hotel close to the lobby, with its location in front, of course, one of the most searchable areas seen by guests (Bagyono, 2012).The front office department is one of the hotel departments located at the front.That has a vital role, which can be said to be the hotel's heart, as it becomes an information center for guests and other departments.The front office must provide itself with information, both about the hotel facilities and services, as well as information about outside the hotel, such as tourist attractions, foreign currency exchange centers, entertainment venues, and others.(Suputra, 2019;Sanjang et al., 2016;Hadi, 2014).To support the operational success of the front office, the department is usually divided into several sections that have their respective roles and duties to provide maximum service.
One part of the Front Office Department is the Guest Service Agent.A guest Service Agent is an employee who has several primary duties and responsibilities, such as welcoming guests who will check-in process efficiently, precisely, quickly, friendly, and polite so that guests get a good impression (Sasmita & Arief, 2017, p. 8).Guest Service Agent (GSA) is required to have complete skills or multi-skills according to the field of work in the front office, for example, able to handle guest check-in, check-out, sell rooms, handle guest transactions inhouse, various types of payments, information, reservations, handling complaints; all tasks are done with liberality and goodwill (Ruki et al., 2016, p. 158).Guest Service Agent is responsible for serving guests' needs starting when the guest arrives at the hotel door until the limit of stay.The guest must say goodbye briefly with a sincere smile.Not only that, the duties include checking incoming reservations from the internet site or through the telephone, serving guest inquiries through the telephone concerned about hotel promos, facilities, and information on the distance to the places that guests will go, to serve the needs of staying guests (Heryantika & Achnes, 2017).
On the other hand, to meet customer expectations, adequate employee performance is required by optimizing human resources, which can be done to improve the quality of service (Mmutle &Shonhe, 2017).Human resource management in a company needs to guarantee the quality of its human resources, including in the hospitality industry, because if it has good resources and quality, it is expected to produce a good performance for the hotel (Putra et al., 2020).So, to shape the performance of employees in influential companies, each company has a role oriented to employee performance management (Gunawan, Subikjakto, 2011:441).Employee performance is the result of the quality, quantity, and timeliness owned by employees to complete their work (Norianggono, 2014)  Being a Platinum member or even otherwise, check-in is the most seamless process in a hotel stay.However, this turned out to be a disaster.
For thirty minutes, they stood at the counter, going through the wrong prints and trying to figure out a room.There is a small quantity of blame on Marriott Bonvoy as the experience gets so inconsistent at times that the preference in the app seems to be ignored entirely.Please do not blame the staff too much, as they would not want to offer an unpleasant experience to a guest intentionally.
Poor 2 Taffy, January 2020 I was expecting a recently opened hotel where the efforts to give a good impression and show a warm welcome to their guests were more significant.However, unfortunately, there is not even a welcome appetizer or drink in the room, which is typical in other hotels of lower ratings, especially considering the long wait suffered at check-in.Communication was a struggle for check-in and took about 30 minutes.I cannot imagine the day they are fully booked; maybe the check-in will have a queue of 2 hours.Then, I asked about my complaint (regarding my points) during checkout.The lady in the front office could not even handle it properly and spoke on a high note, telling me that that was not their issue and that I should have spoken to the restaurant instead (WHICH I DID TWICE) and looking all grumpy just because I was asking about my issue.The following is the determination of the class interval of the source's answer so that an assessment is obtained to find the average value on each indicator, namely: While the cut of a point is: So, a score above 2.5 indicates that the performance of the Guest Service Agent is rated Strong Performer.Meanwhile, if the score is obtained below 2.5, then it is assessed as a Solid Performer.The data analysis technique used in this research was qualitative descriptive.Qualitative descriptive data analysis techniques are analyzing, describing, and summarizing various conditions and situations of various data collected as interview results or observations on problems studied (Rita et al., 2020).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This research focused on the performance of employees, especially Guest Service Agents in the Front Office Department at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali.Employee performance is a result of work that can be achieved by a person in carrying out tasks based on proficiency, experience, sincerity, and time, according to Hasibuan (2002: 42) in (Azwar et al., 2015).The number of employees assessed is 5 Guest Service Agents (GSA), and to measure the performance of the Guest Service Agent, the Hourly Performance Process Form is owned by The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali.The assessment results from the observation sheet based on the Hourly Performance Process Form are as follows :

Problem Solving and Decision Making
The results of the problem-solving and decision-making assessment can be seen in Table 3.The above shows that the average score of the problem-solving and decision-making owned by the Guest Service Agent has an average score above 3.An average score above 3 indicates that the problem-solving and decision-making owned by the Guest Service Agent at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, is rated Strong Performer (SP), which means the Guest Service Agent consistently performs each of the critical actions in the performance area and demonstrates role model behavior in one or more of the critical actions.
The results of the interview with I Made Citayasa as Front Office Manager stated that the problem-solving and decision-making capability of the Guest Service Agent has been done very well, refers to the ability of the Guest Service Agent in handling every guest request and guest complaint and handling some internal actions related to the operation of the hotel.

Contributing to teams
In Table 3. above, it can be seen that the average score of contributing to teams owned by Guest Service Agent is above 3.Two of them have a perfect average of 4, indicating that the ability to contribute to the team owned by the Guest Service Agent at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, is rated Key Contributor (K), which means that the Guest Service Agent consistently performs role model behavior in all of the critical actions in the performance area.
The results of the interview with I Made Citayasa as Front Office Manager at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, stated that the ability to contribute to the team between guest service agents and other employees has been done very well.This can be seen in the Experience Report, which is recorded when guests will check out.In the Experience Report, there are some comments and suggestions from guests for the services provided during the stay.These suggestions are then recorded in the Experience Report and forwarded to relevant departments such as Housekeeping, Engineering, and Food and beverage.

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Professional  3. it can be seen that the average adaptability/stress tolerance (adaptability/ stress tolerance) owned by the Guest Service Agent has an average score of 3. Two of them have an average of above 3, indicating that the ability to adapt/stress tolerance owned by the Guest Service Agent at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, is rated Strong Performance (SP), which means that the Guest Service Agent consistently performs each of the critical actions in the performance area and demonstrates role model behavior in one or more of the critical actions.
The results of the interview with Ranti Efendi, Assistant Front Office Manager, stated that the adaptability/stress tolerance that each Guest Service Agent has was different.For example, when handling the guest check-in process, there is a difference between the booking confirmation the guest brings and the system.Usually, the guest reservation in the Opera system differs from that in the OTA (Online et al.).The reservation in OTA shows guests booked a connecting room, but on the reservation in the opera system, there is no request for a connecting room.Inequality in reservations between the hotel and OTA often occurs.Therefore, it is necessary to check back to the hotel reservation section because sometimes the reservation party forgets to make notes for guest requests.If the error is from the hotel, then the GSA handles the problem by finding a connecting room that is not occupied and following up with the housekeeping department to prepare the room quickly.During this situation, a GSA will face a challenging situation that requires a quick and appropriate solution so as not to make the wrong decision.Some GSAs still cannot control stress, so it is when dealing directly with guests, but so far, no problems mean it only reduces the first impression that guests get.However, some GSA's are already doing well and look always ready to serve.The differences may be due to differences in character as well as differences in understanding of each.

Time Management
The following is the result of the time management assessment that can be seen in Table 3.It shows that the average time management value of the Guest Service Agent has an average score of 3, and above three indicates that the ability in time management owned by the Guest Service Agent at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, is rated Strong Performance (SP), which means guest service agent consistently performs each of the critical actions in the performance area and demonstrates role model behavior in one or more of the critical actions.
The results of the interview with I Made Citayasa as Front Office Manager stated that the time management capabilities owned by each Guest Service Agent have been good.This can be seen when the GSA, in handling the room status before check-in time, always confirms and follows up with the housekeeping department about the status of the room.Room status must be immediately confirmed Inspected (IP) or at least Vacant Clean (VC) before check-in time is at 15.00 Wita.With good time management by GSA in arranging the status of the room, there may be no complaints due to guests waiting for the room too long during the check-in process.

Communication
In Table 3., it can be seen that the average communication score of the Guest Service Agent is three.One of them is above three on average, indicating that the ability to communicate with the Guest Service Agent at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, is rated Strong Performance (SP), which means that the Guest Service Agent consistently performs each of the critical actions in the performance area and demonstrates role model behavior in one or more of the critical actions.
The interview results with Ranti Efendi as Assistant Front Office stated that the ability to communicate with the Guest Service Agent has been good.This can be seen from how each GSA communicates either directly or indirectly through courtesy calls.
For example, when handling guest complaints, GSA continues to build good communication with guests and can ease the guest's emotions by calling the guest directly, or if it feels that the guest is still not improving, then the GSA will meet the guest directly to the room and apologize and provide some complimentary such as fruit dulang or cookies, jamu (an herbal drink) and apology letter as an apology from the hotel for the inconvenience during the stay.Communicating well makes guests feel more listened to and improves with better service.

Professional Demeanor
The following results of the professional demeanor assessment can be seen in Table 3.It shows that the average professional demeanor (professional attitude) of a Guest Service Agent has an average score above three, and two of them average four, indicating that the ability to be professionally owned by a Guest Service Agent at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali is rated Key Contributor (K), which means that Guest Service Agent consistently performs role model behavior in all of the critical actions in the performance area.
The results of the interview with Ranti Efendi as Assistant Front Office Manager stated that GSA means the first person that will be met by guests when checking in; GSA gives the first impression that significantly affects the satisfaction of the guests who will stay.A GSA must be professional and responsive in checking in, checking out, registering, telephone (courtesy call), or any activities related to guest services or responding to hotel problems to facilitate guest activities and make guests satisfied with the services provided by the Guest Service Agent at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud.The professional attitude shown by the Guest Service Agent has been excellent because, based on observations made by researchers during the internship program, researchers see and pay attention directly that all Guest Service Agents (GSA) have implemented standard operational procedures (SOP) in handling existing checkin and check-out guests very well.This is because the Guest Service Agent at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud has competence in the field of receptionist.So, the service provided by the Guest Service Agent is expected to give a positive impression to guests.

Customer Relations
In Table 3., it can be seen that the average score of customer relations (relationship with customers) owned by the Guest Service Agent above 3.2 indicates that the ability to connect with customers (customer relations) owned by the Guest Service Agent at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali is rated Key Contributor (K), which means that guest service agent consistently performs role model behavior in all of the critical actions in the performance area.
The results of the interview with I Made Citayasa as Front Office Manager stated that establishing a good relationship with customers is the key to the service provided.Through such a good relationship, a GSA will be mentioned directly by the guest on the guest's comment because the service provided during the stay has been very satisfactory.The WES (Westin Experience Specialist) program is one of the programs created to pay attention to guests who should be served more specifically by GSA because engagement with guests will motivate GSA to provide maximum service.It certainly has a positive impact on the hotel's sustainability in producing repeater's guests.Customer relations provided by GSA have been good; it can be seen that the WES (Westin Experience Specialist) program conducted by each GSA has been run very well based on the pre-arrival list that is shared every day.Furthermore, in Table 3. above, there are indicators on the assessment that have been done very well by the Guest Service Agent in providing services to guests and become the most significant indicator that affects the performance of GSA in the Front Office Department at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali.The indicator was Contributing to teams, which in implementing hotel operations needs good cooperation between teams of one department and another.Without good cooperation, the implementation of hotel operations will not run smoothly and will take a long time (inefficient).
The interview results with Ranti Efendi as Assistant Front Office Manager stated that the contributing to teams indicator had been done very well by the Guest Service Agent.This can be seen from the assessment results in Table 3. which obtained a score of 4 on sub-indicators of building and maintaining a positive relationship between employees, which means that in carrying out each of its duties, GSA can maintain relationships between departments and other departments very well.A score of 3.8 in a sub-indicator appreciates the difference (views, ideas, abilities, culture, etc.), meaning that a GSA in cooperation does not see any difference but sees the difference as unity between teams that have a role in their respective fields, and a score of 4 on the sub-indicator is easy to find and willing to cooperate well means that the GSA can easily cooperate with whoever it is and does not choose.These scores are obtained because of how the work that GSA has done has been very satisfying for guests, with good cooperation between each department in serving the needs of guests.For example, when handling multiple requests involving other departments.With good cooperation between teams, guests will be satisfied with the maximum service provided by each department in the hotel.

CONCLUSION
Based on the results of the discussion that has been described in the previous chapter on the Performance of Guest Service Agents in the Front Office Department at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, it can be concluded as follows: The results of the assessment on the observation sheet and interviews with several Guest Service Agent (GSA) superiors regarding the performance of Guest Service Agents at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, in general, are considered quite good in their implementation with an average score of 3 and above three indicates that the capabilities of the Guest Service Agent at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali are rated Strong Performance (SP), which includes indicators of Problem Solving and Decision Making, Adaptability/ Stress Tolerance, Time Management, Communication, and Customer Relations.Meanwhile, some indicators are considered to have been good in their implementation, with an average score of 4, indicating that the capabilities of the Guest Service Agent at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali, are rated Key Contributor (K), which includes indicators Contributing to teams and Professional Demeanor.
One of the seven indicators considered the most influential to the performance of Guest Service Agents is the Contributing to Teams indicator, with the highest average gain in its implementation.Contributing to team indicators includes building and maintaining positive relationships between employees in which in each task, GSA can maintain relationships between departments and other departments very well, appreciate differences (views, ideas, abilities, culture, etc.) in which in its duty GSA in cooperation does not see any differences, but sees such differences as unity between teams that have a role in their respective fields, and easy to find and willing to cooperate reasonably.
Westin Resort & Spa Ubud I had a mini staycation last week Using their promotion code BOG.They have to better TRAIN their front office staff on how to speak to the customer-especially the lady who handled my checkout on Friday, 15th May 2020.I had dinner at the restaurant on Wednesday evening, and the bill was 1.8 million.I asked the restaurant staff to put the points on my Marriott account.(NO ONE HANDLE THAT UNTIL TODAY) Minimum score = 1 Maximum score = 4 Value Range = maximum score -minimum score = 4 -1 = 3 Interval = Range of Values: class Interval = 3 : 4 = 0.75 of guest complaints, which took a long time and made guests feel uncomfortable and disappointed with the GSA service.The following are some of the guest complaints on Tripadvisor, and can be found in the table below.

Table 1 .
My and I booked two deluxe rooms with a garden view and a connecting room on Sept 21-22 via Traveloka.When we checked in at the hotel, the staff said amenities were limited to reduce contact between staff and guests due to Covid 19.It does not make sense to me as Westin is a 5-star hotel; you should provide complete amenities to the guests.When I entered the bathroom, I found lotion and soap in the amenities box, but there was no dental kit.Then I asked for the dental kit from the staff, which means I had contact with the staff, and it was twice.I am wondering which part is reductaken directly from Tripadvisor, shows that the performance of the Guest Service Agent is still not good in terms of communication, skills in the check-in and check-out process, and problem-solving that was still lacking.So, based on the above exposure, research in researching Performance Analysis of Guest Service Agents in the Front Office Department at The Westin Resort & Spa Ubud, Bali.
ing contact if, in the end, I am still in contact with the staff.Why do not just put complete amenities?If you want to save the cost, you can put crucial amenities only such us: dental kit, soap, and shampoo instead of lotion! 2. Welcome drink also not provided.The same reason with the amenities, to reduce contact between staff and the glass, but at breakfast time, the waiter serves us tea with a teapot and cup.The double standard is absolute here!FIRSTLY, I will share the bad experience I had while staying here.My main problem is the deposit needed for the stay.Usually, whenever I check in to a hotel, they would ask if I would like to open a deposit or not.I know some hotels require a deposit, and I agree.WHAT is WEIRD in this Westin was that The

Table 2 .
GSA Performance Value Range

Table 3 .
GSA Performance Assessment Results