Attendants are individuals who are assigned the responsibilities of providing service in a specific type of place. Based on the location, there are various types of attendants and some of the common ones are flight attendants, parking attendants, hotel room attendants and gas station attendants. They perform a number of different tasks in order to provide good customer at their respective places of work. Flight attendants have to ensure that the aircraft patrons are comfortable at all times and also train them on basic safety measures to be followed on the flight. Similarly, hotel attendants assist customers in any queries or tasks that they may have and provide a good level of hospitality service throughout their stay at the hotel.
Job Responsibilities of Attendants
The job responsibilities of attendants depend upon the specific area of their work. Given below are the core responsibilities of the common types of attendants.
Flight Attendants:
They are also known as air hosts/hostesses or flight stewards/stewardesses and are employed by a government or private based airline agency in order to provide passengers with a high level of comfort and safety during a flight. Some of their key roles include instructing passengers about various safety features such as seat belts, life jackets and oxygen masks, solving general passenger queries and offering food and water to passengers at regular intervals.
Hotel Room Attendants:
Keeping a hotel room clean and tidy for existing and new customers is the chief job responsibility of a hotel room attendant. Ensuring good customer satisfaction for the hotel customers and attending to their daily needs are the main objectives of hotel room attendants. They clean various parts of the room such as the bed, bathroom, television sets, tables, etc. and change bed sheets, towels and napkins for new customers.
Gas Station Attendants:
Gas station attendants perform a number of tasks such as filling fuel in vehicles and checking their oil level, air pressure in tyres, car batteries, temperature, etc. They also perform cleaning and maintenance work of vehicles such as cleaning windshields, waxing the car body, applying grease to different parts and washing the car. They have to note the level of fuel in the tanks and ensure its refilling at regular intervals. Besides these responsibilities, gas station attendants also help in customer service functions such as answering queries and directing them towards different areas of the gas station.
Parking Lot Attendants:
Providing customers with unique tokens for their parked vehicles in a parking lot is the main job responsibility of a parking lot attendant. Besides this, they may also act as a valet and park the vehicle on the customer's behalf. Other job functions include directing customers to different places of the lot where there are available slots to park their vehicles, opening the car doors for customers and greeting them, collecting parking ticket fees from customers and patrolling the parking lot for any signs of illegal activities such as theft. Maintaining cleanliness and order in the parking lot is also a job function of a parking lot attendant.
Skills and Requirements
Any person working as an attendant should possess excellent interpersonal and customer service skills as it is the core responsibility of any type of attendant. Flight attendants have to undergo extensive training in hospitality and flight service before being able to work on an actual flight. They should appear well groomed and possess good manners and etiquettes which play a large part in their daily job tasks. For those working in gas stations, parking lots or hotels, being extremely alert is necessary as they have to not only attend to customer's requests, but are also responsible for the security of the place. These kinds of jobs can be physically demanding, hence it is necessary for an attendant to be in excellent physical condition in order to perform his/her work in an efficient manner.
Work Conditions
Most attendants work for 40 hours in a week with occasional overtime hours depending upon the amount of work load. Long hours of remaining in a standing position can result in physical discomfort and pain. Flight attendants have to travel long distances on a daily basis owing to the nature of their job. They may face frequent jet lag and dizziness.
Thus, attendant job responsibilities involve a wide variety of hospitality tasks carried out by professionals across various industries.