By: Diadem M. Garengo, ADA III, Division Office

Front desk job is underrated. Out of all offices in every agency and institutions
front desk job is often mistaken as a very simple job, it is often perceived to be the
unit were you welcome the client and end with giving them answers to their queries,
but that just not end at question and answer – receiving and releasing process. A real
life front desk job is composed of dealing with clients’ anger, patience managing, lots
of phone calls, late meals and all others. With these dilemmas we’ll come up with the
question of what qualities a person must possess to fit in a front desk job.
Working on the front desk means you are the one who will be the first hand to
face every person to enter the office. You will meet diverse group of people who
came from different places having different personalities, front desk job requires a
person who has a good interpersonal communication. Good front desk staff must be
good adjusting himself/herself at any sort of communication based on what the client
need that is very comfortable their way as possible, the client must feel at ease to
share their thoughts and queries, this will result of an effective and smooth
transaction. Front desk staff should also be an active listener and can empathize to
the person he or she is talking to, understand the client not just verbally but also able
to identify non-verbal signal, gestures, and body language, if the client is not at ease,
front desk staff must notice it, maintaining an approachable smile would be a great
help. Eye contact is also a key to a better communication, while having conversation
with the client the front desk staff must maintain eye contact to make the client feel
that they are heard and understood.
Regarding the queries of the client, front desk staff must be good at identifying
problem and at least give solution to it. He or she should know well the operations of
each offices or unit to rightly direct the client where office the client should go and
what step to make. Along with this, the front desk staff must have established
relationship with co-workers and higher personnel.
Being in the forefront, front desk staff often go through stressful days when
work load come all at once. Answering phone calls and emails, client complains and
queries happen simultaneously, skill on stress management is needed. Stress
management is when to stay calm and composed in the middle of clients complains
and anger, multiple questions, weighing things on which is needed to prioritize, what
task is much more important, and carry through their job no matter what is
happening around.

Stress management is can also be simplified as patience managing, there are
times that the client misunderstood things and induce heated argument, the front
desk staff should preserve the smile to pacify it. The words may get to the staff’s
nerve, notwithstanding, they need to maintain professionalism.
Knowing that the front desk office gives immediate assistance to clients
concern, it is agreeable that it must be given recognition. Essentially they are one of
the faces in the institution.
All in all, there is no such thing as high and low in profession, every worker
and every staff of the institutions makes a little to no difference in significance for the
office who believe on working together.