Housekeeping

Absorbing the shocks

The housekeeping department acts is essential for smooth hotel operations and is under constant pressure to maintain cleanliness and hygiene. By Sanjeev Bhar

Crowne Plaza Today, Gurgaon

Housekeeping is projected as the sanctum sanctorum of hotel operation. But can it hold on to the image amidst increasing challenges? At a time when manpower costs are being reduced to the barest minimum and occupancies are at their highest, is housekeeping keeping abreast with the latest to keep pace with the market changes?

The good news is that even though progress is slow, it is happening. Hotels are outsourcing manpower for jobs that require specialised skills. This reduces hassles pertaining to training, HR, checking their grooming and hygiene and supervising jobs.

Moreover, the role of housekeeping itself is rowing - it is not only about cleanliness of the hotel but also about guest interaction. Bhawna Verma, executive housekeeper at Crowne Plaza Today, Gurgaon, says, "Providing personalised services on par with international standards has become a norm. Guests are also becoming aware of the importance of good housekeeping."

According to her however the challenges are many. At a time when guests are well-travelled and aware of the best practices in the industry, they want everything to be top-of-the-line. The housekeeping department is no more silent and employees in terms of guest interaction, knowledge job profile is now evolving. Harjinder Singh, who works with the housekeeping department at Radisson MBD, Noida, opines, "The department is riding high on skilled staff even at the lower levels."

The interaction between staff and guests has also increased tremendously over the last few years. A proactive approach of the department is to collect guest feedback and analyse it for future references. Guests today are not only looking for a bed or breakfast experience. They know more and demand according to their requirements. So the department has to be on its toes to understand and treat guests on an individual basis. Providing personalised service is as important as cleaning in housekeeping.

The future of the department lies in taking calls at each steps of a guest's lifecycle. At every possible instance, housekeeping plays a key role in the overall experience a guest goes through. "the profile of housekeeping has evolved over the years. It now includes hiring flower consultants for exclusive flower arrangements. Even work ethics is improving," elaborates Verma.

Systemised work approach

Housekeeping has always struggled with training issues. Lack of knowledge about equipment was one reason why it was never technologically savvy. But today, it sees trained and educated staff as well as outsourcing of specialised works.

While outsourcing is seen as a boon, it is not foolproof. Singh points out, "Due to the rising competition, we are shifting from permanent to contractual employees. It will be difficult to have good, honest, motivated and hard-working people from the outsourced companies to maintain standards." Verma shares this thought and says, "I feel that outsourcing is good for non-guest or less guest interaction areas. In excessive guest interaction areas, the continuity is lost and the brand image of the hotel suffers and gets diluted. Also, the turnover of outsourced manpower is high in comparison to permanent staff."

However, outsourcing does offer reduction on costs in terms of payroll and welfare. But according to Verma, dedicated companies shall have to shell out better, competitive salaries to retain and stabilise staff to provide consistent services. "These companies should also look into providing better training programmes to keep their staff up-to-date with changing techniques and times," she says.

It is also true that outsourcing in every area of housekeeping would not be feasible to tackle the operational issues. "We can't outsource where accountability is very high and the professionalism associated with the group's vision is required. But this bifurcation of task is common in hotels today," informs Singh. It impacts HR issues, which ensures that outsourced employees are provided with all possible benefits. "These acts remove any discrepancy to an extent and there is a clear-cut bifurcation of tasks for outsourced and permanent employees," adds Singh.

Drafting guidelines

The trouble with the housekeeping department lies in its complex nature, which makes clarity on the work division important. Singh remarks, "We have clear-cut guidelines for the training of each employee and we define that stepwise training to be given to new entrants in the department within the first three months of joining. Later, the tasks that the employees have been asked to perform are planned and tracked annually."

All new recruits need to go through a well-defined induction plan for understanding the objective of the department. Verma explains, "We have developed a task list for different positions in housekeeping which takes care of all tasks related to their work areas right down to the basics. The timeframe varies from three weeks to three months, depending upon the experience of the personnel."

The emphasis towards creating a strong manpower in order to streamline the housekeeping tasks to tackle the challenges of the future is growing. Verma informs, "To address the changing techniques and challenges, the concept of departmental trainers known as 'craft trainers' or 'train the trainer' have been implemented. These trainers are responsible for a set of staff members and take care of all their training needs." This also opens up the scope for the right training as per the needs. "We groom them through training, map their competency levels and provide them opportunities for growth, which was earlier lacking in this department," sums up Singh.