428 C H A P T E R 1 5 ■ E X E C U T I V E H O U S E K E E P I N G

H O S P I T A L I T Y P R O F I L E

Management of a Housekeeping Department

The executive housekeeper is a first and foremost a manager. This department, like any other in the hotel, requires the ability to plan, organize, control, direct, and communicate. There are many systems to develop, details to oversee, and people to supervise to ensure a well-run department. The job analysis shows a diverse array of staff members, department heads, and hotel procedures in the typical day of an executive housekeeper. In this section, we review topics that support management practices for executive housekeeping, including:

I M P O R TA N C E O F T H E H O U S E K E E P I N G D E PA R T M E N T 429

F R O N T- L I N E R E A L I T I E S

qEmployees in your housekeeping department say they are dissatisfied with their hourly rate of pay. They tell you that in the hotel next door, they could earn an additional 50 cents per

hour plus have one less room to clean per day. How would you respond?

■Room assignment/workload

■Training

■Room inspection

■Outsourcing housekeeping activities

■Housekeepers report

■Communication—English as a second language

■Inventory control—linens, guest supplies, cleaning supplies, furniture

■Cleaning control

■In-house laundry versus outsourced laundry

■Occupational Safety and Health Administration

■Material Safety Data Sheets

■Going green

■Professional associations

Room Assignment/Workload

The number of rooms assigned to a room attendant has particular significance to the hotelier and general manager, the executive housekeeper, and the room attendant. The hotelier and general manager look at this number as a measure of effective use of human resources, daily income, and guest hospitality. The executive housekeeper views the number as an indicator of how efficient his or her staff is in meeting daily goals and providing guest hospitality. The room attendant views the number of rooms assigned to him or her as “the work of the day”—something that provides an opportunity to fulfill his or her biological, safety, and social needs as well as an expression of hospitality to the guest.

Determining the number of rooms a room attendant can clean during a day takes into consideration the design of the room, room furnishings, fabrics, number of people occupying the room, nature of the guests in the room, training provided for employees, and incentives. The usual number is between 15 and 20, depending on the hotel and its policies.

The method of assigning room attendants starts with the executive housekeeper or the assistant to the executive housekeeper retrieving the number of rooms occupied the previous night (let’s say 180 rooms) from the PMS housekeeping module. This number is divided by the number of rooms assigned to each room attendant (let’s say 18). This quotient equals 10; therefore, the schedule for the day is adjusted to reflect the need for 10 room attendants. An executive housekeeper could prepare a chart like that shown in Figure 15-4 to assist in this daily room assignment. However, room characteristics like those previously mentioned usually detract from the chart’s usefulness.

430 C H A P T E R 1 5 ■ E X E C U T I V E H O U S E K E E P I N G

F I G U R E 1 5 - 4 Room attendant staffing requirement chart.

Note: Each room attendant is required to clean 18 rooms per day.

Technology is also used to assign room attendants with MTech’s REX software.

REX [Room Expeditor] is a SaaS [Software as a Service]-based housekeeping application. Implementation of the software begins with a feed from the property-manage- ment system of rooms and reservation data, which coordinators quickly assign the rooms to each room attendant or multiple room attendants MTech President Luis Segredo explains, “Once the rooms are assigned and the day starts, room attendants are no longer given a list of rooms. Instead, they are given an iPod Touch,” “After the attendant is logged in REX…REX analyzes a collection of variables about the rooms assigned to the room attendant.” These variable include current PMS occupancy, VIP level of the guest, stay-over/checkout, estimated arrival time, room rush, room type, even physical occupancy.”

From this information, REX ascertains the next most important room to clean, and it presents it to the room attendant. The room attendant has the option to start cleaning the room or declining for one of the following reasons: Service Refused, [Do Not Disturb] DND on the door, or guest asked to come back later.