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Management considers the business of keeping a place clean and in good repair to be vitally necessary for a hotel to command a fair price and get repeat business. Areas of Housekeeping responsibilities: The general public tends to think of the housekeeping as the department that makes the bed, empties the ashtrays and wastebaskets, tidies up the bathroom and leaves fresh towels. The truth of the matter is that it takes more manpower to accomplish housekeeping’s almost countless functions than those of any other department in the hotel.
Housekeeping’s responsibilities may begin with fabrics, and progress to the selection and purchase of all furniture and furnishings. It encompass not only their cleaning but also their maintenance, repair, refurbishment and eventual replacement. Furthermore, even the seemingly simple cleaning functions is not simple at all. It involves more than cleaning the sleeping, eating, meeting and washrooms areas.. it means the grim job of cleaning the grease coated vents over kitchen ranges and fry kettles, the delicate job of cleaning switchboard equipment, and perhaps, the never ending job of cleaning the thousands of crystals used in chandeliers.
Even when an interior designer is employed, the professional housekeeper works very closely with him in the selection, refurbishing and replacement of furniture, furnishings and floor and wall coverings, and even such minor artefacts as soap dishes, towel bars and ash trays, as well as uniforms and linens. Since lost and found department and the sewing room are usually under the responsibility of the executive housekeeper, he or she should have sufficient information about functions of those sections. The professional ousekeeper also needs at least a working knowledge of such functions as accounting, sanitation, and record keeping , and special skills in the field of hiring and handling personnel. What It Takes To Be An Executive Housekeeper: an unusual mixture of qualities, skills, and personality traits are needed to be a professional housekeeper. To be a successful professional housekeeper, one that management considers a part of the immediate team – one must have a leadership qualities, administrative abilities, special personality traits, and an understanding of the techniques and skills required in a modern housekeeping department. 0 Rules For Housekeeping Leadership: The professional housekeeper must have the administrative ability to : 1. Utilize manpower effectively. This involves delegating tasks to others to get the work done properly and on time. 2. Devise easy methods of reporting work that has been done. Called feedback, the kind of communication eliminates costly rechecking and retracing of steps. 3. Develop standard procedures for routine activities. This enables employees to develop consistent work habits, giving identical services to the guests daily. When routines are standardised, employees can substitute for one another easily. . Install inventory control. These are essentials to any department dealing with costly supplies and expensive equipment. 5. Motivate all types of labour. High morale among employees is essential. To keep it high, the housekeeper needs all the expertise in the field of psychology that she can possibly muster- along with great patience and a sense of humour at all times. 6. Accept all the challenges that management proposes. 7. Involve employees in planning. Encourage them to use their imagination to find ways to make their jobs easier. 8. Increase the educational level of the staff.
This can be done through training and by encouraging employees to attend adult education classes. 9. Set up recruitment programs to find and develop management trainees. This not only improve the property but gives the trainees an opportunity to move into better positions. 10. Cooperate and coordinate with other department managers. Every well run hotel must be a unified whole, and housekeeping is simply a part of that whole. The department should serve the good of the entire facility. The professional housekeeper must therefor understand how each position fits into the total plan of the hotel.
She / he must be able to make the employees in the housekeeping department realize that how their work relates to the other departments in the hotel and they are important members of the team. 10 Rules For Housekeeping Leadership The professional housekeeper must have the administrative ability to : 1. Utilize manpower effectively. 2. Devise easy methods of reporting work that has been done. 3. Develop standard procedures for routine activities. 4. Install inventory control. 5. Motivate all types of labour. 6. Accept all the challenges that management proposes. 7. Involve employees in planning. . Increase the educational level of the staff. . 9. Set up recruitment programs to find and develop management trainees. 10. Cooperate and co-ordinate with other department managers. Staffing The Housekeeping Department: A person who does hiring should be very familiar with the jobs for which he or she is interviewing applicants, and should use professional techniques that will help reveal the potential of each person.. careful hiring is the way to keep turnover down. To develop an ideal staff, the housekeeper must begin by defining an ideal set of positions to be filled.
This makes it necessary to decide what level of supervision the department should have; to write detailed job specifications and detailed job descriptions for each position; and to determine approximately how many people will be in need in housekeeping. Hierarchy Of The Housekeeping Department: In fact, there is no single ideal way to organize a housekeeping department, as the hierarchy of the department depends on several factors such as the nature of the hotel, the market segment it serves, the availability of a maintenance and engineering department, level of automation used, etc.
The housekeeping department also has a long series of titles. The person in charge may be director of housekeeping, assistant manager in charge of guest services, manager of environmental facilities, executive housekeeper and so on. But to the guest it is housekeeper. The hierarchy of the housekeeping department is presented in a structure called the organization chart. The organizational chart is a formal structure that any organization needs to carry out their goals and objectives. It is a systematic drawing of the relationships between positions within an organization.
It provides an understanding of where each position fits into the overall organization and illustrate the divisions of responsibility and lines of authority. Organization Chart Of The Housekeeping Department Rooms Division Director Executive Housekeeper Assistant Excessive Housekeeper Lost and Found Sewing Room Laundry & Valet Inspectors Day Assistant Night Assistant Head Housemen Floor Supervisor Floor Supervisor Heavy Vacuuming Maids Maids Carpet Shampooing
Window Washers Wall Washers Public Toilets Cleaners Lobby Attendant In a hotel or motel where occupancy fluctuates, the number of staff required should be accurately determined. Before management decides number of maids and housemen needed, the approximate occupancy percentage should be known. The approximate occupancy rate is figured on: 1- number of reservations. 2- Last year’s occupancy. 3- conventions and special events in town. Then, the whole business of staffing is based on the number of man hours needed to accomplish the work. Each maid is expected to do a certain number of rooms every day. usually 14 to 16. This number is based on the following: Each room takes 30 minutes to be cleaned . 30 x 14 = 420 minutes which is 7 hours. The usual shift is 8 hours, 7 hours work and 1 hour break. Based on the previous figures, the number of maids and housemen is determined. The exact assignment for maids can be made based on the current occupancy and expected arrivals as well as expected check outs. If occupancy is low, it is advisable to leave the vacant rooms unmade to reduce costs. Cleaning The Guest Room And Bath: A clean guest room is the primary product that lodging properties has to sell.
Certain rules must be adhered to and followed by maids when they clean rooms in any establishment. Among these are the following: 1. Maids and housemen should only use service elevators. 2. No employees is allowed to open a guest room door for anyone. Front desk should be notified and a bellman will bring a key to the guest requiring entry to his room. 3. No one working in rooms is allowed to use guest telephone. 4. No employee is allowed to use the guest bathroom. 5. Where and when employees can eat and smoke is a matter for the individual property to decide. 6. Linen and towels must never be used for cleaning and dusting. In all hotels, maids go first to the locker room and change into uniforms, then go to the housekeeping department to get their floor assignment. They pick up their rags, supply baskets, room status sheets and pencils. Then they report to their floor supervisors to give them the keys for the rooms to be cleaned. •Every effort is made Not to disturb the guest. As long as there are check outs or pre-registered rooms to work in, maids are instructed not to knock on guest doors, thus avoiding danger of awaking guests. Obviously, they never knock when Do not disturb sign is displayed. If by 2. 30 Pm.
The room is still inaccessible, housekeeping department is notified by the floor supervisor and the room is checked by phone or in person by the assistant manager. •Carts used by the housekeeper may include: Toilets tissues, Facial tissues, ash trays, matches, room service menus, pamphlets, printed stationary, drawer liners, bath linens, bed linens, guest soaps, shower caps, various other give-aways, and similar items. Carts are always positioned in front of the guest room being worked- never taken inside the room. After knocking on guest doors, maids should always announce Housekeeping and ask if the guest wants service then or at what time.
The time requested is marked on the room report. Ways Of Cleaning The Guest Room: •Making beds first is recommended so that the room will appear neat if guest enters. How beds are made depends on the housekeeping director’s performances, but whenever a maid makes a bed, she does change the linens. Professional housekeeper should be able to make the bed in two and half minutes. •After the bed is made, the bathroom is usually cleaned next. Tub, shower curtains, walls, basin and counter, toilet and floor are usually cleaned in that order.
If plumbing seems to be clogged, maids report this to the housekeeping department and the HK department notifies the maintenance and engineering to fix the problem. •Ashtrays and glasses are washed in different ways. Ashtrays are emptied first into the toilet and not into the waste basket as they pose a fire hazard. Glasses sometimes sent to the main kitchen to be washed in the dishwasher but this might take time. Instead, maids are asked to wash them and disinfect them in the bathroom basin and dry them thoroughly •Guest rooms are dusted with a cloth, and if furniture is wood, it is cleaned with polish. At the last step, rooms are vacuumed. Guest room and bathroom supplies are replaced as needed, but such matters as whether guests should have freshly wrapped soap everyday depend on budget of the hotel and level of luxury maintained. •Make up rooms do not receive quite the attention that check out rooms do. For example, locating lost and found items is a very important function for maids doing C/O rooms. Any belongings that are found regardless of value, should be given immediately to the floor supervisor to hand them to the lost and found department. Ninth Lecture Housekeeping Functions (Continued) Interior Design – Guest Rooms:
The professional housekeeper is likely to be doing the interior of a guest room, and therefor must understand colours. Colours: There are three primary colours- RED, BLUE, and YELLOW. From combination of these three colours, all other colours are formed. To understand this, it is helpful to see their positions on a colour wheel. Secondary colours are Orange (resulting from mixing red and yellow), Violet (red and blue), Green (blue and yellow). Intermediate Colours are those that result from mixing a primary with the secondary next to it on the wheel – these are called red- orange, yellow-green, blue green, and so on.
Colour has three important dimensions and it is important to keep them separate and distinct: 1. HUE is the name of the colour; the three primaries together with the secondaries make up the chief hues of the spectrum. 2. VALUE is the amount of light and dark in a colour. 3. INTENSITY or (chroma) is the relative density of the pigment; if unadulterated, it may be said to be at its maximum chroma or full saturation. Complementary is not a general term when used in relation to colours, it is very specific, meaning those colours that are directly across from each othor on the colour wheel.
Thus, blue is a compliment of orange, green of red, and yellow of violet. To change the intensity of a colour make it less vivid, add the complementary colour to it. Black and white are not colours, they are neutrals. There are three primary colours- RED, BLUE, and YELLOW. Secondary colours are Orange (resulting from mixing red and yellow), Violet (red and blue), Green (blue and yellow). Intermediate Colours are those that result from mixing a primary with the secondary next to it on the wheel – these are called red- orange, yellow-green, blue green, and so on.
A colour has three important dimensions and it is important to keep them separate and distinct: 1. HUE is the name of the colour; the three primaries together with the secondaries make up the chief hues of the spectrum. 2. VALUE is the amount of light and dark in a colour. 3. INTENSITY or (chroma) is the relative density of the pigment; if unadulterated, it may be said to be at its maximum chroma or full saturation. •Most readers know that there are cool colours and warm colours. Cool colours are violets, blues and greens. Warm colours are reds, yellows and oranges.
The cool colours are conductive to quiet and relaxation, while warm colours are simulating and encourage activity. •Rooms that are located on the north side of the building, which get little sunlight, should have light warm colours, while those on the south side should have cooler colours. •Light colours make the room seem larger, while dark colours tend to compact the room. •Dark walls should be opposite windows as the light which hits them brighten and enhance their dusky colours.. walls in which the windows are inset receive little natural lights so should be painted in gayer tints. Dark colours create the illusion of lower ceilings. It is usually best to avoid any patterns on the ceiling. •If two walls are to be painted and two to be patterned, the two adjoining walls should be painted the same colour, and the other two adjoining walls should be patterned. Alternating them would break up the space and give a choppy effect. •Rooms that are located on the north side of the building, which get little sunlight, should have light warm colours, while those on the south side should have cooler colours. •Light colours make the room seem larger, while dark colours tend to compact the room. Dark walls should be opposite windows as the light which hits them brighten and enhance their dusky colours.. walls in which the windows are inset receive little natural lights so should be painted in gayer tints. •Dark colours create the illusion of lower ceilings. It is usually best to avoid any patterns on the ceiling. •If two walls are to be painted and two to be patterned, the two adjoining walls should be painted the same colour, and the other two adjoining walls should be patterned. Alternating them would break up the space and give a choppy effect. Guest Room Design:
Experience with furnishings and room design over a long period of time has resulted in standardisation of many important features: 1. Vinyl wall coverings (essential for easy maintenance in public areas and rooms). 2. Bumper extensions on bed frames to keep beds 4 inches from walls. 3. All bedding 80 inches long. 4. Electric control panel at beds with switches for room lighting and television. 5. Telephone placed on night stand between lounge chair and bed. 6. Padded headboards at wall for comfort of guests who read in bed. 7. Lighting in fixed position, either wall mounted or ceiling mounted. . Wooden arms on chairs. 9. Desk chairs with padded backs for comfort and to prevent wood from hitting desk tops. 10. Built in luggage racks with replaceable runners to prevent luggage scratching tops. 11. Plastic laminate on surfaces whenever possible. 12. For two storey buildings, use two different colour schemes, for three storey building use three and not more than three, and so on. Gold schemes are recommended in first floor as it is bright. Guest Room Design Experience with furnishings and room design over a long period of time has resulted in standardisation of many important features: 1. inyl wall coverings (essential for easy maintenance in public areas and rooms). 2. Bumper extensions on bed frames to keep beds 4 inches from walls. 3. All bedding 80 inches long. 4. Electric control panel at beds with switches for room lighting and television. 5. Telephone placed on night stand between lounge chair and bed. 6. Padded headboards at wall for comfort of guests who read in bed. 7. Lighting in fixed position, either wall mounted or ceiling mounted. 8. Wooden arms on chairs. 9. Desk chairs with padded backs for comfort and to prevent wood from hitting desk tops. 0. Built in luggage racks with replaceable runners to prevent luggage scratching tops. 11. Plastic laminate on surfaces whenever possible. 12. For two storey buildings, use two different colour schemes, for three storey building use three and not more than three, and so on. Gold schemes are recommended in first floor as it is bright. What Ultimately Makes The Executive Housekeeper Professional: Not only effectively administering the department, but understanding the financial aspects of the entire institution will be essential if the housekeepers are to be called professional.
What is Budget: Definitions of budget vary widely but one that is easily understood is (an estimate of the proposed expenditures for one or two years). It should be carefully prepared and be used to govern a department’s spending. It can be considered the framework within which the housekeeping department operates. In the hotel, the housekeeper’s main involvement in the preparation of the budget deals with capital improvement which includes purchasing new equipment and furnishings, renovation and building new facilities that would improve service.
A capital improvement budget must be carefully documented. Management tends to request that equipment and furniture be required rather than replaced. It is up to the housekeeper to indicated the age of materials scheduled for replacement and to present facts and figures showing that repairs are impractical or uneconomical. The capital expenditures budget must usually be accompanied by forms on which the housekeeper summarizes the justification for each purchase. Priorities for Replacement: hen preparing a budget, all items should appear on a priority basis: First Priority: Those items that are absolutely essential in the coming year. Second Priority: New items that would add a touch of luxury or give a fresh look to the operation. Third Priority: Items that are certain to be needed within the next two years. Would you like to be an executive housekeeper? Moves to improve the image: The following are activities to improve the status and the image of the housekeeper and thus attracting more qualified people: 1.
Stress professionalism in all education for housekeeping supervisory staff. Because the role of the housekeeper requires a business like understanding of the operation of the hotel, adequate preparation for the position involves several years of formal study and related experience. 2. Set up educational programs in many different departments of the hotel to give expouser to all facets of the housekeeping business. 3. Have personnel extend knowledge voultarily to be more valuable to management. For example, learn interior design or accounting.