Fig 6.7 Packages • Meeting package: May include residential arrangement of delegates, meeting room, meals, tea/coffee, snacks, audio visual equipment etc. This is preferred by big corporates as they will be able to concentrate on the overall agenda of their meeting and remaining operation arrangements are taken care by the hotel. Sometimes they will also assign a dedicated vendor manager to handle the entire package. • Meal package: Includes room rent and meals. This is a common one and most of the time it is suitable for families who are visiting the place for the first time. • Marriage package: Includes all the necessary arrangements for marriage, like mandap, priest, party hall/lawn, accommodation for the marriage party, arrangement of reception buffet, and even a complimentary room/suite for the newly wedded couple. • Holiday package: Includes transportation, accommodation, meals, guide, and sightseeing at the destination. This is one of the cost-effective methods for travellers to plan well in advance in terms of fund needed and to check whether this is feasible or not. 18) Tour Group (Series Group) Wholesale Rate: These are heavily discounted rates for wholesalers who operate a series of tours for groups arriving and departing together. For example, a tour operator may conduct a week’s tour of the Golden Triangle (Delhi- Agra-Jaipur-Delhi) on the 2nd, 12th, and 22nd of every month for group of 20 persons. The tour operator guarantees the hotel that it would provide this series of business every month for a period of one year. In return, the hotel offers a heavy discount to the operator and allocates or ‘blocks’ rooms for the series for the entire year. Bottom of Form Factors influencing the prices of the hotel rooms in the hospitality industry Hotel owners make their properties attractive to increase bookings. In this, they add different types of services in their hotel. Hence it influences the prices of hotel rooms. Different types of efforts should be made to get success in business. Primarily, hotel room prices contribute to a major part of revenue. In deciding the prices of a hotel room hoteliers consider different aspects. Room types, amenities, locations are those factors that influence prices. The pricing strategy of hotels changes with time. So, there are some factors that influence the price of a hotel room. These factors vary with time. Fluctuations in the prices of the hotel room happen with time. Varieties of factors influence hotel room prices. So, in this some factors have mentioned which impact on room pricing strategy. 1 Location of your hotel 151 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
2 Room service 3 Cleanliness of room 4 Type of room 5 Price of competitors hotel Location of Your Hotel Influencing the Prices of Hotel Rooms • Location is a very factor in deciding the price of your hotel rooms. If your hotel is situated near to any monument and theme park, then it will get more bookings. • Any nearest attraction to the hotel affects its business a lot. Visitors want to stay in these nearest hotels. So, they will not have to travel much to reach those attractions. • Hotels increase the charges of the room when they know there are a number of visitors. But in the case of fewer visitors, the hotel charges fewer prices. • At the peak time of the season, hotels increase their rates. Bookings go high at this time then rates do not affect the occupancy of a hotel room. • In these situations, visitors are ready to pay more for hotel rooms. Hence, a hotel increases the prices of its rooms. The location of the hotel gives a positive impact. Room Service Increase the Prices of a Hotel Room • Some guests do not leave the room even for food. Then the hotel provides all the services to their rooms by charging some extra amount. • Room service is an amenity so hotel charges extra for it. It depends on which type of room service you are guest is taking from you. • For normal room service, the charge will be different. And for luxurious room service, charges will be different. Guests can pay a higher amount for room service. • Extra arrangements will increase the cost of the hotel room. Hence hoteliers will hike the prices of the rooms according to services offered. • The customer does not hesitate high prices for standard services. Cleanliness of Room • Cleanliness plays a crucial role in making your brand image of the hotel. Hygiene is a very important factor which increases the price of hotel rooms. • Customers may give negative reviews by getting dissatisfied because of unhygienic. Because of it, you may lose potential customers. • So, maintaining hygiene and cleanliness is important. It will increase the cost for the company so they will increase the price of rooms. • For maintaining a level of cleanliness hotels have to invest in it. So, for these efforts, they charge from customers by increasing the prices of the room. • The hotel has to arrange equipment for the housekeeping staff for providing better services. New technological equipment will increase the efficiency of your staff. Type of Room 152 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• It is also a big factor in deciding the price of rooms by hotels. A hotel offers different types of rooms. Rooms are divided into different types of categories. • Hotelier decides room types on the basis of amenities. So, the prices of rooms are dependent on these amenities. • A luxury room and a general room price cannot be the same. What amount should guest pay it depends on all the amenities. A room which is offering extra service then the general room will definitely charge extra price. • Management should assign a price to a room by considering services of it. A normal room worth less than a luxurious room. An AC room will charge more price than a non-AC room. • In a hotel, rooms are available from the general room to a Deluxe room. Prices of these different types of rooms are different. • Hotels are using new technologies for improving customer service. Remote check-in and touchpoints are using by hotels to give faster service. But this hotel increases the prices of the rooms. Price of Competitors Hotel • When you are setting the price consider competitors’ prices also. You cannot set a higher price then Competitor for the same room type with the same amenities. • In this case, the customer will not book your hotel rooms. In the case of the lower price, you may suffer loss. So, keep the price on a competitive level. • So, while deciding the prices of hotel rooms Consider the price of competitors too. You should remain in competition while deciding on room prices. • For any business competitors’ analysis is very important. In every category of room deeply study the competition. Decide competitive prices for hotel rooms. • Setting higher prices than other hotels may leave many vacant rooms. Customers will not give preference to that hotel which is charging more than others for the same offering. 6.6 SUMMARY • The term reservation is defined as ‘blocking or booking a particular room type for a guest, for a definite period, • Reservation consists of tentative, guaranteed types. • Sources of reservations are through phone, e-mail, on-line etc. • Mice -Meeting, incentive confirmation, Exhibition. • The front office employ keeps in mind that, incurring profit is his prime motive. 153 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• At the strategic level, there are three broad approaches to distribution, namely mass, selective and exclusive distribution • Hubbart approach considers operating costs, desired profits, and expected number of rooms sold to determine the average rate per room. • Room Tariff Card is a document published by the hotel for use by prospective guests. It includes prices of various rooms and meal plans. 6.7 KEYWORD • MICE – Meeting, Incentive. Confirmation, Exhibition. • Lobby Manager - Lobby Managers are mostly hired by hotels and restaurants. Some of the hotels hire a Lobby Manager to manage the staff of the front office while some of them hire a Lobby Manager to manage the front office operations. • Commercial cards – Credit cards issued by companies, e.g., Master Card, Visa, Diners Club. Commercial rate – Special reduced room rates offered to businesspeople, to promote occupancy. • Commission – Percentage (money) paid to Travel agents or to Credit card companies for use of their services. • Complimentary rate (“Comp.”) –No charge to the guest. May also apply to F &B and other Services. 6.8 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. Find out from different kinds of hotel, their Reservation and cancellation procedure and prepare a report regarding this. 6.9 UNIT END QUESTIONS 154 A. Descriptive Questions Short Questions 1. Explain company value guaranteed rate? 2. Explain holiday package tour? 3. Give details regarding cancellation procedures? 4. What is a duplex room? 5. What is an adjacent room? CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Long Questions 155 1. Explain in detail the Common tariff? 2. What are the sources of Reservation? 3. What are the types of reservation? 4. What are different packages that are commonly available in Hotels? 5. What are the different steps in planning tariff for a hotel? B. MCQ Questions 1. Front office personal is the a. First person to receive the guests. b. Last person to receive the guests. c. Department to clean the Rooms. d. Departments provide food for the guests. 2. The hotels are rated according to the a. Facilities on offer b. Location c. Ownership d. Staff qualification 3. If you are staying in a five-star hotel, you are an a. Extra high budgeted tourist b. Guest of the hotel c. Middle budgeted tourist d. Guest of the company that has invited you 4. The first hotel in India a. Taj Mahal Palace b. Leela c. Marriott d. Oberoi 5. Hotels located primarily in metropolitan cities are known as a. Five-star deluxe hotel b. Five-star hotel c. Four-star hotel d. Three-star hotel CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Answer 1-a, 2-a, 3-a, 4-a, 5-b 6.10 REFERENCES Reference books • Bhatnagar, S.K., Front Office Management, Frank Bros, India, 2109 • Global Tourism and Hospitality by Andrews. • Managing Front Office Operations – Michael L Kasarana& Richard Brooks. • Introduction to Hospitality - I & II – Dennis Foster Textbooks • Introduction to Hospitality Management, Walker, Fourth Edition (2112). Pearson ISBN: 978-0-13-295994-0. • Enz, Canina and Walsh (2101). Hotel Industry Averages: An Inaccurate Tool for Measuring Performance. The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. 156 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 7: HOUSE-KEEPING MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE 7.0 Learning Objectives 7.1 Introduction 7.1.1 Role of House keeping 7.1.2 Different Section in House keeping 7.1.3 Organisation chart 7.2 Summary 7.3 Keywords 7.4 Learning activities 7.5 Unit end questions 7.6 References 7.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this unit the student will be able to • Identify the concept of housekeeping. • Analyse about various department in Housekeeping. • Explain the various aspects of planning in housekeeping. • Recognises the organising methods of housekeeping. 7.1 INTRODUCTION Housekeeping may be defined as ‘provision of a clean, comfortable, safe and aesthetically appealing environment’. By another definition, ‘housekeeping is an operational department in a hotel, which is responsible for cleanliness, maintenance, aesthetic upkeep of rooms, public areas, back areas and the surroundings’. The term Housekeeping outside the hospitality, hospitals refers to the management of daily duties and chores involved in the running of a household, such as cleaning, cooking, home maintenance, shopping, and bill payment etc. These daily recurring tasks may be performed by any members of the household, or by other persons like butler or maids who are hired for the purpose. 157 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Fig 7.1 Housekeeping Role of Housekeeping Housekeeping department in hotel ensures the cleanliness, maintenance, and aesthetic appeal of all rooms and public areas. The housekeeping department not only turnarounds (prepares and clean guestrooms) on a timely manner it also cleans and maintains everything in the hotel so that the property is as fresh and attractive similar to the day when it opened the doors for the business. The effort that the housekeeping makes in giving a guest a desirable room has a direct bearing on the guest’s experience in a hotel. There are more employees working in the housekeeping department when compared to any other hotel departments. Being responsible for the turnaround of the rooms in a timely manner, housekeeping’s primary communications are with the front desk/reception team. Each room status is updated on a regular basis from the housekeeping to the front desk and vice versa. With new technologies available a room status update can be done via the hotel software, telephone systems, housekeeping mobile applications etc. Housekeeping also coordinates closely with the maintenance or engineering department, as the housekeeping staff identifies different types of maintenance issues while cleaning the rooms and reports to the maintenance team for rectification or replacement. Example snags or issue with the TV, AC, Heating unit, Plumbing, Lighting, Electrical faults, Furniture, Toilet, Vanity, Tub, Towels racks, Ventilation issues etc. The role of housekeeping can change depending upon the type or category of the hotel, for example only in a luxury or full-service hotel evening or turndown services are offered by the housekeeping department. The housekeeping department is one of the major 'Support Centre' in the hotel as it doesn't generate any major revenue for the hotel. 158 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Housekeeping is considered as a 'back of the house' department even though they have some direct contact to the guests; like for example while cleaning rooms, picking up laundry, providing evening or turndown services etc. Housekeeping Department Organizational Chart Fig 7.2 Housekeeping Department Organizational Chart Housekeeping organizational chart provides a clear picture of the line of authority, the housekeeping department in a large hotel or 5 Star Hotel is headed by the executive housekeeper. He/she reports to the general manager, or to the resident manager, or the rooms division manager in a large hotel. In the case of a chain of hotels, the executive housekeeper also reports to the director of housekeeping, who heads the housekeeping departments in all the hotels of that chain. The deputy housekeeper assists the executive housekeeper and looks after the various areas of responsibility in the hotel, that is, floors, public areas, the linen room, desk control and staffing etc. The Housekeeping Organizational Chart in a large hotel also contains multiple supervisors for each section of the housekeeping like the Laundry, Desk Control, Floor Supervisor, Public Area Supervisor, Night Supervisor etc. each of these supervisors’ reports to the Assistant Housekeeper or the Executive housekeeper. Find below a standard housekeeping Organizational chart. Also, the housekeeping structure changes as per the type of hotel and its operation methods, read more about the different type of housekeeping organizational chart. Different Sections in the Housekeeping Executive Housekeeper's office: An Executive housekeeper has to plan, counsel, brief and meets her subordinates. It should preferably be a glass-panelled office so as to give her/him a 159 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
view of what is happening outside the office. The office should be led by a cabin for the secretary who would control movement into the housekeeper's office. Desk control room: This room acts as a nerve system centre for coordination and communication with the front office and other departments. The desk control room should have a large notice board to pin up staff schedules and day to day instructions. The desk control room is the point where all staff report for duty and check out at the duty end. Linen room: This is the room where current linens are stored for issue and receipt. The room should be large airy and free from heat and humidity. It should have adequate shelves, easily accessible to stack all linen. It should be secured and offer no possibilities of pilferage. The linen room should have a counter, across which the exchange of linen takes place. The room should preferably be adjoining the laundry so as to supply linen to and from the laundry. Linen room store: This room stores the stock of new linen & cloth materials for uniform, etc. the stock maintained should be enough to replenish the whole hotel at a time. However, these stocks are only touched when the current linen in circulation falls short due to shortage, damage or loss. The room should be cool and dry with ample shelves, generally 6\" above the ground. Uniform room: This room stocks the uniform in urgent use. It is possible that smaller hotel may choose to combine the uniform room with the linen room. A separate uniform room really depends upon the volume of uniforms in circulation. The only difference will be that the uniform room would have adequate hanging facilities as many uniforms are best maintained when hung. Tailor's room: This room is kept for house tailors who attend to the stitching and patch-up work of linen and uniforms. Room is avoided if the mending and the stitching jobs are done in contract basis. Lost and found section: This section should be small and airy with cupboards to store guest articles lost and maybe claimed later. Flower room: This should be an air-conditioned room to keep flowers fresh. The room should have a worktable, a sink with a water supply and all necessary tools required for flower arrangement. Laundry: This is an important section under housekeeping which is responsible for the cleaning of all fabrics used in the hotel. The section should be adjacent to the linen room so as to avoid excessive steps. Laundry should ensure the cleanness and drying of all guest clothes, employee uniforms and linen to the best-assured standard. Housekeeping Staffing Calculation Compared to other hotel departments, the housekeeping department employs the largest workforce in most hotels. Manpower thus becomes a major operating expense. Good management of the housekeeping department depends on achieving a balance between the 160 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
workload and the staff strength. When calculating staff strength, it must be remembered that each property will have its individual requirements. The factors to be considered here are the type of hotel, location of the hotel, traditions and customs of the locality, the size of the hotel (in terms of the number of rooms), the occupancy rate of the hotel, management needs and policies, the quantity of work to be done per room, the quality of work expected, the standards to be met, The time needed to do the work, the frequency with which the work needs to be done etc. The staff strength of the housekeeping department mainly depends on the size and structure of the hotel, that is, whether it has a compact structure with clusters of rooms, the number of rooms per cluster or floor, the expanse of the public areas and landscaped areas, and so on. The general rule of thumb that aid in determining staff strength in the housekeeping department is given below. Standard Rules for determining Housekeeping staff strength: • Executive housekeeper: 1 for a 300-room property • Secretary to the Executive Housekeeper: 1 normally only in a very large full-service hotel. • Assistant housekeepers: 2 (1 per morning and evening shift) • Floor supervisors: 1 per 60 rooms for the morning shift; 1 for the evening shift; 1 for the night shift. • Public area supervisors: 1 for each shift • Linen/Uniform room supervisors: 1 for each shift • Room attendants: 1 per 16 rooms for the morning shift; 1 per 30 rooms for the evening shift (if turn down service is provided) • Linen and uniform room attendants: 2 • Housemen: depends on the size of public areas and functions expected, but on average, 1 per 60 rooms • Desk attendants: 1 per shift • Tailors/upholsterers: 2 (may differ depending on the size of the hotel) • Horticulturist: 1 or more depending upon the size of the hotel. • Head gardeners: 1 per 20 horticulturists • Gardeners: 1 per 4500 sq. ft of landscaped area Housekeeping as a supporting centre or ancillary department It is rightly said that housekeeping is a 24 x 7 x 365 operation. Imagine the stacks of linen needed to make up all the beds in a hotel; the huge amounts of bath soap, tissue, and other amenities such as shampoos, colognes, and so on that must be placed in the guestrooms; the miles of carpeting, floors, walls, and ceilings to be cleaned and maintained; the countless pieces of furniture that must be dusted and polished, and the barrels of cleaning compounds along with special tools and equipment needed in order to clean these. 161 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Other than hotels, professional housekeeping services are very much in demand in hospitals, on cruise liners, at offices, and more. Since most such organizations prefer to outsource these functions, contract housekeeping is becoming a lucrative entrepreneurship venture these days. Housekeeping, thus, is an ancillary department that contributes in a big way towards the overall reputation of a property. As mentioned above the tasks performed by the housekeeping are critical for the smooth daily operation of any hotel regardless of its category, size, location, number of rooms etc. Also, the critical point in achieving operational success is the teamwork which must exist between housekeeping and the front office, engineering, maintenance personals etc. Areas under the Responsibility of Housekeeping Staffs of the Housekeeping department have very little or no guest contacts in some scenarios, this is mostly due to the fact that most of the work carried out by the housekeeping staffs are in the back of the house area. Hence, housekeeping is considered as a back of the house department. Even though housekeeping is a back of the house department they are still responsible for the maintaining and up-keeping of the house areas and also back of the house areas alike. Below diagram shows the areas which come under the responsibility of the housekeeping. Main Responsibilities of Housekeeping • To ensure well-furnished and maintained guestrooms and public areas. • To ensure excellence in housekeeping sanitation, safety, comfort and aesthetics for hotel guests. • To oversee the coordination of and administer all housekeeping programs and projects. • To act as a source of contact in interdepartmental communications, vendors, professional agencies etc. • To act provide a budget, budget control, and forecasting related to housekeeping. • To achieve the maximum efficiency in ensuring the care and comfort of guests & in the smooth functioning of the department. • To establish a welcoming atmosphere. • To ensure courteousness, reliable service from all staff to the guest. • To ensure a high standard of cleanliness and general upkeep in all areas for which the department is responsible. • To provide linen in rooms, restaurants, banquet halls, conference halls, health clubs etc, as well as to maintain an inventory for the same. • To provide uniforms for all the staff & maintain inventory for the same. • To Cater to the laundering requirements of hotel linen, staff uniforms, and guests. 162 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• To provide & maintain the floral decorations and to maintain the landscaped areas of the hotel. • To select the right contractors & ensure the quality of work is maintained. • To co-ordinate renovation and refurnishing of the property in consultation with the management & with interior designers. • To co-ordinate with the purchasing department for the procurement of guest supplies, cleaning agents, equipment, fabrics, carpets, & other items used in the hotel. • To deal with lost & found articles. • Carpet shampooing and maintaining. • Dealing with any guest queries, complaints & requests as they occur. • To keep the general manager or administrator informed of all matters requiring attention. Standard Room Status Codes Used in Housekeeping Occupied: A guest currently registered to the room. Complimentary: The room is occupied, but the guest is not charged for its use. Stayover: The guest is not checking out today and will remain at least one more night. On-change: The guest has departed, but the room has not yet been cleaned and readied for resale. Do Not Disturb (DND): The guest has requested not to be disturbed. Sleep-out: A guest was booked to the room, but the bed has not been used. Skipper: The guest left the hotel without paying the bill. Vacant and ready: The room has been cleaned and inspected and is ready for an arriving guest. Out of Order (OOO): They cannot be assigned to a guest and is blocked for maintenance activity. Lock Out: The room has been locked so that the guest cannot re-enter until they are cleared by the front desk. DNCO: Did not check out, the guest made arrangements to settle his or her account but has left without informing the front desk. Housekeeping Room Status Cycle Diagram 163 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Fig 7.3 Housekeeping Room Status Cycle Diagram Cleaning Equipment Used in Housekeeping Fig 7.4 Cleaning Equipment Used in Housekeeping Efficient cleaning and maintenance are dependent upon high-quality cleaning equipment, correctly using. Though only 5-10% of the overall cost incurred on cleaning is accounted for 164 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
by cleaning equipment and agents, selecting the ideal equipment plays a major role in the cleaning process. There will often be several ways of carrying out any particular cleaning task and different types of equipment that can be employed for it. It is the executive housekeeper’s responsibility to select the most appropriate piece of equipment according to the hotel’s requirement. Most types of cleaning equipment fall under the category of recycled items, but a few large pieces of items may be considered as fixed assets. The correct choice of quality cleaning equipment could save costs due to breakdowns, reduce fatigue and also ensure overall efficiency in operations. The equipment used in the cleaning of the surface, furniture and fittings in a hotel building includes both 1) Manual Equipments and 2) Mechanical Equipment. 1. Manual Equipment: Manual equipment can include all types of equipment that clean or aid in the cleaning process by directly using manoeuvre, operation and energy of employees. Examples of Manual cleaning equipment are Brushes, Mops, Brooms, Cloths, Polish applicators, Containers, Buckets etc. 2. Mechanical Equipment: The various pieces of mechanical equipment used in the housekeeping department are usually powered by electricity or gas. The staff should be well- trained in the operation of this equipment since incorrect usage will not only lead to inefficient cleaning but may also become a safety hazard. Examples of mechanical equipment used in housekeeping are Vacuum cleaners, Electric brooms, Wet-and-dry vacuum cleaners, floor maintenance machine for scrubbing, buffing polishing etc. The Layout of The Housekeeping Department Fig 7.5 the Layout of the Housekeeping Department The layout of the housekeeping is the physical demarcation of areas in the department. When the layout is well-planned, it enables the smooth functioning of the department. The layout is dependent on the size of the hotel as well as physical space restrictions. Normally, the layout is decided by the executive housekeeper, at the facility planning stage in setting up the hotel. 165 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The following factors are taken into consideration when deciding on the area and layout: - The layout of the housekeeping department in the hotel: • Housekeeping department should be in such a place which is accessible to all the employees. • Housekeeping department should be in that area, which is at the backside of the hotel, not disturbing any guests. • Housekeeping department should be on the ground floor which must be able to hold heavy equipment. • Housekeeping department should be in such a place which is away from the general traffic. • Housekeeping department should be in a convenient place to keep the different types of equipment used. The total number of guest rooms: • Number of function rooms and number of food-and-beverage outlets • Amount of manpower required. • The volume of business anticipated. • The number of jobs contracted out. • The flow of traffic (people and equipment) The following areas constitute the layout of a housekeeping department: • Executive housekeeper’s cabin • Secretary’s cabin • Desk Control Room • Lost and found Section. • Housekeeping Stores • Florist’s room • Linen and Uniform room • Linen Store • Sewing room • Floor Pantry/Maid’s service room 7.2 SUMMARY • Housekeeping is the key element in hotels. • The term Housekeeping outside the hospitality, hospitals refers to the management of daily duties and chores involved in the running of a household, such as cleaning, cooking, home maintenance, shopping, and bill payment etc 166 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Housekeeping organizational chart provides a clear picture of the line of authority, the housekeeping department in a large hotel or 5 Star Hotel is headed by the executive housekeeper. • Planning is more important like allotting works. • The layout of the housekeeping is the physical demarcation of areas in the department. • Organising also plays an important role in Housekeeping. • Frequency schedule, Performance standard are important. 7.3 KEYWORD • Due Out: The room is expected to become vacant after the following day's check- out time. • Check Out: The guest has settled his or her account, returned the room keys and left the hotel. • Late Checkout: The guest has requested and is being allowed to check-out later than the standard check-out time. • Early Check in: The guest has requested and is being allowed to check-in earlier than the standard check-in time. • Sleeper: The guest has settled his/her account and left the hotel, but the front office staff has failed to properly update the room's status. 7.4 LEARNING ACTIVITIES 1. What are the aspects involved in housekeeping? Submit a report. 7.5 UNIT END QUESTIONS 167 A. Descriptive Questions Short Questions 1. What are the factors of Productivity standard? 2. Mention the documents essential for Planning? 3. Explain Frequency Schedule? 4. Please mentions the steps involved in the Housekeeping process. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
5. What are the 7S of good housekeeping process? Long Questions 1. Explain in detail the planning in hose keeping 2. What are the Factors involved in organising housekeeping? 3. Draw the Layout of a house keeping department in a 5-star hotel. 4. Draw the organisation structure of Housekeeping department. 5. What are the responsibilities and duties of Housekeeping staffs? B. Multiple Choice Questions 1. Housekeeping Means a. Room cleaning only. b. Floor cleaning c. Roof top cleaning d. Keeping entire premises clean and comfortable 2. Executive housekeeper , supervise and coordinate work of housekeeping personnel. a. Motivate b. organize c. discipline d. Recruit 3. room is used to store items such as vacuum cleaner, ladder, and roll-away beds. a. Housekeeping stores b. heavy equipment stores c. lost and found section. d. florist room 4. The job of involves heavy physical work as assigned, such as carpet cleaning, window Cleaning, carrying heavy pieces of furniture a. House men b. Vallet runner c. Bell boy d. Guest room Attendant. 5. maintains the lands caped gardens of hotels. 168 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
a. Horticulturist b. gardener c. maalis d. flori Answer 1-d, 2-b, 3-a, 4-a, 5-b 7.6 REFERENCES Reference books • Bhatnagar, S.K., Front Office Management, Frank Bros, India, 2109 • Global Tourism and Hospitality by Andrews. • Managing Front Office Operations – Michael L Kasarana& Richard Brooks. • Introduction to Hospitality - I & II – Dennis Foster Textbooks • Introduction to Hospitality Management, Walker, Fourth Edition (2112). Pearson ISBN: 978-0-13-295994-0. • Enz, Canina and Walsh (2101). Hotel Industry Averages: An Inaccurate Tool for Measuring Performance. The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. 169 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 8: HOUSE-KEEPING SOPS STRUCTURE 8.0 Learning Objectives 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Standard operating procedure 8.3 Standard operations manual 8.4 Teamwork and leadership in Housekeeping. 8.5 Training in housekeeping department 8.6 Summary 8.7 Keywords 8.8 Learning Activity 8.9 Unit end Questions 8.10 References 8.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After learning this unit, the student will be able to • Recognize the concept of Standard operating Procedure. • Analyse the Job Procedures and Job allocation in Sops. • Remember the various SOPs in the house keeping • Explain the importance of teamwork and leadership in housekeeping 8.1 INTRODUCTION An important aspect of a quality system is to work according to unambiguous Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). In fact, the whole process from sampling to the filing of the analytical result should be described by a continuous series of SOPs. A SOP for a laboratory can be defined as follows: \"A Standard Operating Procedure is a document which describes the regularly recurring operations relevant to the quality of the investigation. The purpose of a SOP is to carry out the operations correctly and always in the same manner. A SOP should be available at the place where the work is done\". A SOP is a compulsory instruction. If deviations from this instruction are allowed, the conditions for these should be documented including who can give permission for this and what exactly the complete procedure will be. The original should rest at a secure place while working copies should be authenticated with stamps and/or signatures of authorized persons. 170 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Several categories and types of SOPs can be distinguished. The name \"SOP\" may not always be appropriate, e.g., the description of situations or other matters may better designated protocols, instructions or simply registration forms. Also, worksheets belonging to an analytical procedure have to be standardized (to avoid jotting down readings and calculations on odd pieces of paper). 8.2 STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES The efforts of housekeeping speak for themselves. The result of sincere as well as faux housekeeping efforts is noticeable. The housekeeping staff needs to execute cleaning and maintenance tasks at various places inside the hotel. The most important task is cleaning and maintaining guest rooms and guest bathrooms. The guests assess the cleanliness in this area critically. By following the best cleaning and maintenance practices, the housekeeping staff can contribute to retain the satisfied guests as well as to generate new guests willing to repeat their visit to the hotel. This brings in more revenue to the hotel business. To perform towards guest satisfaction and work productivity together, the housekeeping staff needs to structure the cleaning and maintenance procedures and follow them appropriately. Setting Chambermaid’s Trolley The chambermaid’s trolley can be viewed as a large toolbox on wheels to aid the hotel housekeeping staff. It has a number of compartments and shelves of various sizes. This trolley is filled with the supplies from the housekeeping supplies store at the end of each shift so that the next shift staff can access it immediately. The staffs consider the following points while loading chambermaid’s trolley. • Loading the trolley with adequate supplies depending upon the number and types of the rooms on the floor. • Avoiding overloading the trolley that may lead to any accidents. • Avoiding underloading the trolley that may lead to make unnecessary trips to supplies store. 171 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Fig 8.1 Setting Chambermaid’s Trolley SOP for Setting the Chambermaid’s Trolley The SOP is given as follows − • Empty the trolley. • Check rapidly for any broken parts. • Clean it by dusting and wiping any stains. • Place the items according to their weight: heaviest items at the bottom and lighter items at the top section of the trolley. • Place the linen for different purpose separately. • Close the lids of cleaner bottles and liquid cans tightly. • Record the numbers and types of the items loaded in the trolley for the rooms. • Collect the room keys. • Take the trolley to the assigned duty floor. • Park it outside the room such that the linen side faces outside, and the room entrance is blocked. SOP for Entering the Guest Room The housekeeping staff should follow the SOP given below for entering the guest room. • Leave the DND (Do not Disturb) rooms undisturbed. • Knock the door with knuckles and announce in pleasant voice, “Housekeeping…”. 172 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Wait for five seconds to hear the guest’s response. • In case of no response, announce the same again. • In there is no answer second time too, open the door with the key. • Enter the room. • If the guest is found sleeping, withdraw from the room quietly. • In case the guest answers, ask politely when he would like to service the room. • In case the guest wants it later, acknowledge his reply and withdraw from the room. • If the housekeeping work is in progress and the guest returns from outside, greet him and ask if the guest would like to return in some time. SOPs for Cleaning the Guest Room The SOP for cleaning the guest room is given below. Once the staff enters the room and starts the housekeeping work, he must − • Not use guest room linen as a door stopper or for cleaning and dusting the room. • Keep the guest room door open while working. • Open the curtains and patio door. • Assemble the furniture and place appropriately. • Keep the vacuum cleaner and other cleaning apparatus in the room. • Check the type of bed. • Take the bed linen of appropriate size and place it on the nearest chair. • Remove previous bedspread and place on the chair. • Inspect the bed and pillows for their condition as well as for any lost-and-found. • In case of checkout room, deposit the left guest items to the floor supervisor. If the room is still occupied by the guest, place the item such that it is safe as well as visible to the guest. • Put soiled sheets and pillow covers in the soiled linen cart of the trolley. • Empty ashtrays and rubbish from the guest room and bathroom dustbins into the trash cart of the trolley. • Pick up used glasses, mugs, ashtray, trays, and place them on bathroom platform. • Spray the bathtub, basin, glasses, mugs, and trays with cleaning liquid. Let them soak the chemicals from the liquid. 173 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Make the bed. • Start dusting from an extreme inside corner of the room and work outwards. • Clean wipe TV. • Straighten the guest items. • Sweep the room and patio floor. • Mop the room and patio floor. • Clean the glasses, mugs, and tray. • Sanitize glasses, mugs, telephone device, and TV remote. • Inspect the condition of bathroom slippers and bathrobe. Replace if soiled. • Close the patio door. • Close all the curtains. • Clean the entrance door. • Close and lock the room door. • Report any damage spotted to the supervisor. SOPs for Cleaning the Guest Bathroom The SOP for cleaning the guest bathroom is given below. • Open bathroom ventilation. • Sweep the bathroom floor. • Scrub and finish the platform, bathtub, and basin. • Scrub and finish the toilet bowl, rim, ring, and hinge. • Wipe the mirror. • Clean bathroom walls using wet mop or sponge. • Replace amenities such as toilet roll, toilet block, shampoo, conditioners, and moisturizers. • Replace bathroom mat. • Wipe down shower curtain working from top to bottom with a dry cloth. • Replace bath towels and hand towels. • Replace the dustbin liner. • Close the bathroom ventilation. • Clean the bathroom door. 174 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Keep the bathroom door open after cleaning. • Check bathroom doormat. Replace if required. • Report any damage spotted to the supervisor. SOPs for Cleaning Balcony / Patio The balcony or the patio is the extensions of the guest room. The SOPs for cleaning them are given below. • Enter the balcony. • Spray walls, railings • Scrub and clean the bird droppings • Wipe down rocking or sitting chairs and table • Clean the door tracks appeared on the floor. • Sweep the floor. • Mop the floor. SOPs for Do-Not-Disturb (DND) Rooms Every room has to be entered at least once a day by any housekeeping staff. The guests who do not want to get disturbed by any housekeeping service tag their rooms with a Do-Not- Disturb (DND) sign. The SOP for these rooms is as given below. • Do not disturb by placing a call until 2:00 o’clock in the noon. • After 2:00 p.m., the Supervisor calls the room to know the guest’s needs. • The housekeeping staff contacts the supervisor to make sure whether to service the room. • If the call was not answered by the guest after two calling attempts, the room is serviced. • To his best judgement, the housekeeping staff enters the room and continues with the usual housekeeping work. Public Area Cleaning SOP There are various public areas frequented by the hotel guests. The areas and their respective SOPs for housekeeping are as given − SOPs for Cleaning the Lifts 175 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Carry out the lift cleaning task early morning when the least number of guests are expected to use it. • Call the elevator on the ground floor. • Open its door. • Put appropriate signboard near it. • Clean the lift using the appropriate cleaning liquid according to the wall material of the lift cabin. • Wipe the lift doors. • Work from top to bottom while cleaning a lift cabin. • Keep the lift door open till the floor and walls are dried completely. • Spray clean air freshener. SOPs for Cleaning the Front Office and Lobby The lobby is active 24 hours. The furniture, carpets, flooring, and ceiling; everything needs to be kept extremely clean at any given time. The SOPs are as follows − • Clear all ashtrays into the trash ensuring no cigarettes are burning. • Clean and restore them to proper places. • Clear the dustbins near front office desk. • Replace their lining and keep them as they were. • Dust and wipe the telephone device, fax machine, Computers, and kiosks. Sanitize the telephone device, computer keyboard, and touchpad of the kiosk. • Remove spider webs from ceiling. • Remove the dust deposited on walls, windows, furniture, and floor. • Remove stains on the carpet and furniture. • Clean all artifacts using damp and soft cloth carefully. • Sweep and mop the flooring of lobby and front office desk area. • Dust and polish any vases, paintings, and art pieces. • Spray the air clean spray with signature aroma. • Play a very light and soothing instrumental music. SOPs for Cleaning Parking Area 176 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The parking area takes the load of pollution created by hotel owned vehicles and guests’ private vehicles. It is heavily polluted with dirt and dust. The parking area needs cleanliness with respect to the following terms − • Control the ventilation. • Control pollutant discharges occurring from broken drainage or water systems of the hotel. • Remove fine-grained sediment particles on parking floor. • Clean the area near lift. • Hard-sweep the parking floor using street sweeping equipment. • Collect and dispose the debris appropriately. • Bringing presence of any unusual debris to the notice of public area supervisor. SOPs for Keeping the Garden The gardener or the team of gardeners work to keep the garden looking beautiful. They must − • Water the plants regularly according to the season and requirement of the plants; generally early morning. • Remove the weed and fall leaves daily. • Implement the art of Arbosculpture to enhance the beauty of the trees and bushes. • Keep the gardening tools clean and safe. • Report any damage or requirement of tools or plants to the public area supervisor. • Keep the lawn grass in healthy condition by periodic cutting with the help of scarifying machine. • Keep any artificial waterfalls or artificial water body clean. • Fertilizing and manuring the plants as per the schedule. • Recycle the food wastage in the hotel to prepare organic fertilizer. SOPs for Cleaning the Dining Area The dining areas need daily cleaning before their working hours start as well as when the restaurant staff requests cleaning. The SOP is given below. 177 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Collect all the cleaning equipment and dining area keys. • Switch on all the electric lamps. • Open all the drapes and blinds for letting in the natural light. • Observer the entire area to plan the work. • Align all the chairs away from the table to make room for cleaning. • Clean the carpet area, using vacuum cleaner. • Remove any food stains from the carpet using appropriate cleaner. • If there is no carpet on the floor, sweep and mop it. • Dust all the furniture in the dining area. • Polish the furniture if required. • Using a feather duster, dust all the pictures, paintings, artworks, and corners. • Clean and disinfect the telephone devices. • Polish metal, glass, and wood items if required. • Clean the mirrors and windows by wiping them with wet sponge. • If requirement of maintenance is spotted, consult engineering department. • If any guest items are found, then deposit it with housekeeping control desk. • Collect all dirty table linens and replace with the fresh ones. • Return the keys to the security department. • Record in the housekeeping register. SOPs for Cleaning the Swimming Pool The swimming pool cleaning activity can be conducted in-house by training and employing housekeeping staff as there could be separate swimming pools such as indoor and outdoor as well as for adults and for children. The following steps are taken to clean and maintain the swimming pool − • Check water quality more than once a week. • Check any broken tiles/pipes inside the swimming pool. • Clean the water as soon as possible when required. • Check the pool water for contamination daily. Remove leaves using leaf catchers. • Check for slippery floor area and the pool bottom. Apply and maintain the anti-slip mats near the pool. Scrub and clean the bottom of the pool. • Keep the life-saving and floating apparatus ready all time. • Keep poolside area and basking chairs clean. • Keep an appropriate and noticeable signage showing the depth of the swimming pool. 178 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Check and keep changing rooms up to good quality. • Keep the changing room door open when it is not occupied. • Employee lifeguards to provide general safety check for swimming pool once a day during the operating hours. • Add adequate amount of chlorine in the pool water. Fig 8.2 SOPs for Cleaning the Swimming Pool SOPs for Spring Cleaning Since Spring-cleaning is a time taking process, it is conducted during low occupancy period. The standard procedures are − • Request a spring-cleaning date the front office desk. (The housekeeping department needs to honour whatever date they give, as it is the matter of revenue generation.) • Tag the room as \"Not for Sale\". • Remove the guest amenities, curtains, and art pieces from the room. • Send the curtains to the laundry for dry cleaning. • Empty the mini bar and send the beverage items to Food and Beverage store. • Roll the curtains and cover them with dustsheet. • Inspect the furniture and send to the furniture yard for repair or upholstery. • Inspect the locks, knobs, latches, leaking pipes, and bathroom. • Hand over the room to maintenance department for any painting, sealing, and repairing work required. • Once the maintenance work is complete, remove any residual smell of paint and varnish by airing the room. • Polish and clean the permanent fixtures. • Open, lay, and shampoo the carpet. • Check the bathroom sealing and clean the bathroom. 179 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Make the bed using fresh bed linen. • Restore the art pieces, furniture, and guest supplies. • Call room service for restoring mini bar, glasses, and trays. • Show the room to the floor supervisor. • Release it to the front office desk for selling. SOPs for Closing Down the Shifts The floor supervisor closes the shift formally by ensuring the following points from the attendants − • Empty garbage bags of the chambermaid’s trolley into the garbage receptacle. • Ensure they the soiled linen collected into chambermaid’s trolley bags are sent to laundry. • Remove the chambermaid’s trolley and check it for ant damage and dirt accumulation. • Empty the vacuum cleaner bags and replace them with new ones. • Tidy the housekeeping department area by stacking the items at their appropriate places. • Clean the toilet brushes with hot water for ten minutes every week. • Rinse mops in light detergents and hang for drying. • Close the doors and handover the keys to the housekeeping control desk. • Sign off the shift. 8.3 STANDARD OPERATION MANUALS A job procedure specifies the way in which a task is to be performed. Job procedures should be used during induction and training sessions and ought to be incorporated into the department’s procedure manuals. Updating job procedures is necessary as and when changes in equipment, cleaning materials, and so on, occur. They are most popularly called SOPs or standard operating procedures. They are also referred to as ‘work cards’ or ‘order of work’ documents. SOPs comprise the following information: • The job to be done. • Equipment and materials required. 180 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Procedure of work • Safety factors • Time required to do the job. • The goals in establishing SOPs are as follows: • To aid standardization • To help in training • To preserve surfaces and materials • To ensure the completion of a task successfully • To effect a saving on cleaning equipment and agents • To prevent accidents • To help in training • To ensure the completion of a task successfully • To aid the compiling of work schedules and help in staffing requirements Job allocation and work schedule: A work schedule is a document that lists the actual tasks to be carried out by an employee in a particular shift and the time frame in which to undertake each task. The document includes the following: • The position of the employee • The area of operation • The time at which the employee has to perform the allotted task. • Timings of meals, breaks, and any special jobs • Time for tidying equipment and closing up Work schedules must be written in simple language and have a concise form. Since the amount of work in a day may take longer than the length of one shift, several work schedules need to be compiled for use in one day. The number of schedules made for a given area is thus an indication of the number of staff required to clean that area on the particular day. The schedules should be handed over to the employees when they report for work. Calculating staff strength: Compared to other hotel departments, the housekeeping department employs the largest workforce in most hotels. Manpower thus becomes a major operating expense. Good management of the housekeeping department depends on achieving a balance between the workload and the staff strength. When calculating staff strength, it must be remembered that each property will have its individual requirements. The factors to be considered here are: 181 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• The type of hotel it is • The location of the hotel • Traditions and customs of the locality • The size of the hotel (in terms of number of rooms) • The occupancy rate of the hotel • Management needs • Company policies • The quantity of work to be done. • The quality of work expected, that is, the standards to be met. • The time needed to do the work. • The frequency with which the work needs to be done. • The time when the work area is available. • The amount of traffic in the area The staff strength of the housekeeping department mainly depends on the size and structure of the hotel, that is, whether it has a compact structure with clusters of rooms, the number of rooms per cluster or floor, the expanse of the public areas and landscaped areas, and so on. The general rule of thumb that aid in determining staff strength in the housekeeping department is given below. Thumb rules for determining staff strength Executive housekeeper: 1 for a 300-room property Assistant housekeepers: 2 (1 per morning and evening shift) Floor supervisors: 1 per 60 rooms for the morning shift; 1 for the evening shift; 1 for the night shift. Public area supervisors: 1 for each shift Linen/uniform room supervisors: 1 Room attendants: 1 per 16 rooms for the morning shift; 1 per 30 rooms for the evening shift (if turn down service is provided) Linen and uniform room attendants: 2 Housemen: depends on the size of public areas and functions expected, but on average, 1 per 60 rooms Desk attendants: 1 per shift Tailors/upholsterers: 2 (may differ depending on the size of the hotel) Horticulturist: 1 Head gardeners: 1 per 20 horticulturists 182 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Gardeners: 1 per 4500 sq. ft of landscaped area Planning duty roasters: Duty roasters specify the allotment of jobs, hours of duty, and days off for each member of the staff. To make for an even share of duties, the roaster should be rotated every five weeks. Duty roasters must be simple in format, easy to interpret, clearly written, and displayed on the staff notice board at least a week in advance. Planning a duty roaster in advance helps to ensure: • The exact number of staff required to be on duty at any given occupancy. • That staff working hours are as per their employment contract. • That regular off days are availed for enhancing productivity. • Knowledge of which employees are present on the premises in instances of emergencies. • Accuracy in attendance and payroll reports. Steps in making a roaster: the steps in making a duty roaster are as follows. Step 1: Ascertain occupancy levels and events expected in the hotel. This information is provided by the sales and marketing department at the beginning of the financial year. On a daily and a weekly basis, more specific reports of occupancy are available through coordination with the front office department. The overall forecasts of occupancy must be considered before scheduling the employees’ annual leave. These forecasts also help the executive housekeeper to follow the staffing to ensure sufficient staff at peak periods and avoid excess labour during slack periods. Step 2: Ascertain the spread of duty hours to be scheduled in the duty roaster, whether 12 hours, 16 hours, or 24 hours. Decide whether the positions will work for 5 or 7 days per week. Step 3: Ascertain the type of shift-straight shift, break shift, rotating shift, or any other alternative scheduling-to be used. Step 4: Ascertain the number of full time and part time staff on the payroll. Step 5: Ascertain the number of labour hours per day and per week required for various positions. Step 6: Incorporate coffee breaks and mealtime allowances in the roaster. Step 7: Ascertain that each employee gets a weekly off day after 6 working days. Provide for compensatory offs. Schedule one reliever per 6 employees. Step 8: Ascertain closed days and restricted holidays, and any contingency planning that may be needed. 8.4 TEAMWORK AND LEADERSHIP IN HOUSEKEEPING 183 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The current trend in housekeeping operations is to form teams to accomplish tasks rather than scheduling employees on an individual basis. The three important determinants of teamwork are leadership, the building of the right kind of groups or teams for better productivity, and membership (which reflects the individual contributions people will make towards team goals). A housekeeping team may consist of one supervisor, several (2-5) GRAs and one houseman. This team under the supervisor becomes totally responsible for a particular section of guestrooms in the hotel. Cleaning performance, say, is then measured on a team basis rather than on individual basis. Team cleaning-an example of teamwork: In team cleaning, two or more GRAs together clean one guestroom at a time. Usually, teams of two GRAs each are assigned to 30-35 rooms. Team members rotate duties of bedroom and bathroom cleaning. Team cleaning is successful when ideas come from the employees themselves and they are given a free hand in their implementation. Team cleaning works in hotels that are willing to make a change to meet new challenges. Promoting teamwork within each team requires special effort. A teamwork checklist should be followed by the executive housekeeper to make it a success. • Reward teamwork by praising the team and giving them choice assignments, raises, and promotions. • Include teamwork as a criterion during the employee’s performance appraisals. • Rotate special assignments, allowing everyone an opportunity to shine as an individual occasionally. • Consider ideas generated jointly by the team as well as individual ideas. • Share information and give the team a say in decision-making. • Give credit to the team for jobs well done. • Set an example of cooperation with others and yourself. • Advantages of teamwork: • There are many advantages of teamwork. Some of these are as follows: • A principal advantage to the manager is in being able to schedule a group of people as though they were one entity. • Co-operation and workers morale will be higher when they are part of a small unit rather than solitary individuals in a large group of people. 184 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Team spirit will cause the entire group to excel in operations. GRAs who excel in room cleaning help the poorer performers on the team to improve. • Absenteeism and tardiness get better resolved at the team level because one member being absent or late could have a negative effect on the entire team’s reputation. • With increasing concern for safety and security, assigning two or more GRA’s to clean a room could save expenses on liabilities and lawsuits. • Mundane cleaning tasks may become fun when performed as a team. • Fewer tools are needed-for example, one room attendant’s cart, one vacuum cleaner, and one hand caddy can equip a team of two. • Some heavier cleaning tasks are accomplished more easily and faster with two people-for examples, moving beds, turning over heavy mattresses, making up a double bed, and so on. • Bringing new employees up to the required standards becomes easier since they have buddies to coach them along the way. There is saving on labour costs since team workers complete work faster, have better attendance, meet with fewer accidents, and develop greater interest in improving the processes. When planning for team cleaning, the executive housekeeper must address the following considerations: • Have linen and cleaning inventories equally distributed so that teams do not fight over supplies. • If a team must stop because it is faced with some hurdle, the work output of 2-3 people is stopped, as opposed to only one in the traditional method of guestroom cleaning. Hence the executive housekeeper should make sure that adequate supplies are available, and teams are given an accurate list of room assignments. • Scheduling may require special effort to accommodate team members getting the same days off. Leadership: 185 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Fig 8.3 Leadership: For teamwork in housekeeping to be successful, the department leader, that is, the executive housekeeper needs to be an inspiring role model as a team player as well as an effective leader. The leader of any group can help to build its members into a well-knit team by sharing vision, goals, and strategies with them. Leadership is the capacity to frame plans that will succeed and the faculty to persuade others to carry them out in the face of difficulties. Leadership quality in a manager makes people look up to him/her for advice, feel motivated to work for and respect the manager, and be loyal to the manager. An executive housekeeper who can mobilize the trust and support of the staff achieves great heights. Some executive housekeepers who are good planners and organizers fail to achieve results because they are not effective as leaders. An executive housekeeper who is a good leader will ensure the following activities: • Draft a compelling vision. • Communicate passionately. • Get cooperation from others. • Inspire and pull employees towards goals. • Provide direction and momentum. • Be assertive if necessary. • Learn from other leaders. • Make decisions in line with the vision. • Get feedback. • Command and not demand respect and loyalty. • Do some self-evaluation as well Different leadership styles may be used by the executive housekeepers. Some distinctly make people work by force or order; others join the group and initiate activity; still others use persuasion; while some, by their pleasant and endearing manner, generate the enthusiasm for work and achieve goals in the best possible manner. An executive housekeeper who is an effective leader uses all these styles to different extents, according to the nature of the decisions to be made and as the situations demands. 186 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Fig 8.4 Leadership Styles of leadership: • Autocratic: imposes own decision with/without explanation to subordinates • Participative: decision made after prior consultation with subordinates • Democratic: joint decision arrived at • Laissez faire: decisions taken by delegation. Most often, executive housekeepers tend to use the participative style and depend more on communication, adopting a supportive attitude and sharing needs, values, goals, and expectations with their staff. When employees, regardless of their level of education, are involved in decision making, they become highly contribute to successful decisions of major consequence. They are then not only committed to the outcome of these decisions, but they are also involved in the success or failures of such decisions are thereby motivated to continue their participation and personal growth. A self-assessment needs to be carried out by executive housekeepers to find out which style of leadership they adopt as their principal one in actuality. 8.5 TRAINING IN HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT 187 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Fig 8.5 Training in Housekeeping Department The efficiency and economy with which any department will operate will depend on the ability of each member of the organization to do his or her job. Such ability will depend in part on past experiences, but more commonly it can be credited to the type and quality of training offered. Employees, regardless of past experiences, always need some degree of training before starting a new job. Small institutions may try to avoid training by hiring people who are already trained in the general functions with which they will be involved. However, most institutions recognize the need for training that is specifically oriented toward the new experience and will have a documented training program. Some employers of housekeeping personnel find it easier to train completely unskilled and untrained personnel. In such cases, bad or undesirable practices do not have to be trained out of an employee. Previous experience and education should, however, be analyzed and considered in the training of each new employee in order that efficiencies in training can be recognized. If an understanding of department standards and policies can be demonstrated by a new employee, that portion of training may be shortened or modified. However, skill and ability must be demonstrated before training can be altered. Finally, training is the best method to communicate the company’s way of doing things, without which the new employee may do work contrary to company policy First Training: First training of a new employee actually starts with a continuation of department orientation. When a new employee is turned over to the housekeeping or environmental services department, orientation usually continues by familiarizing the employee with department rules and regulations. Many housekeeping departments have their own department employee handbooks. Although these handbooks are for completely different types of organizations, the substance of their publications is essentially the same; both are designed to familiarize each new employee with his or her surroundings. Handbooks should be written in such a way as to inspire employees to become team members, committed to company objectives. 188 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
A Systematic Approach to Training: Training may be defined as those activities that are designed to help an employee begin performing tasks for which he or she is hired or to help the employee improve performance in a job already assigned. The purpose of training is to enable an employee to begin an assigned job or to improve upon techniques already in use. In hotel or hospital housekeeping operations, there are three basic areas in which training activity should take place: skills, attitudes, and knowledge. Skills Training: A Sample lists of skills in which a basic housekeeping employee must be trained are as follows: 1. Bed making: Specific techniques; company policy 2. Vacuuming: Techniques; use and care of equipment 3. Dusting: Techniques; use of products. 4. Window and mirror cleaning: Techniques and products 5. Setup awareness: Room setups; what a properly serviced room should look like 6. Bathroom cleaning: Tub and toilet sanitation; appearance; methods of cleaning and results desired. 7. Daily routine: An orderly procedure for the conduct of the day’s work; daily communications 8. Caring for and using equipment: Housekeeper cart; loading 9. Industrial safety: Product use; guest safety; fire and other emergencies The best reference for the skills that require training is the job description for which the person is being trained. Attitude Guidance Employees need guidance in their attitudes about the work that must be done. They need to be guided in their thinking about rooms that may present a unique problem in cleaning. Attitudes among section housekeepers need to be such that, occasionally, when rooms require extra effort to be brought back to standard, it is viewed as being a part of rendering service to the guest who paid to enjoy the room. The following is a list of areas in which attitude guidance is important: 1. The guest 189 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
2. The department manager and immediate supervisor 3. A guestroom that is in a state of great disarray 4. The hotel and company 5. The uniform 6. Appearance 7. Personal hygiene Budget Fig 8.6 Budget A budget may be defined as a financial or a quantitative statement prepared prior to a defined period or time which focuses on policies to be persuade during that period for the purpose of attaining a given objective. Budgeting refers to formulation of plans for future activities which lays down carefully constructed objectives and programs of activity and provides yardsticks by which deviation can be measured. A budget is an estimate of income and expenses for a given period of time. The departmental heads make the forecast of their respective departments with these figures as a guide the financial controller prepares a budget and present it to the top management for final approval. The format of a budget is almost like a profit and loss statement. It is prepared for a financial year and is updated monthly and submitted for approval at least 2-3 months before the start of financial year. After all the income projections have been made by the departmental head the controller reviews them with general manager before starting to implement the proposed budget. Once the budget is approved, each member of the management team is obligated to abide by the budget and be responsible to his departmental expenses to the allocated amount. Types of Budget On the basis of types of expenditure- 190 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
1. Capital budget-Make provision for all items of capital assets, these are assets that are not normally used up in day-to-day life. It is important to keep a record of purchase and repairs as a form of control. Equipments, machinery, furniture and fittings etc. are typical examples of capital expenditure. 2. Operating budget-Makes provision for all those items which are required for day-to- day operations e.g.-cleaning agents, guest supplies, salaries and wages contract services etc. 3. Pre-opening budget-Makes provision for the smooth opening of new hotel., resources for opening parties, advertising, generation of initial goodwill, initial cost of employee salaries and wages etc. On the basis of department involved- 1. Master budget-These represents the forecasted budget for the whole organization and incorporate all incomes and expenditures estimated for the organization. 2. Departmental budget-Each department of the hotel forwards a budget for its estimated expenses and revenues to the financial controller. E.g.-housekeeping budget, F&B budget etc. Rooms division budget is the combined budget for both front office and housekeeping. On the basis of flexibility of Expenditure- Fixed Flexible Budget Budget Fig 8.7 On the basis of flexibility of Expenditure- 1. Fixed budget-These budget remains unchanged over a period of time and are not related to the volume of sale e.g., rent, insurance, depreciation etc. 2. Flexible budget-These are also pre-determined budget based on the revenue expected but differ with different volume of sale. Advantages of Budget and Budgetary Control– • Provides an overall picture of the result expected from the proposed plan of operations. • It serves as a guide to various executives who are responsible for the various departments of the hotel. 191 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Maximizing efficiency which is achieved by avoiding wastage and loss of manpower and materials. • Budgetary control ensures co-ordination and central control. • Helps to monitor performance since failure to achieve the budgeted forecast will be a measure of the overall performance for the hotel and its employees. Budgetary Control For controlling budget, two variances of budget, revenue and expenses are assessed. In favorable condition actual revenue should exceed budgeted revenue and actual expenses should be lower than the budgeted revenue. Since housekeeping is not a revenue generating department, responsibility of this department in achieving the financial goal is to control the departmental expenses. Controlling operating expenses in housekeeping- • Effective documentation-Usage, rates and costs of all inventory items should be documented. • Proper scheduling of staff-Hiring of staff according to the actual occupancy for a specified period. • Right purchasing-To control expenses housekeeping department coordinates with the purchase department and decides the right quality, right quantity, right price, right source of supply, and right time for purchasing. • Efficient training and supervision-Training for new employee and training on new methods for older employee is very helpful for controlling expenses. Efficient training can increase the productivity and performance standards which results decrease in housekeeping expenses. Purchasing systems Modes of purchasing Various types of purchasing methods are used in hotels. A single purchasing activity may also be a combination of several types. Some of the methods are: 1. Formal purchasing/competitive bid buying: Formal quotations are invited from sellers against the written specification for each item to be purchased. These requests for bids may be made through newspapers or other publications that are widely distributed or they may be passed to interested sellers who may be contacted over the phone. The usual practice is to accept the quotation of the lowest bidder unless the products fail to meet the specifications. 2. Wholesale buying: In this method of purchasing the contract is signed with a wholesaler for the purchase of items at a specific price. For the future the agreement specifies the intervals between deliveries for the contract period. 192 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
3. Negotiated buying: this method involves negotiation between the buyer and the seller regarding the price and quantities. This method is generally used for items that are in limited supply where both the buyer and the seller are keen that the product be picked up quickly. In this case the buyer contacts the seller directly. 4. Contract purchasing: This method of purchasing assists the buyers and the sellers to improve the re-ordering of items that are repeatedly called for with minimal administrative expenses. This method is similar to blanket order purchasing except that the agreement is long term, and the supplier are therefore not changed frequently. The rate of usage and frequency of ordering over the contract period need to be known under the system contract. The buyer receives only those brands which are produced or sold by the contractor. This method of purchasing is most commonly used for the purchase of housekeeping supplies. 5. Blanket order purchasing: A blanket order is an agreement to provide a specific quantity of listed items for a period of time at an agreed price if the price is not settled at the time of placing the order. A method of determining it is included in the contract. The blanket order method is best for items that are required in small quantities but more frequently and where the usage rate cannot be accurately forecasted. 6. Stockless purchasing: In this case the buyer does not keep the stock of goods ordered. The supplier warehouses them for the buyer instead. The inventory is thus owned by the supplier. 7. Purchase by paid reserve: In this method money is paid in advance for commodities to ensure continuity of supply throughout the year. 8. Total-supply purchasing: In this type of purchasing all the required items are supplied by a single supplier. This helps in reducing the paperwork and negotiations need to be done with only one person. 9. Cost-plus purchasing: In this method of purchasing a supplier buys all the commodities and provides them to the housekeeping department. The supplier is given a small commission for this. 10. Centralized purchasing: This type of purchasing is done mainly by the chain hotels. They purchase items for all their main properties together. This method helps them to source the items at a cheaper price as the quantity of the order is more resulting in economy of volume. 11. Standing order purchasing: In this method daily supplies are fixed for perishable items such as flowers or groceries. 12. Cash and carry method: This is the method of purchasing where the items are purchased from supermarkets so that the prices are competitive. There are no minimum order level orders of certain items in case of non-availability of delivery services. 13. Purchasing from van sales: This method is rarely used for purchasing in the housekeeping department. In this method purchasing is done from mobile shops which move from one place to another. 14. Weekly/fortnightly purchasing: In this type purchasing is done only weekly/fortnightly. This ensures regular availability of the items and makes the suppliers prices more competitive. 193 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
15. Daily market purchasing/petty cash system: In this method of purchasing item quantities in the store are checked on a daily basis and only items falling short are purchased. This method operates as a petty cash system. It is effective for purchasing small order from local market in exchange for bill so that a cash payment is made. 16. Cash-on-delivery buying: The ordering system involves payment on acceptance of delivery. The order may be placed over the telephone or through the internet. 17. Cheque-payment ordering: This is a purchase order and draft system. It is a combination of the order and a blank cheque for payment. Besides the products specification the order also contains delivery instructions, bank account number, unit price quantity, discounts if any, and terms of payment. 18. Auction buying: This method of is useful for purchasing furniture and equipment that are not obsolete. Sometimes certain export shipments that were rejected by the originally intended buyer are also auctioned to other buyer. Planning and Organizing House –Keeping Department Fig 8.8 Planning and Organizing House –Keeping Department 194 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Planning is probably the Executive Housekeepers most important management function. Without proper planning each day may present one problem after other. Since the Housekeeping is responsible for cleaning & maintaining so many different areas of the hotel. Planning should be undertaken in a systematic manner in order to obtain set objectives. The step-by-step planning process may differ slightly from one hotel’s housekeeping department to another’s, and different terminology may be in use across companies, but essentially the sub-processes and tasks are the same. Housekeeping planning should be done on paper and needs to be properly documented. The questions that arise at the beginning of the planning process led to the formation of the basic planning documents. Certain documents are essential, and they are: Area Inventory List Frequency Performance Schedule Standard Productivity Time and motion Pathway chart Standard study in housekeeping operations Process chart Operation chart Micro-motion film analysis Cyclograph Chromoxylography Fig 8.9 Planning Area Inventory List (AIL): Planning the work of the Housekeeping Department begins with creating an inventory list of all items within each area that will need Housekeeping attention. Since most properties offered several different types of guestrooms, separate inventory list may be needed for guest room type. When preparing the guestroom ‘AIL’, it is a good idea to follow the same system that room attendant will use as their sequence of cleaning task & that supervisor will use in the course of their inspection. E.g., Area within a guestroom may appear on an inventory list as they are found from right to left & from top to bottom around the room. 195 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Frequency Schedule: It indicates how often items on inventory list are to be cleaned. Items that must be cleaned on a daily or weekly basis become a part of a routine cleaning cycle and are incorporated into standard work procedures. Other items which must be cleaned, monthly or less frequently are inspected on a daily basis but they become part of a spring-cleaning programme & are scheduled special cleaning projects. Performance Standard: They are required levels of performance that establish the quality of work that must be done according to the expectations of the property. The key to consistency in service is the performance standards which the Executive Housekeeper develops, daily inspections & periodic performance. Evaluation should follow up with specific on the job coaching & re-training. This ensures that all employees are consistently performing their tasks in the most efficient & effective manner. Performance standards are achieved when: • Cleaning methods are correctly selected and systematically followed. • The ideal cleaning agents are used on the various surfaces involved. • The correct pieces of equipment are used on the various surfaces involved. • Cleaning tasks are carried out at required frequencies. • All the employees carry out their cleaning tasks in a consistent manner. • Time and motion studies are periodically carried out in the department to obtain best practices in housekeeping. Productivity Standard It determines the quantity of work to be done by the department employees. Productivity standards must be determined in order to staff the department within the limitation with the hotel operating budget plans. Housekeeping Managers must know how long it should take a room attendant to perform the major cleaning tasks identified on the cleaning frequency schedules such as guestroom cleaning. Once this information is known, productivity standards can be developed; performance & productivity standard should be carefully balanced. If the quality expectations are set too high, the quantity of work that could be done may be low. Every hotel must develop their own productivity standards, as there are several factors that influence these standards, which vary from one property to another. Some of these factors may be: The type and age of the property. • The type of surfaces involved and the degrees and type of soiling. • The accessibility of the work area from the service areas. • The frequency of cleaning. • The amount of traffic in the work areas. 196 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• The type of cleaning supplies and equipment available. • The function of the work area. • The quality of supervision and inspection. • The expected standards of cleaning. • The quality of employees. Example of productive standard worksheet: Lunch = 30 Evening Tea mins Break = 10 Tea Break = mins 10 mins End of Morning Shift = 20 mins Beginning of ❖Total Shift 450 Mins of Morning Shift Time = 9 hrs core work X 60 mins = = 20 mins 540 mins. Fig 8.10 Productivity Standard Therefore, the room attendant is there for 450 mins in guest room (540-90) and each room takes 30 mins to clean. Therefore, the attendant can clean 15 rooms in 450 mins Time and motion study in housekeeping operations: Extensive research in the form of time and motion studies to analyse work methods has helped the industry to find better and easier ways to carry out tasks and save time and energy. The time and motion studies for a task calculate how long it takes, on an average, to perform a certain task. This helps in calculating staffing levels. To do a time and motion study, several staff members perform the same task (say, bed-making), one by one, their movements are studies and clocked. The results are compared, and an analysis is done as to how long it takes on an average to perform the task. The best practices derived from this study are then used by everyone, so that the resulting performance will be more standardized and more predictable. Any of the methods discussed below can be used by the executive housekeeper to do a time and motion study in her department. 197 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Pathway chart This technique involves the study of the path covered by the worker in the undertaking and completion of a task. A floor plan of the work area is drawn to scale and fixed to a board on the wall. A long thread is pinned down at the starting point on the plan. The line of motion is marked using this thread-whenever the worker turns, that point is marked with a pin and the thread wound around it. The length of the thread gives an idea of the distance traversed in the completion of the task. The time taken is also noted down. Various pathways are tried out to find the simplest and smallest route to finishing the task successfully. This is done to achieve the least exertion and minimal loss of energy and time. This technique helps pinpoint all movements that can be reduced or eliminated. Process chart: all tasks, in order to be completed, require a specific process or activity. In this technique, a close study of the process adopted is carried out and the flow of activity closely studied. A record of the time taken to finish the task is kept. All unnecessary movements and steps are then listed down, so as to be avoided in the final process adopted. Operation chart: this technique helps one track down all wasteful expenditure of time and energy in all activities. The technique requires a detailed study of all the smaller activities making up a work process. The movements of the two hands are studies in great detail and a fine analysis shows where in the job delays are occurring. Micro-motion film analysis: using a timing device, every activity is filmed. Then a detailed study, especially of the finer movements of the hands and other parts of the body, helps analyse the areas where changes need to be or can be made to carry out the task with the least expenditure of time and energy. Cyclograph: This is also a technique that uses filming. Here, a bulb is attached to the worker’s body (may be the hand, the legs, or the back). As the body or the body part so highlighted moves during the activity, the path taken is lighted by the electric bulb and hence easily captured by slow photography. The analysis of the complete film or the record of movement helps reveal how smooth and rhythmic the movements of the activity are. Thus, the worker may be guided to make the necessary changes. Chromoxylography: In this technique, a film of the activity is made with small lights attached to the middle finger. The pattern or movement is filmed and finally analysed to find out which movements were unnecessary or arrhythmic and can be eliminated or improved upon. 8.6 SUMMARY • Work schedule must be written in simple language • The schedule should be handed over to the employees 198 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• An executive housekeeper who is an effective leader uses all these styles to different extents, according to the nature of the decisions to be made and as the situations demands. • Budget is more important in house • A budget may be defined as a financial or a quantitative statement prepared prior to a defined period or time which focuses on policies to be persuade during that period for the purpose of attaining a given objective. • For controlling budget, two variances of budget, revenue and expenses are assessed. In favorable condition actual revenue should exceed budgeted revenue and actual expenses should be lower than the budgeted revenue. • In Process Chart technique, a close study of the process adopted is carried out and the flow of activity closely studied. • Teamwork plays a key role in housekeeping. 8.7 KEYWORDS • GRA – Guest Room Attendant- • SOP – Standard operating Procedures • AIL – Area Inventory list 8.8 LEARNING ACTIVITIES 1. Make a list of housekeeping departments and the budgeting system- submit a report 8.9 UNIT END QUESTIONS 199 A. Descriptive Questions Short Questions 1. Give the types of establishments. 2. Draw the organizational structure of housekeeping department small hotel. 3. Give the Job Description of Executive Housekeeper. 4. Explain the Responsibility of the Housekeeping department. 5. Explain the Facilities planning and Design of Housekeeping Department Long Questions CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
1. Elaborate in detail the Purchasing system? 2. Explain Teamwork and Leadership? 3. Describe the Training in housekeeping department? 4. Explain the career in the Housekeeping department. 5. Give the Job Specification responsibilities of Assistant Housekeeper. B. Multiple Choice Questions 1. Expand GRA a. guest relation associate b. guest room attendant c. guest room accountant d. None of these 2. Fixed budget remains ---------over a period of time. a. changing b. unchanged c. Flexible. d. None of these 3. Who does the sofa, cushion repair work a. Florist b. horticulturist c. upholsterer d. House Men 4. Executive housekeeper , supervise and coordinate work of housekeeping personnel. a. Motivate b. organize c. discipline d. Recruit 5. Who maintain a list of the found articles in the departure room ? 200 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
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