Keeping it clean

It's not just tables and beds that need to look immaculate in a hotel; laundry managers are also responsible for making sure guests look up to scratch, as Hotelier Middle East discovers.

How long have you been working in your present role?

Nizar Al Mohammad: For the past eight years I have been working as a laundry manager, and I joined the team at Jumeirah Emirates Towers in October last year.

Noel Gnanaprajasam: I have been working as a laundry manager at the Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel and Towers for the past four years.

Mario Barretto: I first joined The Diplomat Radisson SAS Hotel in 1999, taking on my current role of assistant laundry manager in July 2007.

Loy Dizon:I have been working at Le Méridien hotel for 19 years but only sixteen and a half years in the laundry department. Now I am in charge of the whole department but my title is senior laundry supervisor.

Maula Bakhsh: I have been in the present position for the past five years, but I have been working in the laundry department in several positions since opening of the hotel back in December 1980.



Raj Kapoor: I have been working in my present role since April 2004.

What experience do you have in the hotel industry?

Mohammed: My career started when I joined Express Service Laundry in Beirut, Lebanon. After four years with Express Service Laundry I moved to Le Meridian Commodore Hotel as assistant laundry manager and worked there for another four years.

I then moved to the United Arab Emirates and managed the finest dry cleaning in Abu Dhabi - ‘Jevess of Belgravia'- before joining the pre-opening team for Al Mahara Rotana Suites, Abu Dhabi, as laundry manager. I also worked as laundry manager at Radisson SAS Sharjah before joining Jumeirah.

Gnanaprajasam: I started my career in 1979 at Sheraton Abu Dhabi in charge of the hotel laundry. After 10 years, I moved back to Sri Lanka for a short while before moving to Kuwait. In both countries, I worked as a laundry manager in two independent laundry companies.

In 1991, I joined the Sheraton Jeddah team as the hotel's assistant laundry manager - in this capacity, I had the opportunity to undergo chemical-handling training at Ecolab's office in Germany.

Barretto: My first laundry position was with the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai in 1993.

Dizon: After duty hours when I was still a room-boy, I used to fill-in at the laundry department when someone was sick or on vacation, then when the linen attendant resigned I was moved to there. I got the experience first hand; I learned how to press, wash, dry clean and remove spots.

Kapoor: I got basic operational training from Le Meridien Hotel in New Delhi, where I started my career. After joining Renaissance Dubai Hotel in 1997, I did several supervisory and management label training courses like essential skills, service excellence, correspondence and empowerment.

What does your position entail?

Mohammed: My position entails a variety of responsibilities; however my main responsibility is to oversee the ashing process, everything from sorting the laundry to storing it. In order to be able to manage this job perfectly there is a need for extensive knowledge about the quality of water and detergents, as well as knowledge about common washing methods and the finishing process.

It is also important to continuously establish clear standards and procedures, as well as training programmes, to achieve a consistently high standard of work. It is also of high importance to maintain efficient and effective communication with both internal and external guests, because providing the best service to the guest is the core of our business.

Dizon: I supervise everything. Early morning is when all the major work happens. We get the staff uniforms ready for housekeeping. I start my shift at 6am and finish when the work is finished, so I don't have anything pending for the next day. I make sure the place is clean - I help my colleagues and we work together.

Gnanaprajasam: As a laundry manager, I need to supervise the day-to-day operations of the laundry department. This includes sharing relevant and crucial hotel information with the laundry supervisors such as hotel occupancy, special guest requests, and linen demand. I also ensure that the laundry machines are utilised properly and that chemicals are used accordingly.

Bakhsh: Being a laundry manager, I supervise the department shift operations, ensuring a consistent workflow to minimize peaks and valleys in production, supervise staffing levels to ensure that operational needs and financial objectives are met, look into details of daily laundry jobs such as the washing or ironing/pressing processes to make sure that we do not get any complaints from our guests as well as from banqueting, F&B outlets, and our staff.

Barretto: As a support to the laundry manager my main role is to help him oversee the smooth running of all aspects of the laundry operation covering house laundry, uniforms and guest laundry. I also have to be very "hands on" and help the team in the various areas of the operation on a daily basis.

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Gnanaprajasam: The most challenging aspect of my job is to train my team to multi-task so they are able to gain additional knowledge of the various sections of the laundry, making them more versatile.

Mohammed: The most challenging aspect of my job is to make sure that we always surpass the guests' needs and that the guests are always left with a smile on their face when they receive their laundry from us. Working at Jumeirah Emirates Towers gives me an opportunity to work with business travellers a lot, as they represent the majority of the guests that are staying with us.

Business travellers are a particular type of traveller as their time is very precious, jumping from meeting to meeting and time zone to time zone. This means that their laundry has to be perfect at all times and ready within a shorter period of time.

Barretto: Since the opening of our new Residence Apartment block earlier this year the volume of work for the laundry team has increased greatly and we are now processing 1500kg per day.

Balancing the demands of the various departments of the hotel, along with ensuring our guests are fully satisfied with the services of our guest laundry section always keeps me on my toes, but I am proud to say my team meets the daily challenges involved. We are currently in the process of recruiting a new laundry manager, which has meant a bit more responsibility rests on my shoulders at this time - but that's something I thrive on.

Bakhsh: Since we have an express laundry service, I have to make sure that the deliveries of such laundries are delivered with complete satisfaction within the specified time mentioned by the guests. It is really challenging especially when we have high occupancy.
 

Also, meeting the budget of our outside laundry outlets, especially when the city has a high number of laundry shops serving guests with minimal prices [is a challenge].

 

Kapoor: To generate more revenue by maintaining standards and controlling the cost. At the same time creating an atmosphere in which the operation runs smoothly and associates have a smile on their face all the time.

What is the most enjoyable aspect of your job?

Mohammed: The most enjoyable aspect of being a laundry manager is providing high quality in everything that we do. It is also very interesting to be a part of a company that is growing so ambitiously both in the region and internationally - this expansion is very motivating and exciting.

Jumeirah currently employs 10,300 colleagues from 102 different nationalities and this is another interesting and pleasant aspect of my job, to work with this diversity of people.



Gnanaprajasam: Variety makes my job interesting. I am not only involved in the laundry department but I am also part of the housekeeping department - which means I am able to gain extra knowledge and experience on different aspects of housekeeping and not limit myself to laundry.

Barretto: We often receive compliments from our guests for the high quality service they have received from my team. It really makes me feel proud that our hard efforts are recognized, which I really enjoy.

Bakhsh: The most enjoyable aspect in my job is doing training for our associates and giving guidance and education for what they are doing in their day-to-day work. Some of the staff that I trained have left the hotel and they are now working with other hotels in better positions, which makes me feel proud. I always want to see people coming up with their potential and ability.

How many staff are in your team?

Mohammed: Currently we are 22 colleagues from seven different nationalities working for the laundry department at Jumeirah Emirates Towers.

Gnanaprajasam: I have a team of 16.

Dizon: So far I have 14. Two more will be hired in the near future.

Bakhsh: We have a team of 23 staff including myself and a supervisor.

Kapoor: We have eight associates in our small team, including myself.

What is your recruiting strategy for the laundry department?

Mohammed: We have a diverse nationality mix today, and look to recruit people from all over the world. We have an extensive in-house recruitment centre within Jumeirah Group and this team is assisted by a network of agencies in our key source markets worldwide.

The team travels the world to look for talent. In addition we recruit locally, and we post all our positions on our website as well as the intranet pages, as we do recruit internally too.

Gnanaprajasam: Basically, I recruit through the hotel's human resources department who will source talents from recruiting trips and recruitment companies.

Barretto: It's a joint process carried out by the executive housekeeper and human resources manager. They use various recruitment sites, including The Rezidor Hotel Groups website, to source experienced candidates.

Whilst possessing the right attitude is one of the most important general selection criteria for vacancies, for laundry positions it's important that candidates have sound technical knowledge and experience of machinery, chemicals and fabrics.

Dizon: Our housekeeping manager is in charge of interviewing new staff. I do the evaluation during the six-month probation period. I observe how they accomplish their tasks and work as a team.

Bakhsh: Well, first, we look for experienced candidates for the position, but if we don't get such candidates then we have to go with talented candidates with less experience or no experience.

Once we recruit the candidates, we give them training with the help of our training manager that we have in the hotel. We also send them for cross training to various departments and sometimes we even send them to our sister hotels in the region until they are confident enough to take up the position that they are hired for.

As far as hiring process is concerned, sometimes we go for direct recruitment based on qualification and experience, and sometimes we assign agencies to do the job.

Is it a challenge retaining staff?

Kapoor: Yes, of course, with growing industries and so many properties are coming up with modern equipped technology. You have to guide associates and explain to them the values and standards that Marriott maintains, and future career growth - they can excel with Marriott by using their skills and talent.

Mohammed: Bearing in mind the growth within the hospitality industry taking place in Dubai at the moment, the competition for talent is definitely heating up.

We believe that our most pressing challenge in the next couple of years will be attracting and retaining top talent. People are the foundation of our success and growth; the strong culture within Jumeirah, our operating philosophy, and our value proposition is built on our people.

Gnanaprajasam: As Dubai's hotel industry continues to boom, staff retention becomes an increasing challenge to the industry as a whole.

Barretto: It can be difficult as the laundry department is a very demanding area.
 

Thankfully the majority of our current team has been with us for several years and we try to focus on training and development opportunities as much as possible to ensure the team feels appreciated and focused. We also arrange small get togethers throughout the year where we can have fun "off the job" and this helps to keep our staff motivated and happy to stay with us.

Dizon: The way you treat your staff is the key. We have some staff members who have been working here for 22 years. We work hard but also have fun together to make us feel happy and comfortable. Our newest staff member joined us last year but the others have been working here for more than 15 years.

 

Bakhsh: It is certainly a challenging task to retain experienced staff, not only in the laundry department but also in all areas of the hotel, especially in this period when there are lots of new hotels coming up in the region.

However, at Marriott Hotels, by giving training to our staff from the day we hire them, we are taking care of our staff in their personal needs. We motivate our staff by giving them a proper career plan to move forward in their career and thus our percentage of retention is satisfactory.

What measures do you have in place to aid team building and encourage staff loyalty to the property?

Gnanaprajasam: In our hotel, we celebrate success and recognise our associates play a major role in keeping the Sheraton Dubai Creek family spirit alive. We have regular celebrations within the hotel and within individual departments for special occasions. In addition, the hotel also organises many inter-departmental games and sports to enhance team bonding.



Kapoor: We have a system in place where everybody can express his or her views and thoughts. We empower associates and give them proper training, keeping in mind their future career growth.

We have to focus all the time and encourage them to deliver their best, otherwise, as Mr Marriott says, the company has gone astray when it has lost sight of its basic purpose.

Barretto: We focus on developing our people's skills by having regular training sessions and whenever possible, rotating them around the various sections. We also have daily briefings and monthly communication meetings for all of them to share their ideas or voice their concerns if they have any.

This helps them to feel empowered and a part of the decision making process which is a great motivator and really helps them as a team.

Dizon: I make sure all my staff are multi-skilled in order to fill in other roles in the laundry in the event someone being ill or away on vacation. We also have a lot of recreational activities such as picnics, bowling, basketball and other games.

Bakhsh: We continue to support and recognize any staff efforts by focusing on their talents with total team spirit to enhance their loyalty in building a team. Marriott has many programmes in place under the name of ‘Spirit to Serve'.

Above all, with a strong field presence of Marriott - with its brands growing in the region - associates are interested in working with Marriott.

What are the primary challenges in the industry at the moment?

Mohammed: The primary challenge around the world that is faced by the laundry industry is the quality of the water that is used, as this is the most important chemical in the washing process. The quality of the water varies, and its alkalinity and degree of hardness can affect the washing result to a great extent. If the water is hard it will not clean as effectively as soft water.

Gnanaprajasam: It's becoming more and more challenging to recruit talented associates, especially in the laundry department as a certain amount of skill and experience is necessary to work the machines. And the know-how can only come from experience, as there is no specific education on usage of laundry machines in general.

Barretto: Like housekeeping a few years back, I feel that the laundry department is, sery, chemicals and how they interact with each other, and fabrics.

Laundry operation is a real science and I wish some of our co-workers would realise it'sometimes, under-rated and therefore under-appreciated. A professional laundry manager needs to have a vast knowledge of things like water quality, machin not as easy as just throwing a tablecloth in the washing machine for five minutes and [then getting it returned clean].

Bakhsh: Definitely it is about manpower, finding the right people to do the right job and retaining them.

Kapoor: To get the right professionals for the right areas. Even if you don't have modern technology equipment, they know how to get work done within a given timeframe.

What plans do you have in place to combat these issues?

Mohammed: One of the steps that can be taken is to install water treatments and softener plans to the laundry main water supply. This will reduce the hardness and alkalinity of the water, and with regular water test analysis, the water will become softer and the results of the laundry would be better.

Gnanaprajasam: In a booming industry like ours, it is a constant challenge to retain associates. There is no guarantee that your employees will not leave you, but there are always opportunities to persuade or convince them to stay with a company.

Personally, I feel that it's very important to let our associates know what they mean to the hotel and management. To show care and to respect them are essential basics.

In our hotel, we constantly strive to involve them in new projects - engaging them and asking them for their opinions on how to do things better.

These brainstorming and feedback sessions are excellent as they provide the platform for our associates to voice their opinion and thus be a part of the system.

This way, they feel that they are more than just employees - they are part of a family and thus have a personal commitment to take care of that family.

Barretto: We need to "beat our own drum" more often, in all honesty, to get people to understand the complexities of our role.
 

How have things changed over the past five years in the laundry industry?

Mohammed: There are now a variety of washing methods that can be used; some of these methods are used for domestic washing purposes while others are only intended for commercial cleaning institutions. However, the basic washing principles are the same regardless of the washing methods:

• Traditional washing where water and detergents are used in a washer extractor.

"The way you treat your staff is the key."

• Wet-cleaning is an innovative supplement to dry-cleaning where the garments are washed using water as the solvent and special detergents and additives.

• Dry-cleaning is a common washing method used for special linen which is sensitive to water such as wool and silk. This washing method uses organic solvents in a dry-cleaning machine.

• Liquid CO2 clean is a new and still not yet fully developed washing method. The liquid CO2 serves as an entirely recyclable solvent.

There has also been a change in the equipment that we use, and with the high speed in the technology nowadays the equipment used in the laundry industry is more efficient and makes our job better and easier. Today there are fully computerised laundry systems, which didn't exist before.



Gnanaprajasam: A significant development can be seen in the methods of washing; in the past, detergent is put into machines using the manual dosage system.

Today, the detergent is replaced by a liquid chemical, which uses an auto-pumping dispenser.

This new development helps greatly with maintaining the inventory of chemical more effectively, and allows me to plan and order accordingly - eliminating wastage. In addition, time is better utilised now as well as the auto-pumping dispenser is efficient and I have an extra person to handle other jobs.

Dizon: We are up-to-date with modern equipment. Therefore the task has become easier and the product has become very refined.

Bakhsh: Consistent change in technology has made everyone's life easy, as it resulted in improvement of guest services and guest satisfaction. Also, it helped us reduce manpower and provide a superior quality service or more production. Our newly purchased machine is computerised where everything is controlled by the computer.

Kapoor: The laundry industry has changed drastically in the past five years. With modern technology, equipment is more productive than before, needs less manpower, and uses less solvent and cleaning agents than before. You can programme the machines [now] as per your washing requirements.

What one improvement to the laundry industry would make your job easier?

Mohammed: What would make our job easier would be smaller shaped machines, with powerful functions, that do not take up a lot of space.

Gnanaprajasam: Ideally, it would be a tunnel washer - this huge machine can wash and dry up to 350kg of linen per hour. In addition, there is also the double buck shirt presser, which can skip up to three actual pressing steps - saving time and manpower.

Barretto: With the greatly improved equipment available these days, along with better quality chemicals in the market, things are very positive now. As mentioned earlier, perhaps more understanding from our colleagues will make my job easier.

Dizon: New machines with improved technologies are much easier to operate. They become better with time. So the better the technology on those machines, and the less they break down, the easier and the faster the job gets done.

Bakhsh: Installation of modern machines and equipments would make one's life easy and would reduce the cost of operation of the department significantly.

Have you implemented any environmentally friendly initiatives in your workplace? If so, have you faced any challenges introducing them?

Mohammed: Thinking of the environment is something that everyone should do regardless of which department or industry they work in. We are thinking of the environment in everything that we do, for example we always make sure that we don't over consume water and the energy used.

It is also important to only use environmentally friendly detergents that can be used at lower water temperatures and so do not consume too much energy. We also use an economical drying process which operates by residual control feature. This feature ensures both an economically and an ecologically sound drying process.

Gnanaprajasam: In our hotel, we have an initiative called the ‘Sheraton Green' programme. It's a worldwide initiative undertaken by the Sheraton brand and was implemented in the guest rooms.

This programme offers our hotel guests the choice to change or keep their used linen during their stay at the hotel - thus saving on the usage of chemicals and water. We also constantly review our daily work processes to find new ways of making them more environmentally friendly.

Barretto: We now use liquid chemicals rather than powders, which are much more environmentally friendly, and of course much safer for the people working with them.

We also have recently purchased new washing machines, which have a much greater selection of programmes available. This gives us the flexibility to amend the work process based on the type of load. We look at things like reducing the number of rinses, for example, if the soiling level is light - of course, it helps to save water.

Dizon: We recycle paper and cartons, and we use baskets for clean clothes. We give old linen to charity, and use less harmful cleaning materials. We cut down on the use of plastic bags; we put several clean items together. Laundry hangers left by hotel guests are reused to hang hundreds of staff uniforms. However, we use new hangers for our hotel guests.

Bakhsh: Yes, we do have some initiatives in place. A major one is the chemicals that we are using in the laundry, which are very environmentally friendly chemicals.

Also, we do have some Marriott's programmes in place in the guest rooms like ‘Linen Reuse' and ‘Towel Reuse' where we can minimise the use of chemicals in the laundry, saving water, and electricity.

Marriott as a company has always committed to care about the environment, and are undertaking practices that preserve our natural resources.