HOTELIER AWARDS 2013: Laundry manager finalists
With less than one month to go until the Hotelier Middle East Awards are held at the world’s tallest hotel, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai on October 30, it is time to unveil the shortlists for each hotly contested category. In total, 90 hoteliers across 18 individual awards categories have been shortlisted, along with five hotel teams for the coveted Team of the Year Award.
Here we unveil the finalists for Laundry Manager of the Year Award, sponsored by Diversey, which was last year won by Venkat Addagatla from Grand Hyatt Dubai.
SIRAJ KHAN, LAUNDRY MANAGER, DAR AL TAWHID INTERCONTINENTAL
ABOUT SIRAJ
Siraj joined Dar Al Tawhid InterContinental Makkah, Saudi Arabia as a laundry manager in May 2010. Prior to joining Dar Al Tawhid InterContinental Makkah, Siraj worked his up through the ranks at several international hotel chains in the Middle East. He has qualified himself through self-study in laundry operational management, washing chemistry, dry-cleaning operation and fabric identification, and has attended various training programmes.
WHY WAS HE NOMINATED?
Siraj implemented strategic innovations in laundry such as the ‘Know Your Guest’ technique, whereby the team studies individual guest profiles to come up with innovative presentations. Siraj is a strong advocate of the Saudisation process and 50% of the staff in the laundry department are Saudi nationals, compared to almost half that percentage overall in the rest of the hotel.
Please click through to next page to find out who else is shortlisted…
FIRAS ESBEER, LAUNDRY MANAGER, INTERCONTINENTAL JEDDAH
ABOUT FIRAS
Firas started his career at InterContinental Makkah in January 2002 as laundry supervisor, and moved to InterContinental Jeddah in 2008 as laundry manager and is also the risk manager at the hotel.
WHY WAS HE NOMINATED?
As risk manager, Firas designed and implemented an overall risk management process for the hotel, heading the Fire, Life and Safety programme by planning and conducting fire trainings. He also initiated sustainability activities such as recycling of paper, plastic, cans, and cleanup drives in nearby areas and public beaches.
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SUPARNA BASU, LAUNDRY MANAGER, HILTON DOHA
ABOUT SUPARNA
Suparna joined Hilton Doha in 2011 and has excelled in his role as laundry manager. With a 100% staff retention rate and near perfect quality assurance audit scores, the laundry department is one of the most accomplished departments in the hotel.
WHY WAS HE NOMINATED?
Under Suparna’s effective leadership, the team manages to cater all hotel linen in-house despite the restricted current laundry capacity. He also believes in the development of his team and encourages them to attend relevant training programmes at the hotel. An active member of Blue Energy committee, Suparna’s initiatives have won the hotel numerous accolades including the Most Improved Hotel award and Team Member Best Practice award.
WHAT DID HIS TEAM SAY?
“Suparna goes above and beyond for his team members and makes sure they are always recognised by the hotel and other departments. He is target and goal oriented. Give him a task and he delivers on the spot.”Petra Ksaifi, assistant HRM, Hilton Doha
WHAT DID HIS GUESTS SAY?
“Staying in Hilton Doha has been a great experience all in all. But what amazed us during our stay is the fast, effective and efficient service of the laundry department. There is no stain that is difficult for them to remove.” Mr and Mrs O’Connor
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MOHAMED RIZWAN, LAUNDRY MANAGER, JUMEIRAH ZABEEL SARAY
ABOUT MOHAMED
Mohamed Rizwan started his career in 1996 as a Receptionist at a hotel in Sri Lanka. In 2008, Rizwan moved to the Jumeirah Group as laundry manager at Madinat Jumeirah and was responsible for managing a team of 76 employees under the guidance of the laundry director, also managed a total linen output of 18 tons per day catering to the three business units within the resort, over 900 rooms and 44 Food & Beverage outlets within the resort. In 2010, Rizwan was promoted to laundry manager for Jumeirah Zabeel Saray.
WHY WAS HE NOMINATED?
Rizwan creatively implemented several process and procedures within the laundry in different sections to maintain high quality service standards. He implemented the Guest Laundry Checklist, which gives a quality control aspect of the complete laundry process and is used in identifying areas of improvement as well as training and development of the team. The opening of the resort was challenging as the project had several operational challenges coupled with time constraints. He changed the setup of the laundry machines as the pre opening set up did not allow for an organised work flow for the employees to work efficiently. He analysed machine requirements, structural changes and health and safety points in resetting the laundry to working condition.
WHAT DID HIS TEAM SAY?
“Mohamed is a great leader and passionate about his work. He is focused and has a great vision for himself and the team. He is dedicated twards the customers ensuring that the department delivers the best laundry expeience to the guests. He sets great performance levels for his team members through constant coaching and manages by walking around. As one of my reports, I have seen him developing ownership in all his colleagues by empowering them, removing obstacles and establishing a culture of trust. Due to his leadership, Rizwan has excelled in all key performance indicators and contributed towards the success of Jumeirah Zabeel Saray and Jumeirah Group.” Rahul Sharma, executive assistant manager - rooms
Please click through to next page to find out who else is shortlisted…
ARSHAD MEHMOOD, DIRECTOR OF LAUNDRY, FUJAIRAH ROTANA RESORT & SPA
ABOUT ARSHAD
Arshad joined the hospitality industry in 1994, having gained degree in Bachelor’s degree in social studies. He currently manages the laundry operations for all guest rooms and chalets, F&B outlets, banquets, spa, beach and pool facilities as well as hundreds of staff uniforms on a daily basis. Since he joined Fujairah Rotana Resort & Spa, the laundry operations never had any delay even during back to back busy resort operations
WHY WAS HE NOMINTAED?
The laundry department achieved the highest score in the 2012 Rotana employee satisfaction survey and the laundry team is the happiest, satisfied and most productive among all the hotel departments. Arshad makes it a point to engage his staff on trainings in order to further their development, each employee is multi skilled and able to perform duties in all sections, such as washing, pressing, dry cleaning, marking and packing of guest laundry, which allows them to be promoted to higher positions or transferred to sister properties.
WHAT DID HIS TEAM SAY?
“I joined as laundry attendant in September 2008. When I joined, I was keen to develop my career within the company. Mr Arshad provided me all the necessary training in all laundry sections. Later on, I was promoted as marker checker in November 2009. He sees our development needs and is always interested to train us in a friendly manner. He motivates us and helps us with our career growth. I was trained in all the administration work and was developed for the supervisory level and promoted as laundry supervisor in October 2012.” Rabin Karki, laundry supervisor
WHAT DID HIS GUESTS SAY?
“The laundry service was the best we have ever experienced in all the hotels we have stayed at.” Amanda Hickman