At the Hotelier Middle East Executive Housekeeper Forum which took place at Grosvenor House yesterday, delegages discussed how best to motivate staff in a field with few progression routes.
Andrea Deutschbeiu, senior manager at Soft FM, who previously worked at Al Maha Desert Resort, said that involving staff in weekly meetings and encouraging them to bring ideas was key to motivating them. “You need to interact with the staff, you need to make them aware that you’re listening to their ideas, encourage them and really bring together the team.”
Similarly, Fahmi Abdullah, executive housekeeper at Kempinski Hotel, Ajman said that socialising with staff and building a “human connection” was crucial to building confidence and loyalty among a housekeeping team.
“When people are housekeepers they think people view them as toilet cleaners some times,” Abdullah commented. “You need to give them pride and treat them well. Show them what you’re like as a person, create the human connection. It gives them confidence and they become more loyal to you and when they are loyal they build up respect,” he added.
Other delegates argued that the best way of motivating frustrated housekeeping staff is cross-training both within the housekeeping department and across other departments. Rana El Deek, director of housekeeping at Al Murooj Rotana, Dubai said: “A lot of room attendants are interested to have cross training within the housekeeping department and this will give them motivation to grow in housekeeping and at least they will get the chance to show their talents.”
Fellow Rotana Housekeeping executive housekeeper Dhan Singh Kaintura said: “We encourage them to do cross training in other departments to find their potential in F&B or admin area like finance so that when the opportunity comes up they have the experience. We have a very limited opportunity in housekeeping – it’s one of the biggest challenges in housekeeping to motivate the staff.”
At Fraser Suites, Dubai, executive housekeeper, Roland Tigo’s approach involves “releasing” staff from their daily duties and giving them added responsibility. Tilo commented: “We keep them occupied by giving them tasks away from what they are doing. I created a ‘self-checker’ development programme for room attendants so they have to take some responsibility in their working areas.
“You cannot be a good room attendant then a supervisor but you can sometimes be a good leader for specific tasks and this helps develop for later on. The supervisor just does the basic task of making sure everything is there but basically the room attendant does the room inspection. So that for them is not easy, it’s a challenge.”
The Hotelier Middle East Executive Housekeeper forum saw 165 laundry and housekeeping professionals from around the UAE and beyond, gather to discuss the opportunities and challenges in the industry and to share tips and best practice.
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The forum was sponsored by Intercoil/Simmons, Ronai, Protect-a-bed, Glion, Diversey, Restonic, Gemini 1765, Muldorfer, Iasmo, Everstyle, Sysco Guest Supply, GFS, TCL, Infoscape Technologies, Newmarket and Invotech.
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