Hotelier Middle East’s annual Executive Housekeeper Forum will bring together industry experts to discuss the challenges facing their roles, and how they can resolve common issues
Executive housekeepers and directors of rooms from hotels across the region will come together for the 2015 edition of The Hotelier Middle East Executive Housekeeper Forum on May 4, 2015 at Grosvenor House Dubai.
Prior to the event, Hotelier Middle East gathered two of the event’s advisory panellists — Le Méridien Al Aqah Beach Resort executive housekeeper Hari Sudhakar, and Grand Hyatt Dubai housekeeping manager Tatjana Ahmed — to discuss the issues that impact housekeeping departments today, and to shape the agenda for the forum.
Housekeeping is quite rightly known as the backbone of any functioning hotel. It is the department that keeps the property standing, clean and efficient — some of the most important aspects for both staff and guests.
| Advertisement |
“The housekeeping department isn’t directly making revenue, but we are supporting others in a big way. Housekeeping nowadays is not just about linen upkeep and cleaning, it’s more than that,” Sudhakar asserts.
“We are the most profitable department when it comes to cost control, expenses, and looking into the process of everything from linen to supplies.
“We control it all in such a way that the company does not have extra expenses.”
Among the many responsibilities the department is tasked with, is the implementation of sustainability measures. With KPIs and goals usually set at group level, individual hotels and groups set their own targets when working toward wider goals.
The initiatives hotels use to achieve their sustainability targets, such as Hyatt Drive, or Starwood’s 30/20 by 2020 programme, are among the topics delegates will be keen to discuss, Ahmed believes.
However, while the housekeeping department strives to support hotel operations by minimising costs, low budgets also mean a higher turnover in staff, who leave quickly when better-paying jobs arise.
This leads to a number of issues for department heads, including recruitment of qualified staff, training, and managing a potential impact on guest satisfaction.
While team members for housekeeping divisions were previously sourced from countries such as India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka, political and diplomatic issues have forced hotels to look to other countries such as China, Kenya, and Uganda to recruit.
“Asian countries such as India, Sri Lanka, and I would say Indonesia are also growing, and people are finding jobs there. So many hotels are coming up in the UAE, yet the packages are still the same. People are expected to do so much with the same benefits and facilities,” Sudhakar explains.
Article continues on next page ...
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
