Event Preview: Executive Housekeeper Forum

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.

“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.

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Ahmed adds: “It is also difficult because some places have a minimum wage and there’s a lot of paperwork involved for Filipinos to come out [because of] restrictions from the government etc. For instance, Bangladesh and Nepal have restrictions.”

Ahmed also reveals how housekeeping managers struggle to attract Emiratis or nationals to work in their departments.

“We have around 20 Emiratis working in the hotel in HR, front office, and security.

“I wanted to have an Emirati lady in my department, and I interviewed at least six people before I got somebody,” she said. “Many said they would come and even signed a contract but never showed up.

“I’m very lucky with one colleague I have; she’s a floor supervisor and she won a Team Leader award last year.” In order to continue filling vacancies, Sudhakar says he uses methods such as incentivising his team to recommend people they know in the industry.

“I have 68 people in my department alone. If someone refers a person and they are hired, and if they perform well after six months, the person who referred them gets some money, so that helps.”

With the high turnover rate, it’s little surprise that housekeeping departments have to constantly train staff to ensure guest satisfaction. Increasing guest expectations also adds pressure when it comes to monitoring employee performance.

“In order for staff to offer personalised service by going the extra mile and understanding customer needs, there’s a lot of training involved,” says Sudhakar.

“The language barrier is always a challenge in housekeeping. So training to make them understand how to satisfy customer needs and make sure they leave happy is essential.

“We have a programme at our properties called ‘Empowerment’. They feel proud when they complete the training. Those days of telling a customer that you’ll check with a manager and come back to them are gone.

“If you have something that can help with a guest’s request, then you can go ahead and provide it, and then inform the supervisor what was done to make the guest happy.

We have the guest experience index, which is tracked to see how well we, as a team, are serving the customers.” Ahmed adds that it is also important to ensure all guest complaints are resolved before they check out.

With most operators using a centralised database across their global portfolios, Ahmed also asserts the importance of noting any issues, complaints, preferences, or feedback on the database to help the team prepare for the next time the guest checks in.

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While ensuring guest satisfaction, training staff, and keeping costs low are part of every executive housekeeper’s primary responsibilities, they are also tasked with grooming a second-in-command to help with the administrative and operations aspect of the role.

“It’s always a difficult situation,” Sudhakar explains. “You have a number two who is there and needs to move forward.

“Then you have to groom a number three to take that place. They then take care of all the operations and don’t spend time looking at how the administration works, which is very important to understand.

“In our property, we give them certain responsibilities. They may be confused about why they are doing it, but it’s a good learning point.

“At the end of the year they understand what they have learned and what they were supposed to do and why they were doing it. It’s one of those things that can help you retain your staff for longer.

“We have something called PMP — performance management process — and it’s put as a goal at the beginning of every year and we review it every quarter and you must achieve that at the end to go further.

“Some people won’t achieve their goals, but that’s when they need constructive criticism so they can catch up next year and develop further,” he adds.

Ahmed agrees, saying everyone has to begin somewhere.

“I think everybody wants to move forward and should take the challenge. We’ve been second in command too at a certain point.

“Sometimes it’s about how much effort you put in after duty hours to learn and achieve certain things. I always tell my staff, ‘forever learning, forever achieving’. It doesn’t stop; you cannot teach them everything on duty,” Ahmed explains.

These issues will be explored in more detail at the Hotelier Middle East Housekeeper Forum on May 4, 2015.

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
Event: Hotelier Middle East Executive
Housekeeper Forum
Date: May 4, 2015
Venue: Grosvenor House, Dubai
Format: One-day event with panel discussions, case studies, debates, discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities for delegates.
Attendance: The event is free to executive housekeepers and by invitation only. To request an invite, please email Amanda.Elisha@itp.com or call +971 4 444 3463.
Speaker opportunities: Some speaking slots are still available. To register your interest, please email Louby.Maktari@itp.com, or call +971 4 444 3578.
Sponsorship: To gain direct access to decision makers, there are a range of sponsorship packages available. For more information, please contact Stephen.Price@itp.com, or call +971 4 444 3246.