Hotelier Executive Housekeeper Forum 2016

The 2016 Hotelier Middle East: Executive Housekeeper Forum built on the success of previous events, attracting 12 high profile speakers and 147 senior housekeeping professionals. The forum kicked off with the first of the newly introduced ‘Take 10: How To’ sessions, delivered by Pamini Hemaprabha, executive housekeeper, regional rooms specialist & master trainer, Emirates Palace, who took the delegates through 10 minutes of breathing properly to help them iron out the stress they faced in their busy days.

09.15: CASE STUDY: Developing an inclusion programme

Nadine O’Connor, housekeeping manager, business excellence & CSR manager, Jumeirah Creekside Hotel and Vimala De Souza, coordinator of People Receiving Independence and Dignity through Employment (PRIDE) Programme, Manzil — Centre for Challenged Individuals, hosted a brief presentation on inclusion programmes in the hospitality industry.

O’Connor introduced the work Manzil has been doing, and said: “Over the last 10 years, we’re seeing great changes in the industry — talking about CSR and sustainability for the environment. But sustainability just for the environment isn’t enough. We need to go a little bit further, and talk about diversity and inclusion. We’re starting to see more recruitment strategies focusing on diversity, particularly around nationality and gender mixes. We also need to go further and talk about inclusive workforce. This means we can reach to a wider community.”

The mission of the PRIDE programme at Manzil, according to De Souza, is to enable students to be significant members of the mainstream society, where the learning places emphasis on functional activity rather than bookish programmes.

After the presentation, Hotelier polled some of the delegates about this issue. Ritz-Carlton DIFC director of housekeeping Mercy Fernandez and Yosh Hospitality LLC assistant property manager Manuel Canlas have both worked in countries (China and Singapore) where governments pushed for inclusion in the industry, and Viceroy Palm Jumeirah Dubai executive housekeeper Lovelynn Clark said: “I made a note to speak to HR because it’s quite vital to get them on-board, and integrate with the community.” Abhilash Bandaru, assistant executive housekeeper, IFA Residential Services, concluded: “I never thought about this before, and this is an eye-opener.”

Sponsors said:

“The 2016 forum saw a stronger turnout of visitors than before and was an excellent opportunity for Restonic to showcase our new product to all the housekeeping managers from leading hotels in the UAE. Once again it was a fantastic effort by Hotelier Middle East to bring together all these housekeepers and deliver a very successful forum. We look forward to partnering with this event again in future.”

Sagaren Pillai, marketing manager, Restonic

“A great platform and the only opportunity for us to understand challenges the housekeeper faces day-to-day and to address them with new products and innovation. I must say you should consider including one or two suppliers in the panel to answer the questions of the housekeepers and it has to be a two-way communication because the problem can only be solved with better solution or innovation. By including suppliers, the housekeepers themselves can even make the use of the forum better and can make the most out of it.”

Noman Abdul, managing director, Rapid Supplies

“It was a great open platform of discussion to exhibit our products, have a wide exposure and opportunity to meet and socialise with all major potential clients across the region.”

Harsha Theresa B, customer service executive, Dimara International

“It has been a great networking opportunity for us to see all our existing clients at the same time.”

Zubeyde Azak, area manager, Alina

“This is the third year we have taken part, and I could see that this year were many more participants, which made the event much more efficient. It is very important to organise such events as it is great opportunity for networking. For sure, we will take part again.”

Eva-Maria Casagrande, managing partner, Mühldorfer

“It’s a great opportunity to meet key decision makers and stakeholders to understand the challenges they are facing in their respective daily duties and responsibilities.”

Noha Hemdan, BDM — HOSPITALITY DIVISION, KTC

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“Hotelity believes it is important to be a part of the Executive Housekeeper Forum to support the industry and show new developments in products which enhance guests’ experience.”
S Roy, managing director, Hotelity

“The event puts us face-to-face with the end users of our products, which gives us the opportunity to address issues and concerns, if any, first-hand and also provide them with the relevant solutions.”

Bharath Swamy, executive director, Lasmo

“As a major supplier in the Middle East, the Executive Housekeeper Forum is an excellent opportunity for us to meet with all the housekeepers that we supply and also meet new potential customers and introduce them to our product range.”

Robert Dupree, general manager, Pacific Direct

“It is important for suppliers to feel that they are an integral part of the hotel industry in the Middle East. To measure the pulse of the business within hospitality, it is important to maintain contact with housekeeping managers.”
Ken Wharton, regional vice president Middle East & North Africa, and Rachael Towl, regional sales manager — Middle East, Guest Supply

09.45: PANEL DISCUSSION: Empowering Your Housekeeping Team to Shine

The first panel discussion of the day looked at how executive housekeepers can take charge of their team’s progression and training.

Moderated by Pamini Hemaprabha, Emirates Palace executive housekeeper, regional rooms specialist and master trainer, the housekeepers on stage agreed that in order to help staff achieve their own goals, it is important to first understand what that staff member in question personally wishes to achieve in the short- and long-term.

“Coaching and one-to-one mentoring is very important to develop them and to understand where they should go, and what path is right for them. You need to understand what the person wants in two to three years,” said Lakmal Mawella, executive housekeeper of The Address Hotel Boulevard, and a previous Hotelier Awards winner.

Commenting on Hilton’s practice and procedure, Hilton Dubai The Walk executive housekeeper Kishore Kumar Pemmasani noted: “We have a best practice system called Journey Map. Each person has their own abilities. You need to find where they need to go, and who are the people who need to be involved to help them get there. We have now developed this approach across all departments.”

“I have an open door policy for my staff. Trust is important. We all started as room attendants,” Pemmasani added.

Radisson Blu Residence Dubai Marina room division manager Anushya Paramasivam added that the Radisson Blu offers 30-, 90- and 120-day reviews to staff, designed to ascertain what the employee’s goals are, and then to help encourage the employee to achieve them.

Exposure to bigger hotels with more rooms, she added, presents different day-to-day challenges, which can help develop staff. “Send them on a task force. Interaction with other properties helps them to grow,” she advised.

The housekeepers also agreed that cross training between other departments within the same hotels can be positive.

10.30am: TAKE 10: How to...Prevent & Control Infection

As hoteliers focus on occupancy and earning a strong GOP, a crucial factor to ensure smooth operations is having a healthy and infection-free hotel. A large onus of that lies on the property’s housekeepers. “Today, we are not only cleaning for appearance, but we are also cleaning for health,” said Tajana Ahmed, housekeeping manager — functional specialist housekeeping, Grand Hyatt Dubai.

“We also know that protecting our employees and guests is our number one priority. So, infections in our hotel can seriously damage our reputation and cost us millions of dollars.”

She also said that the likelihood of spreading infections can originate from travellers coming in from all parts of the world, especially Asia, Far East and the Middle East.

“It is our responsibility to provide a safe environment, which includes adequate infection prevention and control procedures. Taking precaution is to have the right tools and equipment. The easiest way to prevent infections is hand washing,” she added.

She also said that bacteria can spread from hand to foot, if failed to be treated effectively. “One precaution for me, is to immediately provide anti-bacterial hand wash to the housekeeping staff, along with the others.”

Ahmed also said that the most important times to wash hands is before preparing food and while in the washroom. “Only 20% people wash hands before preparing food,” she said. “The recommended time to wash hands is 15 seconds, but the optimal time is 30 seconds,” she said.

11.30am: TAKE 10: How to...Improve Sustainable Practices

Radisson Blu Residence Dubai Marina room division manager Anushya Paramasivam suggested that sustainable practices a hotel can follow include the use of bio-degradable guest amenities, replacing tissue paper dispensers with effective high voltage hand dryers, and using recycled notepaper.

She added that waste management audit and training are also key, looking at ways to recycle as well as reduce waste.

On a higher level, Paramasivam suggested hoteliers think about integrating sustainability with loyalty schemes. For example, “if hoteliers wish guests to reduce the number of times they request towels and bed linen to be replaced during their stay, hotels can reward guests who do so with loyalty points”. This, she added, is also about “educating guests”.

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Educating each department, and staff members within the housekeeping team is also crucial. Paramasivam gave the example of training videos, as well as training-led roleplays. This, she said, would help make “sustainability part of the daily routine, and remind staff each day to follow it”.

Several examples of water saving were addressed in the training video shown to the delegates. These included removing lime scale from water fixtures, as well as repairing dripping fittings. Since each flush uses approximately six litres of water, the video suggested that cleaners be advised to flush the toilet only once during cleaning, and supervisors be advised that there is no additional need to flush the toilet again if clean, when checking room cleaning standards on rounds.

11.40am: TAKE 10: How to...Best Manage the Outsourcing Situation

Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach director of housekeeping Indira Priyadharsini said outsourcing all housekeeping to a third-party is a formula that works. She said: “Managing outsourcing (in housekeeping) is a hot topic in the Middle East and a growing industry. We outsource everything; we outsource for different purposes — public areas, glass cleaners, marble cleaners, laundry and not to forget rooms.”

Priyadharsini shared what the property has to do to manage the staff. She said: “We need to include them, and make them feel as part of our full-time employees. And it is important and expected of their productivity and quality [is up to full-time employees standards].

“Some of the tools that are required in managing outsourcing is relationship, it is personal. You need to build trust, honesty is important and it requires time. Seeking the mix of being formal and informal while managing them can be quite the challenge. And obviously the best way to manage them is to be informal, as they are then more productive.”

Representation is important as well, she said: “It’s crucial to have a representative from that company who can make decisions on the ground.”

Reviews, however, are important. “In my experience, review is the most important aspect while managing outsourcing. It allows you to see what they have done in the last six months to one year. And moving forward, [it is important] to see what are the best practices that can be implemented to improve their productivity.”

11.55am: OPEN EXPERT PANEL: Your Burning Questions Answered

For the first time, the forum hosted an open panel, which comprised Le Méridien Al Aqah Beach Resort, Fujairah executive housekeeper Hari Sudhakar, Kempinski Hotel Ajman executive housekeeper Fahmi Abdullah Wajehaldin, Grand Hyatt Dubai housekeeping manager — functional specialist housekeeping Tatjana Ahmed, Emirates Palace regional rooms specialist & master trainer Pamini Hemaprabha, Jumeirah Beach Hotel executive housekeeper Michele Millot, and Capital Centre Arjaan by Rotana, Abu Dhabi executive housekeeper Marjona Aslitdinova.

Some of the questions that came out of this panel included:

What should housekeepers do if they don’t have a glasswasher?

“Provide a plastic basin to your staff, and a separate sanitiser,” said Ahmed. Getting the nightshift to help is another solution. Millot said it’s important to mention to the project management team before opening that the pantry needs water connection for a glasswasher, to prevent problems like these in the future. Hemaprabha said it’s not just glass but a few challenges for room attendants who have to go back and forth. In light of this, Kempinski is trialling a new method called ‘the invisible drawer’, which is located in all guest rooms. It is locked, with only room attendants able to access it. “You can stock fresh glasses in that drawer, without having to bring those in and out on a daily basis,” she added.

How can housekeepers convince management about budget, asked another housekeeper?

Hemaprabha said: “It’s an ongoing challenge. Get your budgets ready according to the property. Are you a credits-driven department or a sections-driven department? How do you want to have your budgets ready? Make sure you have that homework done.” Think about out-sourcing and in-house ratio as well, she advised. “Third, read your management. What are their expectations? Most of the time the timing of discussion of the budget is wrong. You have to pick their best mood, and have a list of complaints ready. You have to back it up — take a problem and offer solutions.”

hotel apartments have limited manning; how should housekeepers deal with this? Aslitdinova pointed that hotel apartments more likely than not, will have long-stay guests. “One of the solutions is to review the contract and see if it’s daily service or you can service them three times a week which will significantly reduce the number of manning,” she added. Wajehaldin advised always keeping a strict eye on the room occupancy breakdown to see how to best organise cleaning schedules in such cases.

Outsourcing ratios were discussed. Millot said that this depends on the input versus output such as number of rooms cleaned. “This ratio is based on these two factors, and most of the time, the rest is forgotten,” she said. Hemaprabha said outsourcing cannot be a replacement of in-house staff, and added that it’s important to continue educating management. One of the audience members, however, argued the case for 100% outsourcing, which works in other parts of the world — this made for a lively discussion of the matter.

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12.40: INTERACTIVE ROUNDTABLES: Diversity in Housekeeping — Addressing the Gender Balance

Chaired by Marjona Aslitdinova, executive housekeeper at Capital Centre Arjaan by Rotana Abu Dhabi, the session discussed the current male to female ratio in housekeeping departments and whether that ought to change. The statistic is estimated to be an average 70% male to 30% female ratio. This figure, Aslitdinova and the roundtable attendees agreed, is more realistically 80% male to 20% female at the average hotel in the region.

“What ratio do we want then?” prompted Aslitdinova. The group offered very different opinions on the perfect ratio in housekeeping. Anushya Paramasivam, room division manager at Radisson Blu Residence Dubai Marina, argued for a 50/50 ratio as the perfect balance.

Other delegates insisted that the current 80/20 split is an ideal. Asif Khatri, executive housekeeper at Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort was adamant that an 80/20 split is a good ratio, specifically with regards to the room attendant role, since Khatri argued, the role is essentially a “physical job, and it is difficult for ladies to push the heavy trolleys”.

Khatri and most of the attendees conceded that women have positive skills to bring to the supervisory role in housekeeping. Delegates continued to discuss the merit of the female versus male skill sets, some suggesting women are not strong enough for the room attendant role, and also not quick enough as a result. Others argued that the quality of clean by women room attendants tends to be better. Aslitdinova said she believed, in her experience, female staff tend to be “more stress resistance than males”.

“Even if you wish to have more women on the team, all the CVs I receive are always for men. Perhaps one CV for a female. We need to address this with the agencies,” suggested Paramasivam.

The Housekeeping Hierarchy — The Next Generation of Housekeeping

Pamini Hemaprabha, executive housekeeper, regional rooms specialist & master trainer, Emirates Palace discussed the right hierarchy and job titles for the industry.

The discussion centred on how job titles play a psychological role with people moving jobs, even if the responsibilities stay the same. “Some say ‘directors’, some don’t believe in the word ‘directors’. If an assistant exec gets an ‘assistant director’ job, they will leave,” she said. One of the housekeepers pointed out that the other excom members have “directors” in the job title, while when it comes to housekeeping, it says “executive housekeeper”.

Many housekeepers also talked about keeping the hierarchy flat, leaner at the top, so the payroll is a logical percentage. Reporting to the hotel manager or GM should also be a part of the executive housekeeper’s role, said one, and Hemaprabha agreed, but added that in this market, this is a challenge. “If you ask around, you will see that maybe only 10% of housekeepers report to GMs. The others don’t,” she said.

Increasing Productivity — Tools of the Trade

Jumeirah Beach Hotel executive housekeeper Michele Millot headed a discussion about best practices amongst housekeepers.

While discussing tools for housekeepers, technology was the most discussed about progress made in each room. “We make use of a software called Rex at our properties,” said one of the housekeepers. While many housekeepers said they use the old fashioned method of the room phone to relay the message of the cleaned room, some even admitted to use Whatsapp group messages to get the information across.

The trolley was another important topic. “When we started off we used baskets, and as it kept getting full with linen it would be carried physically by two housekeepers. Today, we make use of proper trolleys and pantries and it makes life extremely easy and work can be done quicker,” said Tatjana Ahmed from Grand Hyatt Dubai.