Participants of the discussion:
Priya Nandakumar, Executive Housekeeper, The Oberoi, Bangalore
Usha Ramalingam, Corporate Housekeeper, The Raintree Hotels, Chennai
Asha Premkumar, GM-Housekeeping, Royal Orchid Hotels, Bangalore
Shirin Jayaraam, Executive Housekeeper, Vivanta By Taj, Bangalore
Bindu Neel, Corporate Housekeeper, The Paul resorts and Hotels, Bangalore
Vinita Chaudhary, Director- Housekeeping, The Park, Bangalore
Vijaya Lakshmi Rajkumar, Corporate Manager, GRT hotels and Resorts, Chennai
Bharathi Kamath, MD, Carewel Facilities India Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore
Rajani Ghatage, CEO, Comfort Inn Vijay Residency, Bangalore
Jayashree Nagraj, Vice President-Operations, SA Group of Hospitality Management & Consultancy, Bangalore
Sunita Srinivasan, Principal, PES Institute of Hotel Management, Bangalore
Non-availability of professional service providers befitting hotel’s specialised requirements dwindling skilled labour and decreasing brand image consciousness could be some of the main reasons for hotels outsourcing. However, a select few hotels have engaged professional service providers who are in tune with the quality and standards expected of such premises. While value addition and upgradation are common to all sectors, service providers too have evolved with the quality of deliverables bringing in some visible changes in the housekeeping scenario in hotels.
There is no denying that even though a hotel’s image is judged through the rating, guests assess the appearance of the interiors and exteriors as they arrive and scan the litter-free walkways, shining floors, stainless carpets, dust-free furniture, organized room accessories, stain-free bathrooms, fragrance in the air… which all indicate the cleanliness levels the hotel maintains.
Checking the cleanliness standards of the hotel has become the guests prerogative in order to ease anxiety over germs, bugs and grime as they look forward to their stay. Indicating a change in the customer’s profile as well, Priya Nandakumar of The Oberoi said, “The profile of guests has changed leading to a change in the expectations from the industry. Quality services and value for money have become major concerns forcing the housekeepers to adapt to the changing trends to make sure that the guest satisfaction levels are always on the top. Indian travellers have gained global experience on the service standards in the hospitality sector and demand only the best.”
In agreement, Shirin Jayaraam of Vivanta By Taj commented, “The guests now do not accept any imperfections and expect high quality customised services. They are always on the lookout for the ‘wow’ factor that can make their stay at a hotel memorable.”
No more a backdoor process, either due to the rising expectations from guests’ side or to keep up the demand, housekeeping has got central attention in hospitality. Vijaya Lakshmi Rajkumar of GRT Hotels said, “The availability of options has allowed the guests to pick and choose the kind of service they desire. The housekeeper now has to pay special attention on guest requirement and comfort. The guest needs are given high priority and are now considered right from the project planning stage.”
Hence, the cost of housekeeping is not an expense but investment. Sunita Srinivasan of PES Institute of Hotel Management highlighted the essentiality saying, “Every hotel has to invest in housekeeping, as every guest entering a hotel, even budget hotels, feels the need to be treated like a king. Standards have to be maintained and cost cannot be a factor for it. Innovative methods can be used to provide quality services at low cost.”
Connecting Chords
Guests returning to a particular facility depend very much on the connect they have established with it. Therefore, guests are expected to visit again. The long lasting relationship has to be built through turn-down/value-added services of housekeeping. “Besides cleaning, the housekeeper has taken on more responsibilities and has also become the marketing and relationship manager of a hotel. A relationship is built with the guests and a link is always maintained. In case of long stays, parties are organised for guests where the HODs including the executive housekeeper are invited. The housekeepers now intimately interact with guests to know more about their preferences and needs,” says Vinita Chaudhary of The Park.
Inculcating the Next level Need
Housekeeping in real sense, in today’s world of hospitality, is no more about mere cleanliness and upkeep. These elements form a fundamental expectation for discerning travelers.
The industry is currently witnessing one of the most challenging phases with poor growth of the Indian economy, low growth in inbound travel, a weak Indian rupee against the US dollar, and room supply overshooting demand. There is a need to pitch housekeeping services as one of the key differentiators for guest choice. This involves ‘holistic management of guest experience and expectation in highly customized and innovative ways.’
Housekeepers need to review their role as far more than monitoring and delivering a clean and hygienic product. A Housekeeper also needs to have a better understanding of what housekeeping as a strategic management entails.
In a popular survey conducted across over 7000 discerning travelers, “ quality of housekeeping services” and “quality of sleep” were the two top notch criteria most considered while choosing hotels. Customer retention is a huge responsibility and the role of housekeeping in this regard can be manifold. A clean and well maintained product combined with efficient services can definitely tip the scales in the required direction.
Housekeepers need to emphasize on recruiting right personnel and even more so on retaining them. However the entry level housekeeping job is extremely laborious, hence only an enlightened and a more open societal approach can help newcomers understand the opportunities ahead.
Hotel management institutions need to paint a more realistic picture in terms of sharing timelines to make it big, as there is a gap between aspirations and reality.
In housekeeping, the management is mostly remote; in other words, the employees who are at the forefront and deliver the service are the entry level team, hence there is a huge need for communication to be not just basic but impactful enough to meet not under the expected result but also to sensitively deliver the unexpected.
The new age guests are well informed travelers who have experienced almost every kind of technology, hence the product itself has little chances to overwhelm- it is the softer aspects and personalized service which can make that connect.
Janaki Das
Executive Housekeeper, Trident, Mumbai
There several success stories quoted. Soma Bay in Egypt, once a moony land has become one of the most preferred destinations of tourists in the world. Such changes are partly due the turn-down services provided by five stars hotels.Turn-down services have been in practice to keep up the value added services helping in connecting the chord.
Speaking on the same, Shirin commented, “The term turn-down comes with services like removing the cushions, lowering the duvets and opening or closing the curtains according to the time of the day; thus increasing the comfort of the guest. Such services are essentially refreshing, customized and provided undisturbed without infringing on the privacy of the guests. This is a recent trend seen in the housekeeping sector.” For such services the staff has to be trained to be an observer and assertive for the comfort of the guests.
The ambience of the hotel, amenities and services along with the replacing of used products from the room can surprise and engage the guest. Things are done keeping the guest in mind. A gift for a single traveller, a surprise for first time traveller, considering preferences of a long staying guest and taking special care for a jet lagged guest like ear plugs, sound proof room or special menu do add value to guests’ experience making it memorable.
Guests are now accustomed to high quality services. Bindu Neel of The Paul Resorts indicated, “The guests are traveling more globally and are aware of the services entitled to them. The housekeeping cannot afford to be lax in providing services.”
Not every hotel can afford to provide the turn-down service argued Asha Premkumar of The Royal Orchid. “A turn-down service is expensive, but for a five star hotel, it is a necessity as a guest pays accordingly and the expectations are high too. But, in the case of two star or three star hotels, it would not be feasible to provide the same five star quality service. It is important to be alert and know the guest well, so that only required services are provided without escalating costs.”
Arguing from a practical point of view in the present scenario, Rajani Ghatage, CEO, Comfort Inn Vijaya Residency adds “In the middle-range hotels, the turn-down service has become redundant, since many corporate clients are hardly in the room to make use of this service that is done twice in a day. It is a waste of time and energy of the housekeepers.”
Training
So far, hotels have been relying on in-house setup for housekeeping staff training. Bharathi agreed: “There is a sense of belonging to when in-house training is done. The housekeeper feels that the efforts put in training would not go to waste and a control over the actions of the staff is maintained. This is why, even mid-size hotels provide highly customised services in the form of tendons and other services which are found only in the five or seven star hotels. Proper training in housekeeping can also help in energy savings without compromising on the quality.
“Training adds value to the facility services if done properly,” said Jayashree Nagraj of SA Group. “Management strategies play an important role in how housekeeping is approached. Customizing the services is of vital importance and that requisite training is provided to the supervisors and leaders. Maintaining a close coordination with the front office to improve the satisfaction level of guests is equally important,” she added.
Outsourcing FM…?
The concerns today are the price rise, labour crisis and the need of appropriate training. “Outsourcing can be financially beneficial for hotels, but there are certain areas that should never be outsourced. A delicate balance has to be maintained for the effective outsourcing programme,” pointed Bharathi.
Sunita agreed, saying, “Yes, it can be the next step in hospitality sector. The systems and processes in place have to be improvised to make outsourcing a reality. Hotels are looking for optimization with the labour issue becoming worse. Outsourcing is the only way to ensure future readiness.”
In the present scenario, the FM providers haven’t stepped up to the standards of five-stars hotels. Vijaya Lakshmi counted the main reason, saying, “The hotels are divided into two areas, the public area and the guest rooms. Staffs working in the guest rooms are expected to closely interact with the guests. They are required to know their small preferences.
Again, the outsourced staff keep changing and the guests may not be able to forge a bond with them. This hampers the specialised services provided by the hotels. For quality services, adequate training is also of prime importance.”
With lots of buzz over outsourcing, the majority did agree that presently neither hotels nor the FM service providers are ready for it. It needs a sincere collaborative approach and effort from both sides to bridge the gap that might sort out the financial crisis to some extent at both ends. Having said that, FM providers will have to retain the chord of relationship with guests, the main challenge in hospitality sector.
A lot of time and efforts are invested in grooming an outsourced employee to reach the standards of a star hotel. The vendor has to be able to guarantee at least a year of uninterrupted services by the contractual employee for the productivity level from the outsourcing operations to be profitable. Also there is a certain level of guest expectations to be lived up to in a star hotel. “An ever changing rooster of housekeeping employees would make it difficult to provide with customized solutions that come only through extended interactions with guests and experience. Consistency is the key for any outsourcing operations”, said Bharathi
Adding to the point, Priya said, “if an outsourced employee does not turn up, the cost of replacing him has to be borne by the hotel and this increases the cost of housekeeping operations.”
The other factor for hesitation in outsourcing of housekeeping is the connection and loyalty with the brand of the hotel. A permanent hotel employee shows dedication and brand loyalty and goes over and above to dispense services. While for an outsourced employee, the pay may be less and the feeling of being temporary dissuades him from giving his best.
The hospitality sector in India boosts of many premium brands that are a source of pride for its employees. But in the case of facility service companies there are hardly any brands that have any consumer recall. For the morale of the outsourced employee it is necessary for them to have pride in working for a prestigious institution. “The gap between the housekeeping employees and those outsourced has to be reduced. A quality company that has good standing in the market is the need of the hour for outsourcing of housekeeping services,” says Sunita.
For making outsourcing a reality, the hoteliers, the housekeepers and the FM companies have to come together to plan the course of action that will be beneficial for all the stake holders. The parameters for outsourcing are in place globally, the variable resource management is something that can be envisioned coming to India.
A new market avenue has opened for the FM companies. As housekeeping services for a hotel differ from facility services in commercial establishments, there is a need to understand the distinguishing requisites of the sector as it is the only way of filling the void in the outsourcing services.
For a star hotel, the SOPs remain the same irrespective of in-house or outsourced employees. The mindset of treating the outsourced employee differently has to be changed. Speaking from experience, Usha Ramalingam – Corporate Housekeeper, The Raintree Hotels says “When I was at Taj – Connemara, the housekeeping operations were outsourced to Fortune, almost 15 years back. Efforts were made to make the department inclusive for all the employees; the end result was that even the outsourced employees were dedicated and had job satisfaction equal to the permanent employees that was displayed in their productivity.”
Understanding all the aspects of outsourcing , the point unanimously agreed upon by all the participants was, while the hospitality sector is ready to outsource its housekeeping services, the key question that remains is, ‘Is the FM sector ready to take up the challenge…?’