Cleaning and maintenance is prime to any hotel property, as it not just impacts on the image but the very business foundation of the hotel. On an average, the staff intensive housekeeping department at any time in a hotel has anywhere between 15 to 30 or more staff engaged in professional cleaning of the premises. At an age of outsourcing staff right from the front office to operations, why is it that the Indian hotel industry is more comfortable with in-house housekeeping staff? Is the Facility Services sector ready to service the hospitality industry? Mohana M discusses
Consistency & Focus
“Outsourcing facility services is the future in Indian hospitality industry. Most Indian hotels still prefer to have in-house staff right from the janitor to the room attendant. I am more confident of in-house capabilities rather than that of the facility service provider. I believe that inhouse staff will be more focussed on the housekeeping than a third party which manages several units and has to cater to the needs of multiple hotels. There are many problems associated with outsourcing, the biggest being absenteeism, frequently changing staff and issues related to training, loyalty & ethics, pilferages, and most importantly security.
Laundry, horticulture and pest control are among the areas which are comfortably outsourced completely, because in-house staff is likely to have limited knowledge about these specialised services.
In fact, in the current scenario, during my associations with the outsourced teams I have groomed and trained the selected associates who showed keen interest to be a part of the organisation, have stability in work, gain abilities to work independently sometimes even without supervision.
Taking this forward, I expect facility service provider to reduce payroll cost and provide quick replacements of staff when required. The facility service providers should have some training & development programs to groom their team in sync with time. This will in turn pave a way for the facility services industry to grow in India. Joint efforts from the executive housekeepers and the facility service providers will have positive results.” — Sonia Mital, Executive Housekeeper, Ramada Powai Hotel & Convention Centre
The kind of manpower engaged with, in the outsourcing model, has to be considered. It is true that the manpower can be groomed and get attuned to the hotel expectations, however there has to be quality in order to train or put the outsourced staff in keeping with the standards.
“There are enough service providers in the market currently catering to the hospitality sector. However, the challenge is in finding the right one who can deliver good quality manpower consistently. We require a service provider who can provide quality, well-groomed and trained manpower.” — Shilpi Khanna, Executive Housekeeper, Marriott Hotels
Specialised Services
“Facility services are currently not a solution for luxury hospitality segment. They are gradually stepping into hospitality with limited scope. Hospitality segment hires aspiring hotel management graduates who often come from a hospitality background and have far better understanding of hotels and hospitality. Facility management is not the first choice of hotel management graduates and hence, they often have a general background.
So, facility management does stand a good chance of serving hospitality sector if their team comprises hotel management graduates and experienced professionals!
Any Housekeeper’s dream is to communicate with a team which is ambitious and reduces the repetition of instructions to achieve better consistency at work. With FS companies, it becomes a tedious practice to enforce the hiring of better educated team with basic to average English-speaking skills.
It has also been noticed that FS company’s salary structure is not in line with market or hotel which often results in poor productivity of team members who tend to join hotels for better salary or facilities.
Hotels do, in general, outsource maintenance of public areas to housekeeping companies. FS companies get benefitted by having their team in place at best of hotels where they get trained and coached well. They often grow within their division to better posts, post getting exposed to hotel environment.” — Pamini Hemaprabha, Executive Housekeeper, Regional Rooms Specialist, Master Trainer at Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi
Policy Issues
The training and certification of cleaning operatives is increasingly a factor in the award of cleaning services providers. The facilities management department has responsibilities for the day-to-day running of the building, these tasks may be outsourced or carried out by directly employed staff. This is a policy issue, but due to the immediacy of the response required in many of the activities involved the facilities manager will often require daily reports or an escalation procedure. Some issues require more than just periodic maintenance, for example those that can stop or hamper the productivity of the business or that have safety implications.
The best managers are organized, persuasive and proactive — not to mention highly ambitious. They have a real attention to detail and a knack for remaining calm when things get hectic. They also know when it comes to guest, a smile can go a long way.
To join, you should have an experience of managing others. You’ll also need to be comfortable working with suppliers and vendors, understand purchasing and invoicing processes, know how to control costs and, ideally, have a management qualification.” — Vaishali Sinha, Director Housekeeping, Mehula The Fern
“Currently, the hospitality industry does not need the services of professional FM service provider. At present, readymade products along with expertise and professional advice are available, which has resulted in reduction of costing and investment, especially in owner driven properties and big chain hotels. However, the time has come to hire outside services as the FS sector is growing and providing good services in India now.” –– Swarna Raman, CEO, All Seasons Housekeeping Goa
Lack of Training
Our expectations from the facility services companies are transparent payroll by which all benefits are passed on to the worker; basic training related to grooming, conduct and housekeeping; and recognition and reward programme for their employees in order to have a motivated employee.” — Rajat Bagchi, Housekeeper at Pllazio Hotels and Resorts Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi
FS scenario in India
The Facilities Management (FM) market in India has strong and direct correlation with the construction sector’s growth. In India, FM or outsourcing of services constitutes only 35% of the overall demand for real estate services. Unlocking this remaining 65% is hindered by many factors including lack of availability of technical and non-technical manpower, increased lead times in mobilizing resources/staff after a project has been successfully contracted due to manpower shortage, increase in inflation and labor cost, and ineffective provision of services at low rates by unorganized industry participants
Further, since the market is riddled with low-cost unorganized service providers, pricing and margins come under pressure. The FM sector’s business model is also changing, wherein larger facility/ property management companies are outsourcing all elementary activities like landscaping, security, janitorial, plumbing, and electro-mechanical services to smaller or local service companies. However, they retain supervisory services, lease and rental management, construction management, and real estate brokerage services.” – Sarvsukh Anand, Regional Manager Housekeeping, INOX Leisure Ltd.
Having said thus, though the service industry is growing and only partial outsourcing is being opted by the hospitality industry due to various factors, it is important to understand the service providers’ perspectives too. In the following issue, Clean India Journal will discuss what the service providers have to say.