Housekeeping Concern

Rising Concerns & Challenges

From keeping all areas of the hotel fresh, clean and tidy to training janitors & supervisors to adopt latest technology & software, housekeeping is much more than just keeping the ‘house’ in order or keeping the guests comfortable. All these entail diverse and daunting challenges. In a Panel Discussion organised by Clean India Journal, Avril Sule, Associate Professor-Housekeeping, Sheila Raheja Institute of Hotel Management; Shilpi Khanna, Executive Housekeeper-J.W. Marriot; Alka Sharma, Vice-President Indiabulls and Renuka Rao, Housekeeper-Sahara Star- Mumbai discussed rising housekeeping concerns & challenges. Excerpts:

HOUSEKEEPING TODAY has grown to encompass much more than just cleaning and guest services; thus, increasing the challenges faced otherwise. Everything in housekeeping begins with the working staff or housekeepers and almost all challenges are related to trained manpower in one way or the other.

Every hotel is facing manpower crisis and is struggling to keep up the retention ratio. Highlighting the present challenges, Renuka Rao said, “Housekeeping department is the backbone of a hotel and newly joined staff are not capable to provide the required results expected by the guests. Further, guests today are more demanding than they were five years back. They do not tolerate anything, be it pests or hygiene issues. Getting trained staff, retaining them and keeping them happy are the challenges which need adequate support and time. Housekeeping is a 24/7 activity.”

In this scenario of guest centric housekeeping, there is little scope for any other activity including skill development. Always at an edge over guest remarks, “online reservations” at times turns a bane for the housekeeping department. “External reservation agencies encourage guests to post online reviews to increase traffic. This, many a time, works adversely for the hotel. Housekeeping is the main target in most of these posts. This again gets carried in the social media and various online platforms available today and a small fault by the housekeeping staff gets blown out of proportion and thereby portrays a negative brand image of the hotel,” added Renuka.

[box type=”shadow” ]We, as housekeeping staff, are passionate about our jobs and will continue to be so. This sheer passion is what turns a successful housekeeper to a GM.

– Shilpi Khanna

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Quoting an extreme case of tragedy which could have been better handled with a trained housekeeping staff, Alka averred that, “One of the biggest challenges in training housekeeping staff, is in enabling them to ‘protect’ guests from possible terror attacks or other disasters. The housekeeper must make a checklist of Dos & Don’ts for a bomb blast scare.”

“Sexual harassment and ensuing repercussions are issues that housekeepers must look into and educate their staff as part of preventive measures. This is important as people coming from different places perceive things differently. Fire safety is one more very essential aspect which must be a part of regular checklist practices.

“Even housekeeping at its core is not an easy task. For e.g, while cleaning the washrooms, care should be taken not to leave behind even a single strand of hair. Once chosen the profession, you simply can’t do it forcefully. One must enjoy and have fun with the work,” added Alka.

[box type=”shadow” ]Thanks to Clean India Journal for making janitors and cleaners believe they are professionals too… something that‘s worth to win awards.

– Avril Sule[/box]

“Getting labour and telling them it is no longer broom and brush but handling machines efficiently is, becomes another challenging task,” said Avril.

[box type=”shadow” ]Appreciation & motivation is the key to getting things done. This helps housekeeping staff enjoy the job.

– Renuka Rao[/box]

Filling up rooms with complementary supplies just to enhance the quality of room can be a costly affair for housekeeping department. “But, we have to do this. Part of Sahara Star hotel is still under construction that generates dust/pollution. To counter the effect, we had to upgrade amenities of existing rooms and fill it with costly things to make guests happy,” explained Renuka.

The Way Forward

In spite of the current challenges, students joining hotel management are increasing on daily basis. They find it a glamorous job. Many staff like Front office and F&B get good number of students. “It is important that we devote sometime and sit with them to discuss their career plans and advise them about their career growth,” said Shilpi.

[box type=”shadow” ]Today’s housekeeping is extremely concerned about water consumption, waste management, electricity consumption and other practices pertaining to environment. Today, we segregate garbage into eight dif ferent bins — wet, dry, paper, glass, stones and others.

– Alka Sharma
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“Some people learn fast, some slowly. However, we must appreciate, motivate and teach them to get things better. This is never meant to be a one sided affair. Staff also needs to be given cross exposure,” concluded Alka.