HOUSEKEEPING MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 2-PLANNING & ORGANIZING

THE HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT-

Prepared by: Miss Tinie Hashim[BBA (Hons) Hotel Management, Universiti Malaysia Sabah]

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2.0 IDENTIFYING HOUSEKEEPING’S RESPONSIBILITIES

• Most housekeeping departments are responsible for cleaning the following areas:-Guestrooms-Corridors-Public areas- Management offices- Laundry room-Back-of-the-house areas

• Housekeeping cleaning responsibilities in the F&B areas vary from property to property.

• In most hotels, housekeeping has very limited responsibilities in relation to cleaning food preparation, production, and storage areas.

• The special cleaning and sanitation tasks required for maintaining these areas are usually carried out by kitchen staff under the supervision of the chief steward.

2.1 PLANNING THE WORK OF THE HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT

• Planning is probably the executive housekeeper’s most important management function.

• Without a systematic, step-by-step approach to planning, the executive housekeeper can easily become frustrated by hundreds of important details.

• These details must be addresses in order to ensure that work is not only done- but done correctly, efficiently, on time, and with the least cost to the department.

Basic Planning ActivitiesNo. INITIAL PLANNING QUESTIONS RESULTING DOCUMENTS

1. What items within this area must be cleaned or maintained?

Area Inventory Lists

2. How often must the items within this area be cleaned or maintained?

Frequency Schedules

3. What must be done in order to clean or maintain the major items within this area?

Performance Standards

4. How long should it take an employee to perform an assigned task according to the

department’s performance standards?

Productivity Standards

5. What amounts of equipment & supplies will be needed in order for the

housekeeping staff to meet performance & productivity standards?

Inventory Levels

2.1.1 Area Inventory Lists• is bound to be long and extremely detailed.

• Since most properties offer several different types of guestrooms, separate inventory lists may be needed for each room type.

• When preparing area inventory list, it is a good idea to follow the sequence in which room attendants will clean items in which supervisors will inspect items (inspection checklists).

2.1.2 Frequency Schedules

• Indicate how often items on area inventory lists are to be cleaned or maintained (daily/weekly).

• Tasks on an area’s frequency schedule that are made part of housekeeping’s deep cleaning program should be transferred to a calendar plan.

• Usually deep cleaning will be doing during low occupancy period.

2.1.3 Performance Standards

• Standards are required quality levels of performance.

• Performance standard state not only what must be done, they also describe in detail how the job must be done.

• The keys to consistency are the performance standards which the executive housekeeper develops, communicates, and manages.

• Executive housekeeper can ensure consistency of cleaning by demanding 100% conformity to the standards established by their department.

• Performance standards are communicated through ongoing training programs.

• The executive housekeeper should review the department’s performance standards at least once a year and make appropriate revisions as new work methods are implemented.

2.1.4 Productivity Standards

• Determine the acceptable quantity of work to be done by the department employees.

• Executive housekeeper must know how long it should take a housekeeping employee to perform the major tasks identified on the cleaning frequency schedules-such as guestroom cleaning.

• Once this information is known, productivity standards can be developed.

2.1.5 Inventory Levels

• The executive housekeeper must ensure that employees have the necessary equipment and supplies to get their job done.

• A purchasing system must consistently maintain the needed amounts of items in housekeeping inventories.

• Due to limited storage facilities and management’s desire not to tie up cash in overstocked inventories, the executive housekeeper must establish reasonable inventory levels for both recyclable and non-recyclable items.

2.2 ORGANIZING THE HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT

• Refers to the executive housekeeper’s responsibility to divide the work so that everyone gets a fair assignment and all the work can be finished on time.

• The executive housekeeper delegates authority to supervisors and must ensure that each employee recognizes the authority structure of the department.

2.2.1 Basic Structure of the Housekeeping DepartmentOWNER

GENERAL MANAGER

EXECUTIVE H/K

HOUSEKEEPING SUPERVISORS

PUBLIC AREA ATTENDANT

ROOM ATTENDANTS

LAUNDRY ATTENDANTS

CEO

ASST. EXEC H/K

2.2.2 Task Lists / Job Descriptions

• A an individual task list identifies the tasks that must be performed by a specific position within the department.

• The task list should simply state what the employee must be able to do in order to perform the job.

• The most effective, job descriptions must be tailored to the specific operational needs of individual properties.

2.3 OTHER MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS OF EXECUTIVE HOUSEKEEPER

2.3.1 Coordinating & Staffing• Each day, executive housekeeper must coordinate

schedules and work assignments and ensure that the proper equipment, cleaning supplies, linens, and other supplies are on hand for employees to carry out the assignments.

• Staffing involves recruiting applicants, selecting those best qualified to fill open positions, and scheduling employees to work.

• Since labor is housekeeping’s largest expense item, properly scheduling employees is one of the most important management responsibilities of the executive housekeeper.

• Executive housekeeper must be flexible and creative, establishing staffing patterns that permit the department to reach its goals within the limits of the budget plan.

2.3.2 Directing & Controlling

• Directing is focusing employee activity on the goals established in the planning phase, using the strategies established in the organizing, coordinating, and staffing phase.

• It involves supervising, motivating, training, and disciplining employees.

• Controlling refers to the executive housekeeper’s responsibility to implement the procedures that protect the hotel’s assets.

• Assets are anything the hotel owns that has commercial or exchange value.

• An executive housekeeper helps safeguard the hotel’s assets by implementing control procedures for linens, supplies, equipment, and other items.

2.3.3 Evaluating

• is the management function of assessing the extent to which planned goals are attained.

• Monthly budget reports prepared by the hotel’s accounting staff are important evaluation tools for all managers in a hotel.

• The executive housekeeper uses these reports to compare actual departmental expenses to amounts estimated in the budget.

• Besides, daily inspection reports and quarterly performance evaluations are used to monitor how well the actual performance of employees compare with performance and productivity stardards.

END OF CHAPTER 2-THANK YOU-