Hospitality trends and the latest industry buzzwords may come and go, but the importance of hotel cleanliness – and its impact on generating customer loyalty and driving profitability – never wanes.
Crucial to delivering the highest levels of cleanliness across a property, regardless of any brand affiliation or room count, is the team a hotel assembles for its housekeeping department. Individuals who’ve been properly trained and genuinely care about their role in realizing guest satisfaction. Workers who possess the inherent desire to flawlessly execute housekeeping services and take things to a new level of real hospitality. And, to keep the machine moving forward, it is incumbent upon hotels to always be recruiting for this physically demanding department to make sure they have the best team in place at all times.
Cleanliness is firmly tied to financial success, so it is imperative for hoteliers to establish a smart strategy to strengthen their valued staff assets and housekeeping operation. Here are five key ways to avoid pitfalls in the on-property housekeeping operation, while keeping staff members at the forefront of achieving excellence.
Education – The Path to Success & Satisfaction
Every corner of every space in a hotel is subject to the “white glove” scrutiny that consumers bring with them when they are away from home for business or leisure.
What’s a hotel’s best preparation for this keen customer inspection? Proper staff training in order for workers to realize optimum job performance. Arm your valued staff with the education resources they need to succeed. As a result, hotels are increasingly tapping the services of outsourcing agencies specializing in commercial cleaning to instruct in-house housekeeping staff on how to implement safe and hygienic sanitization practices.
Aligning with experts such as Jani-King provides a cost-effective way to educate the housekeeping team on proper procedures for the complex cleaning process. An investment with cleaning specialists is an investment in the workers themselves who are responsible for helping deliver the highest levels of guest satisfaction. Hotels must also ensure that housekeeping staff understand the key role they play in bolstering customer satisfaction and hotel profitability by providing clean spaces for guests.
Create a Culture Where Thriving is the Only Option
The investment in employees has been made – now what? The next step is for hotels to cultivate employee loyalty, keep staff inspired and deepen their satisfaction. Don’t just speak about value – walk the walk by creating a culture where everyone in the housekeeping operation thrives.
Incentivize and reward staff ideas to improve operations; often those individuals doing the tasks every day have excellent thoughts on how to increase job efficiency. Continually provide education opportunities as well as the chance to move to other roles at a property (such as supervisory and management positions). Establish an environment where staff at every level care about customers, take pride in their work, and want to attain excellence.
By generating this type of culture, hotels effectively are creating ambassadors within their workforce – and these ambassadors are a testament to what happens when a company celebrates its team members’ value.
Tap Qualified Resources to Boost Operations
Cleanliness drives repeat hotel business – and clients’ expectations about high levels of cleanliness remain the same whether the hotel is experiencing low or peak occupancy.
Outsourcing companies specializing in cleaning and sanitizing hotels are key to bolstering the housekeeping operation as needed to ensure a smoothly functioning “clean machine” regardless of how many rooms are occupied. Qualified, supplemental staff can be brought in during busy periods – it’s the pathway to the housekeeping department operating at the highest possible standards without straining budgets. Working with an outsourcing company such as Jani-King is akin to creating a pipeline of highly trained individuals to impeccably execute important housekeeping tasks throughout a hotel of any size.
Tapping the services of an outsourcing company to bring in personnel doesn’t dilute a hotel brand promise since these agencies typically integrate property-specific standards into the training process. The essence of the property isn’t compromised, and the outcome is an elevated guest experience.
Craft Work Spaces That Showcase Employee Value
Retaining qualified housekeeping staff is easier when the environment in which they work is curated for their safety and convenience. As an added bonus – satisfied staff are motivated to boost their operating efficiency.
As a complement to important training opportunities, hotels can create work spaces that reflect the high value they place upon their staff. For example, be sure to have appropriate equipment with proper extension tools to reach all corners of a property. Consider job rotation to help reduce injuries associated with repetitive movements. Purchase service carts with wheels for carpeted floors as well as lighter, low-noise-emission vacuum cleaners.
Care for laundry equipment with proactive maintenance is also essential to shaping a well-organized, efficient work environment. Produce a checklist of important procedures for the team to follow (in how to care for washers and dryers) because when the equipment’s performance slacks, housekeeping is unable to execute job responsibilities, and that trickle-down effect can negatively impact the guest experience (such as delays in clean bedding, spa and pool towels, and napkins and tablecloths in restaurants).
Harnessing Technology to Improve Job Performance
It’s a scenario most hotels have experienced – confusion about when accommodations are ready for check-in, resulting in huge challenges for the housekeeping department and front desk. So how can employees avoid crucial communication pitfalls and improve job execution?
Adopting effective housekeeping technology solutions empowers staff to make smart in-the-moment job decisions, increases employee productivity, and allows hotels to optimize room inventory – ultimately raising guest satisfaction scores. Maintaining information about the real-time status of rooms is key because the goal is to reduce the time guests must wait before entering their accommodations. These measures show the housekeeping team how crucial they are to running a seamless operation, plus it keeps workers engaged and loyal.
Technology encourages a quick turn-around of room cleaning without sacrificing quality. This isn’t just for an in-house operation – hotels that implement a housekeeping technology solution continue to work with outsourcing cleaning companies because the systems are often simple to learn and easy to use.
Impeccable service delivery of housekeeping services is paramount to the longevity and success of a hotel, and the department’s team members are the cornerstone for making that success a reality. Provide housekeeping employees with education experiences, opportunities for internal job growth, a work environment that encourages professional development and showcases value, and the resources they need to thrive. The payoff is worth it – a lucrative property that achieves elevated guest satisfaction levels and is powered by a dedicated staff.