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Tips to keep your housekeeping staff’s spirits high
Housekeeping staff have a direct impact on hotel cleanliness and guest satisfaction-an integral part of a hotel’s operation,” said Todd McKeown, Vice President Global Hospitality and Gaming, Cintas Corporation. “By investing time and energy in recognizing and rewarding these skilled individuals, it can revitalize your staff, while increasing productivity and building team work and retention.”
Cintas suggests the following tips to keep your housekeeping staff’s spirits high:
1) Ask for feedback – To maintain high job satisfaction and ensure each employee feels fulfilled, ask for feedback. Have a suggestion box and encourage an open-door policy to keep open communication with your staff.
Don’t forget International Housekeeping Appreciation Week and this year it’s from 14 – 20 September 2014
Update on Optii – The fork in the road -Optii Solutions (Optii) CEO, Soenke Weiss discusses the future direction of housekeeping and the increasing impact of technology
“Housekeeping has long been plagued by a reputation that they are slow to adapt to change and, in particular, slow to embrace technology. In our experience, we have found the opposite to be true, with housekeeping staff and hotel management well aware of the benefits that focused software can bring to their daily roles and guest satisfaction. It is most often the hotel owners – who are managing different priorities – that may not fully understand the impact that streamlining housekeeping has on financial results, service advantage and ultimately, competitiveness.
However, in the next twelve months, we will see a deeper awareness within the hospitality industry that the housekeeping function has grown in complexity; and that it will continue to do so at a rate that cannot be responded to purely with manual labor.”
Cleaning without Chemicals – update
There have been several developments in the world of Housekeeping with relation to cleaning without chemicals. These include exclusive use of microfibre, combined use of microfibre and steam in hospitals and advances in nanotechnology for surfaces.
Microfibre only - Radisson Blu in Sydney Australia is now in its 6th year of using only microfibre and water in the cleaning of their guest rooms and public areas. Maureen Jolowicz, the Executive Housekeeper and also President of the Professional Housekeepers Association of NSW has maintained the overall system she first started in 2008 with some modifications. Housekeeping Room Attendants pick up their cleaning pack every morning at the start of their shift including a blue microfibre cloth for each room, 3 scourers for the floors and shower tiles and their bucket with a water spray bottle and the only chemical used – a disinfectant spray for the toilet bowl.
Liz at Coworth Park, Ascot in UK
While in the UK recently Liz caught up with Lesley Skelt, the Executive Housekeeper at Coworth Park. part of the Dorchester collection located in Ascot Surrey. There was a mini reunion of some of the management team from Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong from the early 80′s. Cecilia Rydstrom was the Executive Housekeeper in those days. Anne Manual was Assistant Executive Housekeeper taking over from Liz when she was transferred to open the Mandarin Oriental in Macau as Executive Housekeeper (then known as the Excelsior Hotel) and Daphne Mann was PA to the GM at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. Click Here To Read More
Duop Mop system in use at Jumeirah Carlton Towers London
While Liz was in London recently she caught up with Anne Britton at the Jumeirah Carlton Towers, Anne showed the last cleaning technology – the Duop cleaning system.
Its a very clever mop/ hand tool designed by Worksafe Technology in the UK, a company established to eliminate the causes of frequent and recurring workplace injuries. By combining their expertise in product design, development and technology, their aim is to take a fresh look at common accidents and injuries in the workplace.
Hot or Cold for carpet cleaning? What’s the Answer?
Do you wash your dishes in cold water, whether by hand or in an automatic dishwasher? Do you think it is more effective to wash your hands in cold water? Is it easier to melt away grease and oil on a soiled commercial kitchen floor using cold water?
If your answer to all of these questions is no, then I have one more question for you: Why would someone clean carpets with cold water? There is a very important reason heat—along with agitation, time, and chemical action—is one of the four fundamental components of cleaning, and that is heat speeds up the molecular activity of chemicals so they work harder. The process helps loosen and dissolve soils from carpets so that they can be more effectively removed. For the hotel housekeeper, more effective removal of carpet soils means an easier and more productive shift.
Studies reporting on the value of heat in cleaning date back to the late 1800s. Svante Arrhenius won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1903. One of his discoveries, which is referred to as the Arrhenius equation, is that heat increases chemical action. Essentially, Arrhenius found that for many common chemical reactions, the reaction rate doubles for every 10-degree Celsius increase in temperature over about 87 degrees Celsius.
Update on Global Soap Project
Some exciting news from the Global Soap Project. This summer we will be relocating our soap recycling factory to a new and much larger facility in Las Vegas! The new factory will increase our production fourfold to 4 million bars of new soap per year, meaning we’ll remove 1 million pounds of used soap from landfills annually. In addition, we’ll be able to recycle hotel amenity bottles at the new facility as well – diverting tons of tiny shampoo, conditioner, and lotion bottles from landfills.
Most importantly, this increase in production will allow us to serve hundreds of thousands more people each year. Since hand washing with soap is the most effective and affordable way to fight the leading causes of death for children globally, this growth will make a big impact for those most at risk. The people we serve in our three programs – Soap In Schools, Emergency Relief, and WASH Initiatives – will all be beneficiaries of our expanded reach.
Team Clean in Honolulu focuses on training and education
Honolulu based building service contractor Team Clean Inc., has 400 employees in its family, otherwise known as “ohana”. The company has been honored by Hawaii Business Magazine as a best place to work in 2008, 2009 and 2010 – The company’s tag line is “We Live to Clean.” Team Clean puts raising the status and standards of cleaning as a profession first. They were the first BSC in Hawaii to earn CIMS-GB. – Instead of janitors or cleaners, employees are labeled as cleaning professionals, cleaning specialists, cleaning experts and cleaning masters. Click Here To Read More
Housekeeping keeping up with the guests!
A fun idea from one Housekeeper for guests who get down on their hands and knees and inspect under the beds. A nice little surprise to show that Housekeeping is on it! Let us know if you have a best practice you are proud of and want to share with the global Housekeeping fraternity. We love innovation and the sharing of ideas no matter how big or small they are! Liz
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