Interview with Andrea Kjellin –Assistant Director of Housekeeping Peninsula Hong Kong

On a recent trip to Hong Kong Liz met up with Andrea from the Peninsula Hong Kong

What is your cultural background? Where were you born and where did you grow up?

I was born in Hong Kong, my mother is Chinese and my father is from England. I grew up in Hong Kong and went to school here till the end of my secondary school education. I then took a gap year before going on to study at Les Roches Hotel Management School in Switzerland.  I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management specializing in Marketing.

What has been your career path to date?

My first taste of working in Hotels came when I took my gap year. I had decided that if my wish was to pursue 4 years of studies in this field, it would be wise to get some experience first to be sure it was what I wanted. In my second last year of secondary school I contacted the General Manager of The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London for a summer job. I worked as a Room Attendant and after finishing secondary school, returned there during my gap year where I worked as a Housekeeping Floor Supervisor for 6 months. I then went on to work as a Front Office Intern for 6 months at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental before beginning my studies in Switzerland. My Hotel Management Degree required that we undertook internships. In my first year, I interned for 6 months in F&B at The Peninsula Hong Kong. My second internship was in Sales & Marketing at The Peninsula Beijing. When graduation loomed, I was offered a chance to return to The Peninsula Hong Kong for a Management Traineeship in Rooms Division. The original plan was to work for 6 months in Housekeeping, 6 months in Front Office and 6 months in Guest Relations. However, just 10 months after I joined, the Assistant Front Office Manager resigned and my General Manager gave me the opportunity to take his place. I held this position for 4 years and then in May of this year I was promoted to the role of Assistant Director of Housekeeping.

What is your current position and Hotel?

 Assistant Director of Housekeeping

How many staff are you responsible for?

There are 175 staff in our Housekeeping Department

And what areas are you responsible for?

Overseeing all areas within Housekeeping. Working alongside our other Assistant Director of Housekeeping, we are deputy heads of the Department and need to oversee all areas, which include all Guestrooms, Public Areas, Linen Room, Laundry Operation, Uniform Room and Flower Room. I work rotating shifts and am also responsible for taking care of the rosters and ensuring we clear our annual leave before peak season begins in September.

Why Housekeeping at this stage of your career?

After four years in Front Office I was eager to explore another facet of Rooms division management, and was also keen to learn more about Housekeeping. There is so much to learn in Housekeeping. Someone once told me that “Executive Housekeepers are a dying breed”, which I definitely think holds some truth. There is a common misconception that Housekeeping is just about “cleaning rooms” and is a department which I feel is so often misunderstood and underestimated. There are so many more elements of the Hotel which concern Housekeeping and I want to learn all there is to know about this department.

What are the differences between Front Office operations and Housekeeping?

There is certainly much more guest interaction in Front Office than in Housekeeping, and I do miss that sometimes. However, I like the fact that in Housekeeping it is easier to focus on one task at a time, whereas in Font office I would be constantly juggling many balls on the go. I understand the sense of urgency that the FO team is dealing with when facing guests and try to translate that message so that Housekeeping team can understand and more importantly, so that we can work together more cohesively. Furthermore, managing the Housekeeping team is quite different from the way the Front Office team works. In Housekeeping, we have staff that spans multi-generations, who are motivated by different reasons, which need to be managed.

What are your top three challenges this week?

Balancing the roster whilst clearing the outstanding vacation days owed.

1. Learning how to clean the special awning of one of our theme suites with the high pressure sprayer – a bi-annual event
2. Due to the delayed delivery of ordered supplies, find alternative suppliers for minibar chips and coffee cups.

 

How do you deal with different cultures?  And different staff – newcomers verses old timers?

In Housekeeping, we have many local Chinese staff along with a growing contingent of Nepalese. I endeavor to conduct all my briefings in dual languages – English and Cantonese so that all staff can understand and are also exposed to hearing more English. Communication is key to the success of the operation. What’s more, I am the most recent newcomer to the department, in contrast to our large number of long-serving staff. When it comes to dealing with “old-timers”, I have a great deal of respect for them and treat them all as “experts” in their own fields and will often ask how things were done in the past. This works well for me.

How about your personal life? What do you do for fun?

I love hiking and will compete in “Trailwalker” for the 3^rd time this coming November. The Oxfam Trailwalker Event is an Annual Charity Event organized by Oxfam. Teams of 4 have 48 hours to complete a 100km cross-country hike in Hong Kong’s countryside. Aside from hiking in my free time, I also love cooking for friends and family and make my own greeting cards.

What are your future plans?

I would like to spend 2 to 4 years in Housekeeping to expand my knowledge and skill set in this area. Also, I would love to participate in a hotel opening so as to experience that side of a Hotel’s Operation.

 

What do you see for the future of Housekeeping? Where do you think it is heading?

With softwares such as Optiikeeper and HotSOS showing a growing presence in the market, technology is playing a bigger and bigger role in Housekeeping Operations and the staff will need to cope with that in the future. Also, with the way guests are travelling nowadays, I observed more of a 24-hour cycle of check-in and check-out rather than traditional arrival and departure times. This will change how Housekeeping needs to operate in order to cope with this in the future.

The whole operation needs to be very dynamic and adaptable. As guest expectations get higher and higher and the market becomes more competitive, our staff will need to deliver equally high quality services and will be required to have far more guest interaction and language skills than ever before in order to communicate better with the guest. I believe Housekeeping will become increasingly less “back-of-house” moving forward.