Housekeeping Management Consulting
The Hilton Sydney – a successful model of Housekeeping staff outsourcing
By Ariane Lellmann, Lycette & Associates – senior consultant
The Sydney Hilton is a 5*, 577 bedroom hotel, reopened in 2005 after 2.5 years of extensive renovations, containing 4 Bars and restaurants, Spa, wide spread Public Areas and major function space. The Executive Housekeeper, Ms Leonie Looser, is a hospitality professional with over 25 years experience and has been with the Hilton Sydney since 10 years. Since the hotel re-opened 2 years ago, only the Executive Housekeeper and 1 Assistant Executive Housekeeper are employed by the hotel, all other Housekeeping staff are supplied from an outsourcing provider.
Lycette & Associates had the opportunity to discuss with Leonie this particular chosen outsourcing approach and how this impacted on her daily work and responsibilities.
Preparing to outsource successfully:
AL: What were your initial main reasons for looking at a full outsourcing option and what were your expectations?
LL: When the Hilton closed for renovation in 2002 Housekeeping consisted of a very mature age work force. We were not looking for a quick, cheap cost cutting exercise but for a viable financial partnership with a provider in regards to OH&S and workers compensation cost responsibilities
AL: Given average hotel occupancy how many staff for how many departments were you approximately looking for on a daily basis?
LL: Apart from our Hilton employees in-house Laundry (15 staff) we were looking for an overall team of approximately 100 plus staff, covering a.m./p.m. Room attendants, a.m./p.m. Supervisors, a.m./p.m. Public Area attendants, Uniform room Attendants (open 24 hours) and administration.
AL: The Hilton is a very large hotel and a complex, demanding operation but a long-time and experienced Housekeeper such as you does all the jobs involved almost automatically. How did you approach identifying the many essential key points in a systematic fashion when preparing the brief for the selection process?
LL: We have started with Hilton’s Standard Operating Procedures, our brand standards and core competencies as a base and developed a very detailed manual from there. We have written our own very specific “how-to-do” procedures, detailing every step in regards to equipment care, furniture care and every task, big and small, to be carried out in our operation. This has taken months to prepare, but it is a very critical step in the preparation process in order to avoid any misunderstandings. Every step and task of the operation needed to be clearly defined as to “who”, “what”, “how often” and “to what standard” so that I was confident we had a clearly defined basis of the 5* quality operation expected at a Hilton Hotel. We also determined and set the staffing levels and productivity.
AL: So quality assurance was obviously one of your main issues – what else were your initial concerns?
LL: Yes, the issue of ownership on quality and a potential clash of a “business deal” versus the “demands of quality” was very important to me. I was also concerned about commitment to training, communication and how to truly understand a 5* operation. Therefore it was very important to spell out what exactly was expected as a basis for any future negotiations.
AL: What would you consider as priorities and crucial elements to focus on when interviewing and subsequently negotiating with an outsourcing provider?
LL: The biggest drive was my absolute commitment to quality; any discussion and negotiation about the business model had to entail our detailed “how-to-do” specifications and I didn’t take anything for granted. After an initial selection process we allowed the providers to price and cost the model on the specific basis of our given expectations and set their margins. We then compared these quotations against an all-staff-in-house model with 3 different occupancy levels, based on average previous actual experience and figures. Apart from that varied and detailed reference checks are also very important.
AL: Negotiating and composing a business contract of this volume requires very specific expertise, apart from an operational understanding of the Housekeeping operation. Who and what did you work with closely during the process?
LL: Absolutely – the Hotel Manager, Financial Controller and I worked together very closely during the entire process and we also had professional legal advice and assistance.
Working with the chosen outsourcing provider on a daily basis:
AL: Housekeepers traditionally tend to like to nurture their own staff, don’t like “losing control” and by nature of their quintessential job scope worry about quality control. How do you now handle communication with the provider and their staff?
LL: We have on site full time a senior Operations Manager with whom we have a very close relationship. We also have daily Supervisor meetings just as in any operation, regular monthly Room Attendant meetings and possibly 1-2 more ad-hoc briefings. The Supervisors are also invited 3-monthly to general information and communications meetings with the Hotel Manager and Hilton pays for this time. It is extremely important to think of the provider’s employees as “our team” and to integrate them with hotel employed team members from other departments. Here nobody thinks of them as outsiders and we all are simply “The Housekeeping team”.
AL: How do you assure training of new staff is to the expected level of competency for the Hilton Sydney?
LL: The training process and duration for new starters is part of the contract and has been previously agreed and set at 10 days to reach full productivity. Any training required due to new policies to our brand service standards is paid for by Hilton. Any coaching or disciplinary meeting will have a Hilton employed person and a provider employee present. We are very quick to follow up on any guest comment/ complaints/ mystery shopper results (positive as well as negative feedback)
AL: How do you assure compliance with health and safety standards?
LL: It is very important to understand that the hotel cannot shift away from that responsibility. The hotel has to provide a safe workplace and equipment and has the responsibility to document its risk management policies and actions.
AL: How do you maintain a motivating environment for the staff wanting to achieve their best and can you still have recognition and incentive schemes?
LL: Absolutely and that too is very important and was discussed at the contract negotiation phase. The provider hosts 2 “employee of the month” awards based on Hilton’s performance criteria, one for Room Attendants and one for the other Housekeeping positions. From Hilton’s side we run another smaller incentive scheme for staff that have done something special plus we invite all staff quarterly to a lovely morning tea party with lucky door prizes.
AL: How do you handle special and/or unforeseen cleaning tasks (such as follow-up after a carpet shampoo, follow-up after preventive maintenance/any maintenance job) as well as periodic cleaning tasks?
LL: All these jobs have been priced out before and a fix job rate for each task has been agreed, which I need to budget.
AL: After your initial concerns how do you now handle quality control and delivery of consistent service standards?
LL: We have a very transparent and measurable quality control programme based on our brand standards in place. We spot check occupied rooms as well as departure rooms and everything is documented and uploaded in our quality computer system. It works very well and also forms the basis for the award system.
The experience of 2 years:
AL: You are now looking back on 2 years of working with your chosen provider. What would you describe as the main benefit for you and the hotel in working with the current system?
LL: It is important to have the right mind set to make this system work. The main benefit I feel is that I am not bogged down with a lot of paperwork and reports anymore, particularly pertaining to the recruitment process. This allows me to focus on many other aspects better. I am also sharing the responsibility for overseeing the performance of all.
AL: How do the actual results compare to your initial expectations financially?
LL: Financially this system runs on par with an in-house-employed system, but the benefit for us is in the avoidance of the potentially unknown workers compensation blow-out.
AL: How would you describe the skills and knowledge required to be a “Business Manager in charge of Housekeeping Services” in today’s competitive environment?
LL: A thorough understanding of financial management is essential. You have to understand yield and average rate and know where and how savings can be obtained in relationship to occupancy and average rate. I need to develop my own annual business plan and score card and am held responsible against those. This reflects not only financial performance but also the quality as scored in our guest satisfaction surveys. I also believe that suppliers’ relationships are very important and you have to have an active role in the purchasing decision process. Last not least it is essential today to have an understanding of the most recent changes to the Industrial Relations laws affecting the workplace.
AL: Looking to the future and the changing needs and expectations the hospitality industry places on its Managers, what advice would you share with young graduates/professionals interested in developing a career in Housekeeping?
LL: Learn all there is about the department while you have a chance in order to have a thorough understanding and appreciation of what is really involved. Become financially savvy and understand the aspect of financial management. Develop and hone your communication skills, may that be to negotiate successfully, share information clearly or motivate those around us – after all, we are in a people’s business.
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