Handling of Departmental Issues

I had a presentation this afternoon regarding some issues in the department that need to be corrected. The topic was about Laundry and Housekeeping Operation.
First I spoke about learning as a continuous process and that there were three primary senses Housekeeper's use in order for learning process to take place, they are senses of listening, seeing and touching.When we listen around 25% TO 50% of learning takes place, when we see how things are done 50% to 75% of learning takes place but the most important part is when we use the sense of touch which is hands-on learning, 75% to 100% of learning takes place.Then we discuss the issues one by one with corrective measures. After summarizing the issues with recommended procedures, it is time for them to put corrective measures into action.

Language Barrier

Starting a job in a small property hotel where employees barely speak English can sometimes be frustrating. I always tell my previous employees where I had worked before that "Communication is the food of Champions" and if you are not able to communicate, things get out of hands without you knowing it. But with little knowledge of the language I am able to pass my message to them and if not working I have to do sign language as well. Now I have to make sure that I put things in writing with language translation.

Linen And Uniform Room Operation

Operating Linen and Uniform Room differs from one hotel brand to another. It all depends on the different function and operational needs of the hotel. With these various functions, Linen & Uniform Room Operation can be difficult without policies and procedures in place. Policies such as:

• Opening and Closing time ; the linen/uniform room should be open within employees available shift. Let's say there are three shifts;

6:00 AM to 2:00 PM; 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM; 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM
Opening and Closing time can be scheduled as;
5:30 AM to 9:30 AM; 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM; 9:30 PM to 1:30 AM
Depending on the load of work assigned, timings and manpower can be
adjusted according to the operational needs.

• Uniform : Employees are issued three sets of uniform each. For larger properties, uniforms are being laundered inside the hotel. They can be allowed to keep their uniform inside their locker and when it is dirty they return the uniform to the Linen room on "Exchange Basis," dirty in exchange with cleaned ones.
• Rooms Linen: Rooms linen can either be distributed to the Room Attendant's respective Floor Linen Room by the Linen Attendant or the Room Attendants take their linen carts supplied with required linen to their respective floor assignment.
• Food & Beverage Linen; Are being issued through the linen room with authorized requisition form from the Food & Beverage Manager or Banqueting Manager.

How To Clean A Guestroom

Cleaning a guestroom in the hotel can be very confusing and time consuming. It is important that a Room Attendant does the cleaning systematically in order to save time, effort and especially a room cleaned according to maximum standard of cleanliness. You have to remember that when cleaning a room the Room Attendant is also responsible in putting the various items like towels, replacement of dirty bathrobes with cleaned ones, bathroom amenities, printing items that needed to be refilled every time a page is missing, television channel selector guide, HBO guide, hotel directories, telephone directories, pens, note pads, ash trays in case of smoking rooms and many other items to promote the hotel and to create an excellent hotel image to the guest upon check in.

Regular rooms are usually constructed in similar layout, therefore the procedure in cleaning a guestroom are done consistently due to its identical layout. The Room Attendant should always bear in mind that whenever he does the cleaning or dusting he should do it either clockwise or counterclockwise from the ceiling down whichever is feasible. In that way there won't be any place being missed. The cleaning is divided into two sections, bedroom and bathroom and in case of a suite room the third section will be the sitting room/parlour room.

Cleaning should always start in the bedroom then the sitting room if any and the bathroom will be the last section to clean.

Replenishing of supplies should be noted in memory while cleaning or start checking clockwise or counterclockwise to make sure nothing is missed. Minimizing the foot steps in going back and forth into the room is important to save time, effort and to deliver a room with maximum standard of cleanliness.