While hotels continue to prioritize the guest experience and introduce new futuristic tools that enhance the quality of the stay, clean rooms have become such a fundamental pre-requisite that they’re barely even mentioned anymore. It’s easy to forget that a spick-and-span room is the foundation on which a guest’s hotel experience is built – guests themselves barely acknowledge a tidy room anymore, although a slightly untidy one doesn’t go unnoticed!
It’s common knowledge that the housekeeping department witnesses the worst turnover rates. While employee turnover is an inevitable part of any business, hospitality usually experiences a large proportion of housekeepers quitting their jobs in less than a year. And it’s not really surprising – housekeeping is generally a thankless profession and members of the cleaning staff are rarely even noticed by guests.
While there’s nothing hotels can do about employee turnover, they can take measures to make it easier for themselves and for the employees by implementing cloud-based management technology and taking a few simple steps.
Automate Training
One of the major annual expenses for hotels, training is an ongoing process and with employees lasting anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, a lot of time is spent just getting new recruits up-to-speed with the establishment’s regulations. A good cloud-based management system offers 24×7 live support and comes with training videos that the new staff can learn from. This saves a lot of time overall for the department as a whole and significantly cuts down expenses.
Allocate Responsibilities
A good property management system enables managers to distribute specific tasks for each employee. This prevents mix-ups and makes it easy for the staff to know exactly who’s in charge of what – a clearly defined set of instruction makes it easier for the staff to go about their duty. Nobody likes to do someone else’s work! Moreover, clearly defined responsibilities allow the respective jobs to be carried out more smoothly.
Appreciate Employees
Everybody likes to be appreciated – in fact several studies have shown that a simple line of acknowledgement can boost an employee’s drive and motivate them to work even harder and exceed expectations. The best part is, it costs absolutely nothing to utter a few kind words every now and then – for the boost in productivity it enables, it’s almost a crime to not visit your housekeepers once in a while to appreciate them!
It’s all the little things in a hotel that come together to create that perfect guest experience. Ensure that your housekeepers are happy and you’ve essentially made sure that every little thing is taken care of. When people work in a positive environment, they feel like helping out wherever they can and not necessarily only within the realms of their role.