Operating Procedure And Reporting In Housekeeping Departments

After the completion of the shadow shift/ Information interview, students will be able to prepare a professionally presentable assignment that will encompass the following.

1.Writing the standard operating procedures for the opening and closing of the building
2.Naming and understanding of the daily reports that are crucial for day to day operations of the department
3.Recognizing the relationship between The Front office and Housekeeping department
4.Describing and understanding of the techniques/ strategies used in developing an adequate scheduling frame work, and its impact on the Department.
5.Describing the process of allocating rooms list and rooming keys to housekeepers
6.The content and process involved in stocking of the room attendants cart
7.Clear understanding of the duties and responsibilities of the housekeeper
8.Listing of the tasks and key duties involved with the supervision of the public areas of the hotel
9.Explaining the day to day routine of looking after the swimming pool.
10.The types of interaction between the housekeeping and the Maintenance department
11.Summarizing the functions and working of the laundry department and its relationship with the housekeeping department.
12.The role and routine work of the lost and found department.

Writing an Operating Procedure

Housekeeping department in any organization is very sensitive. To ensure a smooth running, proper maintenance of the various departments must be provided. Besides maintenance, robust and reliable data keeping on procedures, roles, and rules must be employed. With proper maintenance and reliable data and record keeping, success on room’s management and housekeeping is almost assured.

Writing an operating procedure is healthy in the performance of an organization; the procedure may be meant to establish a new set of operations in the organization or to improve and perfect on the existing procedure. The following is the set of steps writing an excellent operating procedure will follow (Moraitis, & Μωρα?της, 2018) 

In most cases, the size of the organization plays a significant role in deciding the format that the operation procedure will be presented in. the large or significant organization will have the preference on the ISO-900 format. The format taken by this type of operation procedure begins with the introduction, in case the operation procedure is meant to improve a given scenario, what follows in the format is the amendments proposed. These amendments are proposed because of particular reason and therefore what follows in the procedure is writing the purpose the amendments will serve in the organization (Nelson, VanSchenkhof, Westermier, & Meyer, 2017).

It is good to appreciate the fact that, implementation of every activity in an organization will either require human capital or automated machine to serve or implement the duty. In the ISO-900 format of a standard operation procedure, that should follow is the responsibilities of the involved parties.

The operating procedure should always have the scope. In this case, our scope is opening and closing of the building. This is the next item that should follow in the format; it must be maintained and kept precise for effectiveness.

The call to develop the standard procedure of opening and closing the building is meant to serve an improvement purpose. Therefore the developer of this procedure must clearly define the metrics to be used in measuring the effectiveness or success of the procedure.

Before the actual implementation of this procedure, it should be tested. The developer should come up with a sample for a test in his procedure (Shafey, Morsy, & Rab, 2018).

The last step in this format should be the definition of how the amendments will be made in a sequence set of activities well known as the procedure.

ISO-900 Format for Operation Procedure

There might be an inconvenience in the operation procedure developed. To handle this, the team writing the standard procedure should proofread and take an overview through it. 

Passing messages and information is very sensitive in any organization. Effectiveness of communication in any organization has a direct mapping to success of the organization. What affects the organization is in most cases presented in the form of a report to the respective responsible personnel’s, for instance, the head of the cleaning department is likely to receive cleanliness reports either congratulating the department for the high level of cleanliness or to recommend for improvement. Likewise, the security department is also likely to receive security report or recommendation from other departments or the management (Almanza, et al, 2015). These reports will be obliviously different content and requirement; hence there is a need for their proper naming and understanding. Proper naming and understanding of this report facilitate effectiveness of retrieval of these reports in future and ease the channeling of the feedback.  Most of the daily reports in housekeeping are likely to fall under the following naming:

This is the report written to deliver the information about a room in terms of the of its details furniture and decoration accompanied by the cost of revenue for the room in a day.

The organization carries out numerous transactions in a day. The transactions may be between the clients and the organization or other departments within the organization.  Audit and shift report is the report on the transaction carried out in a day the cashier.

The date and time the guest is very sensitive. The most important use of this information is to estimate the next earliest possible allocation. Departure report, is the report that shows the list and information of the persons who are supposed to leave your houses at the given particular date and time. 

Receiving unexpected visitor may be very embarrassing to the housekeeping department. Possibly the room or the specification of the guest can’t be meant at that particular moment.  Arrival report is the report on the expected visitors and when they are expected to arrive as well as the list of their room’s specification.

This is the report on the condition of the room and the recommended maintenance measure.

Success of an organization is closely tied to the collaboration and cooperation between various departments. The relationship between housekeeping and front office departments is mostly maintained through communication.  The front office informs the housekeeping department on the expected arrivals and when they are expected and the details associated with the arrivals in case they have a particular housing requirement. The housekeeping communicates back to the front office on the availability of the room. Front office only signs the allocation when the room is cleaned and fitted to meet the client's requirements (Aziz, (2016).

Responsibilities of Involved Parties

Scheduling framework of housekeeping is developed with adherence to the following factors:

This refers to when the visitors are expected and in what number and the special requirements on furnishing and decoration of the rooms.

Having a visitor whose duration of stay is not known is likely to raise inconveniences in operations of the guest house. For proper scheduling, the housekeeping department must be conscious and aware of the duration the visitors will be in their rooms.

This refers to the date the visitors are expected out of the organizations' room.

Understanding the needs of the expected arrivals helps the housekeeping department to make the necessary changes in their rooms to meet the needs of their clients.

The duration strategy helps to determine the earliest possible date the room will be available for the next allocation. The departure time enables the housekeepers to plan for cleaning to suit the next allocation to another client.

The first step entails printing the list of the expected arrival the next day with explicit details of arrival time, duration of stay and the expected departure time. Also in the record is the type of room booked and the status attached to it like VIP. Then allocate the rooms according to the requirements of the expected visitor. If the room is not available, the available one is upgraded to meet the requirements (Park, Kim, Zhang, Fisher, & Ma, 2017).

In case of specific requirements like smoking or away from the elevator, ensure you meet this requirement. If two expected visitors have matching requirements of the room, consider the arrival time and allocated the first expected visitor. 

Attendant’s cart is the trolley to ferry and stock the guest supplies according to the room allocated. It is required by the housekeeping department for effective services. The content of the cart is determined by the category of the room, the amenities of the guest and the size of the cart. The use of cart has an appealing sense and makes the room look classic.

The process begins by checking whether the supplies provided a match with the provided checklist of the guest requirements. If they match the attendant arrange the cart in an organized manner with the heavy items like the sheets occupying the lowest shelve and the lightest supplies occupying the uppermost shelf.  The next step is to make the cart look appealing and hygienic, and cau6tiously maintained and stored locked. The cart should thereafter be placed along the wall of the corridor to avoid a collision during movements and washing (Aspromonte, & Weiss, 2018).

Scope of the Operating Procedure

Responsibilities of the organization is divided into various categories and allocated to respective departments. The housekeeping is very cautious about hygiene and appealing appearances.  The duties are mandated to the housekeepers who perform the following activities:

(a)    Dusting, cleaning, and polishing of fixtures and furniture in the room.

(b)    Sanitization and hygiene maintenance in toilets and bathrooms.

(c)    Making beds, changing the lines and washing them.

(d)    Carpets cleaning, either manually or using vacuum cleaners.

(e)    Cleaning and washing windows and mirrors.

(f)    Emptying bins and disposing of waste.

(g)    Monitoring the cleaning supplies of and making orders for more when needed.

(h)    Making reports for necessary repair and replacement.  

Supervisor is the employees who perform on behalf of the employer. It is also important to appreciate that, unions of workers representation view supervisors as employers but not employees. The supervisors of public areas in the hotel have the following duties in ensuring the maintenance of a positive and appealing public image:

(a)    Monitors and supervise the daily cleaning process of public areas of the hotel

(b)    They are mandated to the inspection of public areas, the service areas, and the storerooms.

(c)    Monitoring and scheduling any deep cleaning needed.

(d)    Coordinates and supervise activities like; pest control and maintenance of the flowers and plants.

(e)    Coordinates cleaning of public areas on emergency response.

(f)    Anticipates the guest needs and respond to them appropriately.

(g)    Prepares assignment worksheet and distribute it to the staffs as well as review priorities.

(h)    The supervisor also takes the role of ensuring all the employees have reported to work and document later comers and absent employees.

(i)    Assists the guest where necessary to optimize services.

Swimming is fun and. The swimming pool, therefore, must be appropriately maintained to ensure the swimmer experience the fun. Dirty water is likely the biggest destructor of the fun in the swimming pool. The swimming pool can be maintained in the following list of procedures:

The pool cleaner should be installed at least once a week. The purpose of the cleaner is to reduce the amount of chemicals in the pool. However, you might need to add these chemicals in the pool.

Different types of filters require different cleaning procedures to remove the sand and other filtered particles.

This is done weekly after testing the chemicals in the pool to ensure they are in the right proportion thus balancing the pH, the alkalinity and the calcium hardness. To determine if you need more or fewer chemicals you should use the color-coded guide. 

Metrics to Measure Effectiveness

The pool should be maintained at a chlorine level of 1 to 4 ppm; these are the safe levels.

Shocking the pool

This should be done at least weekly to remove the cloudy water and the chlorine odor.  It prevents eye irritation and other complication that could arise.

Heavy rains may bring millions of micro-organisms into the pool. If these organisms are not controlled, they will multiply and clog the filters. To avoid this, you should add algaecide.

Maintenance provides engineering services to the organization. This improves the condition or the rooms thus creating comfort to the guest, and it’s a possible attraction factor. Housekeeping department identifies the faults or deficiencies in the rooms and reports to the maintenance department. These faults may include; fault plugs, leaking pipes, malfunctioning cisterns or door handles. The maintenance is divided into preventive, routine and scheduled maintenance categories (Buhler, 2018).

The human power in housekeeping has a lot of significance. It ensures that cleanliness is observed and maintained in the guest house as well as reporting any loss or malfunctioning equipment.  Laundry manager reports to the executive housekeeping manager. The primary duties mandated to the laundry department are the washing and supply of linen to the guests. The linen includes the face towel, hands towel, bathing mats, napkins and table cloth among the long list of clothing’s associated and found in the guesthouses. The department is also responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the staff’s uniform (Sari, (2017).

 The guest may forget an article in the room. When such a case arises, the desk control supervisor record three copies in details of date, the room it was found and who found it. One copy and the lost and found articles are kept in the lost and found cupboard while another copy is sent to the front office to obtain the guest data. The other copy is retained in the lost and found department (Felicen, & Ylagan, 2018).

The likely guest who lost the article is addressed using the details in the front office. If the guest gives satisfactory answers on the loss of the article, arrangements are done on whether the guest will collect it himself or it will be sent using the available means.

Conclusion

In this document, I have discussed how to write a standard operating procedure on opening and closing a building. I have also detailed the role of the front office in housekeeping and the interaction mechanism behind the housekeeping organization. I have also discussed the process of room’s allocation and the roles of supervisors in the maintenance of the appealing look of public places in housekeeping. I have gone a mile further and discussed the maintenance of the swimming pool as well as the procedure of operation in the lost and found department (Fouad, Hussein, & Attia, 2016).

I recommend that cleanliness in public places should be maintained at all times. There should never be conducted cleaning in the organization on an emergency. This will improve the readiness of the organization to receive the arriving guest and serve them comfortably. 

References 

Nelson, E., VanSchenkhof, M., Westermier, E., & Meyer, K. (2017). Developing Trust in the Housekeeping Staff at the Hilton St. Louis Airport. Journal of Critical Incidents, 10.

El Shafey, H., Morsy, M., & El Rab, M. G. (2018). Evaluating Environmental Management System Adoption in the First Class Hotels in Alexandria. International Journal of Heritage, Tourism, and Hospitality, 12(2/2).

Almanza, B. A., Kirsch, K., Kline, S. F., Sirsat, S., Stroia, O., Choi, J. K., & Neal, J. (2015). How clean are hotel rooms? Part II: Examining the concept of cleanliness standards. Journal of environmental health, 78(1), 14-19.

Aziz, W. (2016). Evaluation of the Performance of Guest Room Attendants of Housekeeping Department (Application to Cairo Three Star Hotels). International Journal of Heritage, Tourism, and Hospitality, 7(2).

Park, H., Kim, J., Zhang, M., Fisher, J. J., & Ma, J. (2017). Hotel key cards: how clean is the first thing guests touch on their way to their rooms?. Journal of Environmental Health, 80(2), 16-20.

Sari, I. U. (2017). A Performance Measurement Model Minimizing Housekeeping Personnel Costs. International Journal of Fuzzy Systems, 19(3), 776-787.

Felicen, S. S., & Ylagan, A. P. (2018). The Hospitality Management Curriculum of ASEAN Member States.

Aspromonte, B. J., & Weiss, A. S. (2018). U.S. Patent Application No. 15/846,775.

Kaufmann-Buhler, J. (2018). Housekeeping by Design: Hotels and Labor.

Fouad, M. A., Hussein, S., & Attia, A. Y. (2016). Housekeeping Performance and Guest Satisfaction in Resort Hotels. International Journal of Heritage, Tourism, and Hospitality, 7(2).

Moraitis, P., & Μωρα?της, Π. (2018). Design and development of a “Property Management System” software suite for hotels.