To see the picture clearly, I dialed my friend, Harshajit’s number, who is a hospitality expert and has seen the nooks and corners of the industry for quite a few years now. 

After an insightful discussion, I was surprised (in a good way!) to find out that outsourcing hotel housekeeping is quite a common thing today and has so many benefits. 

Without much ado, I settled on the topic, made my notes, did my part of the in depth-research, and started to pen everything down. 

First things first, before starting with the benefits, let’s first know what is outsourced housekeeping. 

What Is Outsourced Housekeeping?

Outsourced housekeeping is exactly what it sounds like – getting your housekeeping staff from a third party or external agency rather than hiring them directly under your brand name.  

Many hotels, irrespective of their size, have invested in outsourced services and are reaping benefits.

Wondering why? Here are some stats:

• Hotels have seen a drop of 25% in labor costs when the housekeeping services were outsourced.
• Properties have reported witnessing a consistent quality of housekeeping when it was outsourced from an external vendor.

These aren’t the only advantages of outsourcing hotel housekeeping, there are other benefits too!

Let’s dig into them. 

Advantages of Outsourcing Hotel Housekeeping

Outsourcing housekeeping for hotels was ignored for a long time but lately, it has gained some limelight. 

Why? Because of the numerous benefits that come with it. Here are some of the advantages you must know:

1. Quality of service

Outsourcing companies that provide housekeeping services make sure they assist their clients with the best staff. Right from world-class, modern-day training facilities to ensuring each and every individual needs of hotel brands are met, these vendors leave no stone unturned when it comes to providing quality service. 

Outsourcing from these vendors also guarantees that you get consistent, superior-quality services that not only reflect your property’s standards but also keep your guests happy and satisfied every time they visit. 

2. Specialization

Specialization is a vital element to consider in outsourcing just like in other businesses. It involves paying attention to a few common fields or products and expertise in them- that can be a boon during emergency situations.

Not quite clear? Okay, let me explain with an example. 

Let’s say your housekeeping staff enters a room to clean and finds the guests occupying it struggling to turn on the TV. In such a situation, the common thing that a housekeeping staff does is call for an electronic repair person. Now wonder if you have a specialized outsourced housekeeper who has basic knowledge of electronics. She enters the room- takes hold of the situation- understands it’s a minor problem- brings in a pair of tools available and repairs the TV. 

See what I am saying? Just like emergencies related to electronics, these outsourced staff can handle other situations too and avoid creating chaos.

3. Increased resources

Outsourcing your hotel housekeeping staff means more resources. The more the number of staff, the more convenient for you to ensure all your tasks are up to date, all rooms are cleaned, services are delivered and all housekeeping operations are completed. 

Additionally, you can focus on all other departments with zero worries and leave housekeeping to them. An extra workforce ensures the less-focused departments like marketing and guest communications. 

4. Competitive advantage

Competitive advantage is another plus point you get with outsourced housekeeping. You may wonder how? Well, just think of it this way-

You own a hotel and outsource your housekeeping services from a firm whereas your competitor depends on in-house housekeeping only. You hire housekeepers who are already trained, know their jobs, and efficiently play their roles from the first day.  And your competitor undergoes a tiring recruiting process, training and internship after which it gets a batch of housekeeping staff. 

And that’s how you have a competitive advantage over your competitor by saving your time, resources, money and energy. 

5. Flexible labor hire

Another simple yet important benefit of outsourcing your housekeeping is the freedom to hire the staff you want. Simply speaking, if you are dependent only on your recruited in-house housekeeping staff then you are always bound to them as you have spent exhaustively on training and recruiting. On the other hand, if you are outsourcing you are at your liberty to choose the firm. If you don’t like the services, you can shift to other firms with zero liabilities. 

6. Peace of mind

Once you have tick-marked all the above benefits, you know you have leverage over your business. With less money to spend, quality services, and reliable staff you have peace of mind guaranteed and can focus on more productive endeavors.

But wait, does that mean all outsourced housekeeping firms provide reliable services and peace of mind? Of course not! You need to filter out the best among them. How? 

Tips on picking the right housekeeping vendor

Picking the right housekeeping vendor is actually very easy, given you follow a few criteria before investing in one.

1. Reputation

Being in the industry for quite some time now, one thing I can assure you- reputation actually matters. The easiest way to pick the right vendor to outsource your housekeeping needs is to go for a vendor with a good name in the market and this can be done easily through referrals. 

2. Experience

It is important to see the experience of the vendor you are shortlisting. The more years a vendor is in the industry, the more trust you can place in them. However, make sure their experience is coupled with their reputation before finalizing.

3. Expertise

Expertise is another factor that you must consider while choosing any vendor. If a supplier has expertise and reputation only in kitchen staff then you must make a mental note of it and look for another vendor.

4. Contract

And another important factor to keep in mind is the contract of outsourcing in housekeeping. To ensure all your needs are met- like the timeline, payment, and legal steps, consider more than one contract and settle for the one that works best for you. 

5. Budget-friendly

The whole reason for outsourcing is to save your hard-earned money. So make sure you get what you are paying for and at the same time, their quotations meet your budget. 

FAQs

The post Outsourcing Your Hotel Housekeeping: The Ultimate Guide for Hoteliers appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Most of the time, it used to be clothes, food materials, or documents. However, on certain occasions we found guests’ jewelry, gadgets, credit cards, or other such expensive items. 

I’m sure you also must have experienced such situations at your property. But, are you dealing with it the right way? Do you discard the lost and found item properly? There are many such questions regarding lost and found in hotels which people often search on Google. 

So today, in this blog, I will be covering all the aspects and queries related to the lost and found procedure in hotels. But before that, let’s first understand…

What is Lost and Found in Hotels?

As the name suggests, lost and found items are guests’ belongings which have either gone missing or guests have left behind. It could be either during their stay at the hotel, attending any events, or visiting the restaurant for dining.

Some hotels have a separate lost and found department (as a part of the housekeeping operations) to tackle such cases. While others manage it  with the help of housekeeping managers. 

The lost and found policies and procedure of disposing of the items is almost similar across every hotel. 

Let me tell you how it is done step-by-step.

What is the Lost and Found Procedure in Hotels?

Whenever any guest belonging is found unattended in any part of the hotel, the housekeeping department is the first one to be informed. Once done, the particular item is handed over to the housekeeping supervisor/manager. 

The next step is categorising it. Now, there are 4 types of lost and found items:

1. Valuable (jewellery, electronic gadgets, official documents, cash, branded items and credit/debit cards)
2. Non-valuable (clothes and accessories, medicines, stationeries, cosmetics)
3. Perishable (food materials and soft beverages)
4. Liquor (alcoholic beverages)

After identification of the item, it is updated in the lost and found register. Although these days it is done using software, it’s better to maintain a manual register as well. Here’s the basic format of the lost and found report:

Once the details are recorded, the housekeeping supervisor contacts the front desk, in case they have received any communication from any guests pertaining to the missing item. If the response is affirmative, then the guest is informed about their belonging and it is delivered to them. It’s done in two ways:

1. The guests visit the property to collect their belongings
2. The item is couriered to the guests and the delivery charges are paid by them

This becomes easier if the item is found in the guests’ rooms. In such scenarios, tracking the owners is easy and the process gets expedited. However, if the belongings are located in the common areas, this becomes difficult. 

There are certain standardised ways used by hotels for this. Here are they:

1. The non-valuable items stay with the housekeeping department for a period of 3 months. After that, they are given to any staff member who is willing to take it.
2.  If the item is valuable, it is kept for a maximum of 6 months. Post that, it is put for auction by the hotel among their staff. 

Disposing of perishables is too easy. Consume them!!!

Note: Do this if the item is seal packed. If it is partially consumed, discard it in the waste. 

In case it’s a bottle of liquor, it is supposed to be handed to the property’s general manager. 

After returning or disposing of the lost and found items, it is important to enter the remark on how and when it was done. Moreover, this is done under the supervision of the housekeeping manager and security head. 

Before we move to the next point, let me share some interesting statistics with you. As per the survey conducted by G6 hospitality on items left behind by guests, it was found that,

• Around 40-42% of guests forget their clothes and electronic devices in hotels
• It may sound astonishing, but people do travel over 30 miles, just to reclaim their devices’ chargers

You can check this survey report for other such interesting facts. 

How to Make the Lost and Found Procedure in Hotels More Efficient?

I hope you are clear on the steps involved in the lost and found procedure so far. Let me tell you some more things that can help you make it more efficient. 

1. Create and maintain the lost and found report

First of all, ensure that you have recorded each and every detail of the incident. That’s because if the item is valuable, guests tend to file a police complaint on panicking.

If this happens, you should have all the details available with you. Hence, it’s important that you maintain a hard and soft copy of the lost and found report. 

In fact, record the communication you had with guests to avoid any complex situations. 

2. Install CCTV cameras at premises.

CCTV cameras prove useful if the guests’ belongings are found in any common area. First of all, it helps in identifying the person who left that particular item behind. 

Secondly, it’s proof that the item was found, not embezzled. This happens when you are stuck with a guest who is adamant on proving it as a case of theft in the hotel. Trust me, I’ve witnessed such incidents on my trips.

3. Check the room thoroughly before guests’ departure

The best way to avoid any lost and found situation is to check the room thoroughly before guests leave. Also, it’s important to check the safety lockers. 

Often guests keep their valuable items in the safety lockers and forget to take them in a hurry to catch a flight or train. And the locker stays unattended until any housekeeping staff visits the room to get it ready for a new check in. 

4. Sort the items as per category

It’s important to sort the lost and found items according to their category. 

Sometimes the staff members are unaware of certain brands. Hence, they end up listing certain branded items like clothes, shoes, and cosmetics, as non-valuables. 

So, before you sort any item into any category, cross-check the details on Google and proceed accordingly. 

5. Cross check with staff once

If you come across any lost and found items, check with the front desk and housekeeping staff members. Reason being, they are the ones having the majority of communication with the guests. 

In fact, the housekeeping staff has a better knowledge of this, because they come across guests’ belongings while cleaning the room. Hence, if you come across any lost and found items, check with your staff once. 

6. Use technology

It’s difficult to maintain and keep a track of lost and found items if they are in large numbers. That’s why it’s recommended to use software that has automated match making.

It means that guests can simply submit the details of the belongings they have lost. These software are AI based, and hence they try to match the recovered items with the details submitted by guests. 

If a suitable match is found, the owner of the item receives an email along with options of self-pickup or delivery. If the guests choose to get the item delivered, they receive details of shipping charges, courier services on behalf of the hotel.

Once payment is collected, the item is sent to its owner. In fact, the software keeps a track of the delivery and notifies both the parties about every update.

The post The Essential Guide to Lost and Found Procedure in Hotels appeared first on eZee Absolute.

As a housekeeper, it would be most beneficial for you. Imagine, you just need to wave the wand and everything turns sparkling clean. Be it the lobby, rooms, laundry, or restaurant. 

 In fact, you don’t need any staff to do it. And because of that, the level of guest satisfaction would top the charts. 

However, the sad part is that such kind of magic is impossible. But, I can tell you tips to improve hotel housekeeping operations for better guest experience. 

By now, you might have figured out what this blog is about. But, before getting to the tips, let me give you an overview of the housekeeping department. 

What are Housekeeping Operations in Hotels?

Housekeeping department is called the backbone of the hotel. The reason behind it is that housekeeping handles one of the most important tasks of a hotel – maintaining cleanliness and hygiene.

However, the tasks involved under housekeeping operations are not limited to it. There are other responsibilities too, like:

1. Raising inventory requisitions
2. Maintaining stocks
3. Managing laundry services
4. Handling the lost and found artifacts
5. Keeping a track of hotel room thefts and losses

Although the housekeeping department is not counted amongst revenue-generating ones, you cannot deny the fact that it does play a vital role in cost-control.

How to Optimise Hotel Housekeeping Operations?

Now that we are done with a refresher course on hotel housekeeping operations, let me tell you the steps you can use to make it more efficient. Let’s take a look at them.

1. Streamline your process

When I say streamline your process, it doesn’t mean working on your SOPs. Of course, it is also important and we’ll be discussing it in the next point.

Streamlining your process means aligning hotel housekeeping operations with tasks of other departments. Let me explain in detail. 

The housekeeping department is responsible for upkeep of the room and the amenities associated with it in a perfect manner. Now, this also includes checking for any maintenance issues. 

Suppose, one of the rooms requires major maintenance work. In that case, the housekeeping supervisor needs to inform the front office and maintenance department, respectively.

Such tasks do take a lot of time, which means one room is out of order for a brief period. Hence, the revenue management team would ensure that sales from other rooms are on the higher side to cover the loss of one room night for that period. 

This is just one example. There are many other tasks that require help from other departments. That’s why you need to streamline your hotel’s housekeeping operations to avoid any complex situations.

2. Bring timely changes in SOPs

As I said above, you need to optimise your SOPs from time to time. The reason is, it will help you improve your housekeeping operations and increase staff’s efficiency. 

In college, we were taught that getting a room ready should take an average of 20 minutes. The bifurcation is as follows:

• 7 minutes – Bed making
• 5 minutes – Bathroom cleaning
• 3 minutes – Dusting
• 2 minutes – Amenities replenishing
• 3 minutes – Sweeping and mopping

But when I started working in hotels, things were actually different. Every task associated with room cleaning had a different time depending on the size of the room, the number of staff involved in it. 

For example, some hotels use vacuum cleaners or mop sticks, instead of traditional brooms and mopping cloth. This aided in reducing the time required to clean one room. 

Similarly, you need to figure out ways to optimise SOPs related to every process involved in the housekeeping operations. 

3. Standardise the quality of cleanliness and hygiene

No one likes to stay in a shabby and dingy hotel. Moreover, after covid-19, guests are more concerned about the cleanliness and hygienic environment provided by the hotel. 

That’s where the housekeeping department comes into the picture. Ensure that you’ve set the highest standards pertaining to cleanliness and hygiene. Here are some steps you can take:

1. Room sanitization after check out
2. Change room linen for new guests
3. Use a disinfectant for mopping the floor (opt for one with mid fragrance)
4. Keep a sanitizer in each room
5. Wear masks and protective gear while cleaning the room
6. Opt for color-coded cleaning

4. Focus on inventory management

Inventory management is an important part of hotel housekeeping operations. That’s because the housekeeping department is responsible for raising the requisition and distributing all sorts of amenities among guests and staff members. 

This includes room amenities, stationeries for the front office department (pen, files, papers, key cards etc.), staff uniforms, and other such things. Whilst the list is long, you need to ensure you don’t miss even a single item. 

Here’s a blog on inventory management that can help you do it in a better way. 

Hear It From The Experts: Do’s and Don’ts of Hotel Inventory Management

5. Invest in technology

Technology plays an important role in every hotel and still many of them hesitate to embrace it. Some find it expensive, while there are others who believe it’s futile to invest in technological aspects. But that’s where they go wrong. 

There are various PMS that can do all your calculations, inventory management, and room status update within seconds. Moreover, if they can be integrated with other housekeeping software, it can get you live room status and help with direct bill posting in guests’ folios. 

Apart from that, it can help you keep a track of guest requisitions and whether they are addressed or not. This would aid in improving guest experience. 

The technological aspect is not limited to software, it includes investing in gadgets as well. You can opt for equipment like handy vacuum cleaners, carpet cleaner machines, floor scrubber and dryer, automatic room freshener, and so on. 

6. Hire, train, and reward your staff

Understaffing is one of the common problems faced by the hospitality industry these days. This leads to a tremendous pressure on the existing ones, as they need to handle tasks of other employees simultaneously. And trust me, I’ve seen this happening. 

The hotel where I used to work a couple of years ago was having a shortage of housekeeping staff. This created a lot of problems for the rest of us. 

We had to run from floor to floor in the morning to check rooms which are due for check out. Simultaneously, we had to prepare rooms for upcoming arrivals. And to top that, we were supposed to deliver guests with requested amenities. 

Because of this, none of the staff members in the housekeeping department worked for more than 2-3 months. In fact, we ourselves used to be quite exhausted by the end of the day. 

In fact, a research published by Harver shows that,

That’s why first of all, you should focus on hiring staff. Post that, train and make them familiar with the SOPs of your hotel. 

Once they are through with that, evaluate their performance from time to time. Keep a reward policy to boost their morale.

In case they are not performing well, instead of firing, invest in training them again. This way, they will become more efficient and will stay motivated at work.

7. Keep a check on your discards

Most hotels avoid the discarding process, and that’s where they suffer a loss. Basically, discarding involves removing expired items from the inventory and replenishing them with new ones. 

Let’s say, you have kept a stock of old towels to discard. Now, you would either distribute them among your staff, use those for cleaning, or recycle them.

Sometimes, a staff member or a vendor can do foul play here. S/he would be replacing the old ones with new or maybe add some fresh ones in that batch for gaining extra benefits. 

That’s why I recommend doing the discarding process in the presence of CCTV cameras, security personnel, and housekeeping supervisor. 

8. Maintain pantry on each floor

To ensure a seamless guest experience and fast service, it’s essential that you have a housekeeping pantry on each floor. In case you already have one, check that it has ample stock maintained of each and every amenity. 

First of all, it’ll help your housekeeping staff in avoiding running to and fro. And secondly, it’ll help in raising on-time requisitions. 

9. Work with the right vendors

One of the practices that many hotels overlook is outsourcing housekeeping. If you’re not aware, it is exactly what it sounds like — getting your housekeeping staff from a third party or external agency.

However, you have to be supremely mindful while selecting the right vendors to outsource housekeeping. After all, you want the best service for the amount you’re going to pay, and not any vendor can offer that.

So do your part of the detailed research before signing a deal with any vendor. Be it about the authenticity of the vendors, the quality of products they provide, or any other factor. 

Moreover, if you are working with just one vendor, I would suggest you find and build relationships with a couple of them as a backup. The reason is that depending on a single one might create problems such as delay in delivery, unavailability of certain items, impromptu price fluctuations, and so on. Therefore, it’s good to have a Plan B.

Picking the Right Hotel Supplier is an Art. Want to Master it?

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