DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF HOUSEKEEPING STAFF

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF HOUSEKEEPING STAFF:-

1)Executive Housekeeper/Director of Housekeeping:-

The executive housekeeper reports to the General Manager or the Resident Manager or the rooms division manager. He/she is responsible for the overall cleanliness and aesthetic upkeep of the hotel. His/her duties are:-

1. Organize, supervise and coordinate the work of housekeeping staff on day- to day basis.
2. Ensure excellence in housekeeping sanitation, safety, comfort and aesthetics for hotel guests.
3. Prepare duty rosters and supervise the discipline and conduct of her staff.
4. Ensure proper communication within the department by conducting regular meeting with the staff.
5. Recruit new employees and train them for the housekeeping jobs.
6. Counsel and motivate employees on various duties.
7. Establish and maintain standard operating procedures for cleaning and develop new procedures to increase efficiency of labor and product use.
8. Search and test new techniques and products in the market.
9. Maintain regular inventory and checking of furniture, linen, uniform, equipments in the hotel.
10. Evaluate employee performance for promotions and transfers.
11. Approval of supply requisitions for the housekeeping and to maintain minimum stock and cost control procedures for all materials.
12. Check the reports, files, registers maintained in the department.
13. Provide budget to the management and control of budgets

2) Deputy Housekeeper

The deputy housekeeper reports to the executive housekeeper. His/her duties are:-

1. Check and ensure that all guestrooms, public areas, back of the house areas are clean and well maintained.
2. Inspect the work done by contractors- pest control, launry, window cleaning, etc.
3. Prepare staff schedules and duty rotas.
4. Check periodical stocktaking and maintaining of stock records for linen, uniform, equipment.
5. Provide necessary information to assist executive housekeeper in staff evaluation, disciplining, termination and promotion.
6. Develop and implement training programs within the department in consultation with the executive housekeeper.
7. Assist executive housekeeper in forecasting and budgeting for operating and capital expenditure.
8. Take charge of housekeeping department in absence of executive housekeeper.

3) Assistant Housekeeper/Housekeeping Manager:-

The assistant housekeeper reports to the executive housekeeper. In large hotels, where an deputy housekeeper exists, assistant housekeeper reports to deputy housekeeper. In large hotels the responsibilities of floors, public area are divided among assistant housekeepers. In the absence of deputy housekeeper, all the above mentioned duties and responsibilities are taken over by the assistant housekeeper. His/her duties are:-

1. Be responsible for efficient and orderly management of cleaning, servicing and repairing of guest rooms.
2. Be responsible for hotel linen and check its movement and distribution to room attendants.
3. Keep an inventory of all housekeeping supplies and check it regularly.
4. Provide front office list of ready rooms for allotment to guests.
5. Organize flower arrangements
6. Arrange training of staff within the department
7. Update records/ files/ registers etc.
8. Compile the maids roster.
9. Check the VIP and OOO rooms

4) Floor supervisor/Floor Housekeeper:-

The floor supervisor reports to the assistant housekeeper. They are responsible for the final condition of the guestrooms on the floors allocated to them. His/her duties are:-

1. Issue floor keys to room attendants
2. Supervise cleaning on the allotted floors and areas- including guestrooms, corridors, staircases, floor pantries of the allotted floors
3. Inspection of cleaning in rooms and coordination of the work in fllors
4. Supervise handling of soiled linen to laundry and requisitioning of fresh ones from housekeeping
5. Report maintenance work on the floor
6. Supervise spring cleaning.
7. Coordinate with room service for tray clearance.
8. Maintain par stock for the respective floors.
9. Facilitate provision of extra services to guests such as baby sitters, hot water bottles, other guest requests.
10. Report any safety or security hazard to the security department.
11. Check on scanty baggage
12. Prepare housekeeping status reports.
13. Inform the front office about ready rooms
14. Ensure services offered to VIPs are of highest standards.

5) Public Area Supervisor:-

The public area supervisor reports to the assistant housekeeper. He/ she is responsible for cleaning and inspection of the front of the house areas such as entrance, lobby, guest corridors and so on. His/her duties are:-

1. Ensure that all public areas and other functional areas are kept clean at all times.
2. Ensure all maintenance jobs are attended in coordination with the maintenance department.
3. Ensure all flower arrangements are placed in appropriate places in public areas.
4. Ensure banquet halls and conference halls are kept ready for functions and conferences.

6) Night Supervisor:-

The night supervisor reports to the assistant housekeeper. He supervises all night staff engaged in the cleaning of public areas and guestrooms in hotel. His/her duties are:-

1. Ensure all public areas are thoroughly cleaned at night when the traffic is low.
2. Plan order of work and direct staff accordingly.
3. Ensure submission of room attendants reports and room status reports.
4. Provide guest supplies and attend guest requests in the night like providing water bottles, extra beds, towels etc.
5. Report safety and security hazards.

7) Linen Room Supervisor/ Linen Keeper:-

The linen room supervisor reports to assistant housekeeper. His/her duties are:-

1. Responsible for entire hotels linen.
2. Send dirty linen from laundry after checking.
3. Check laundered linen before giving it for ironing.
4. Provide linen to the various departments
5. Maintain register of linen movements and check linen regularly
6. Supervise ironing and laundering of linen of the hotel
7. Supervise work of linen room attendants and tailors
8. Make suggestions related to replacement purchases and give requirements of linen to executive housekeepers.

8) Uniform Room Supervisor:-

The uniform room supervisor reports to the assistant housekeeper. He/ she is responsible for maintenance of hotel staff uniforms. His/her duties are:-

1. Responsible for providing clean, serviceable uniforms to the staff.
2. Keep an inventory control of various uniforms in various stages of use
3. Set budget for procurement of uniforms and materials required for uniform

9) Linen Room attendant/ Linen Room Maid:-

Linen room attendants report to linen room supervisor. His/her duties are:-

1. Stacking sheets, pillowcases, towels, tablecloths, napkins in different stacks.
2. Issue clean linen on clean- for- soiled basis.
3. Place soiled linen in containers and send these to laundry.
4. Examine and count each linen item when send to laundry and again on return.
5. Send torn articles to seamstress for repair.
6. Maintain proper records of discards and deermine percentage of discards.

10) Uniform Room attendant:-

A uniform room attendant reports to uniform room supervisor. His/her duties are:-

i) Issue clean uniforms while receiving soiled ones

ii) Send soiled uniforms for laundering.

4. Send torn uniforms to seamstress for mending.
5. Keep count of uniforms.
6. Shelve laundered uniforms after verifying types of articles.
7. Count and record linen.

11) Storekeeper:-

A storekeeper reports to senior floor or linen room supervisor. His/her duties are:-

i) Control the stock of equipment.

ii) Issue equipment and cleaning materials as per demand.

3. Prepare requisitions for materials required.
4. Coordinate with purchase department for procurement of approved materials.

12) Desk Control Supervisor:-

The control desk supervisor reports to the assistant housekeeper. It is the nerve centre of housekeeping department and is manned 24 hours a day. His/her duties are:-

1. Coordination with front office for information on departure rooms and handing of clean rooms.
2. Receive complaints on maintenance and housekeeping.
3. Maintain registers kept at control desk.
4. Receive special requests from guests.
5. Maintain latest reports regarding room occupancy, VIPs, status of rooms etc.
6. Delegation of work to attendants and supervisors.
7. Attend to phone calls received at control desk
8. Responsible for issuing guestroom keys and maintaining key register

13) Guest room attendant/ Room maids/ Chamber maids/GRA:-

Guest room attendant(GRA) report to the floor supervisor. His/her duties are:-

1. Cleans the rooms
2. Change guestroom and bathroom linen.
3. Make guest room beds.
4. Replenish guest supplies.
5. Answer guest requests promptly on the floor.
6. Responsible for collecting guest laundry.
7. Servicing of rooms in the evening( turndown service) and also provide second service.
8. Handover lost and found articles if any found in the room
9. Replenish maids cart with supplies for the next shift
10. Arrange and stock the pantry with linen and supplies.

14) Head House person:-

He /she reports to the public area supervisor. His/her duties are:-

1. Supervises work allotted to the housemen in public areas.
2. Supervise work of people who clean carpets, wall washers, window washers.
3. Supervise work of chandelier cleaners, vaccum cleaning machine operators

15) House persons:-

They report to the head house persons or the public area supervisor. His/her duties are:-

1. Shift furniture in public areas.
2. Clear the garbages
3. Polish all brassware in public areas
4. Clean all doors, windows and ventilators.
5. Clean fire fighting equipments.
6. Clean the shafts and terraces.
7. Clean chandeliers, draperies and other hard to reach areas in public areas.

16) Tailors, seamstress and upholsterers:-

They report to the Linen Room Supervisor. His/her duties are:-

1. Mending and stitching uniforms, linen, upholstery etc.
2. Alteration of uniforms if required.
3. Refurnish all damaged upholstery.
4. Repair guest clothes if required.
5. Calculate materials required for uniforms and upholstery and purchase accordingly.

17) Horticulturist:-

Many large hotels have their own horticulturist, who report to assistant housekeeper. He / she leads a team of gardener in maintaining landscaped gardens of the hotel as well as in supplying flowers from gardens for flower arrangements in the hotels. Flowers are used largely to enhance aesthetic appeal of various areas of the hotel.

18) Head Gardener:-

He reports to the horticulturist and maintains landscaped areas and gardens in the hotel. His/her duties are:-

1. Brief, schedule, allot duties
2. Purchase plant seeds, plantings
3. Purchase and supervise usage of manure and fertilizers.
4. Maintain watering schedules of plants and attend problems regarding watering schedules.
5. Maintain and prepare indoor plants for the hotel.
6. Supervise and maintaining the lawns.
7. Ensure gardeners are handling equipments and tools efficiently.

19) Gardeners:-

Gardeners report to the head gardener or the horticulturist. They keep landscaped areas, lawns and gardens clean and aesthetically beautiful. His/her duties are:-

1. Dig landscaped areas and maintain them.
2. Plant saplings and seeds
3. Water gardens as per schedules.
4. Maintain plant nursery and green house.
5. Prepare potted flowers and potted plants.

20) Florist:-

Florists employ their own florist. Providing attractive flower arrangements for the entire hotel is their responsibility. They report to the horticulturist . His/her duties are:-

1. Collect fresh flowers from gardeners every day.
2. Purchase flowers from dealers
3. Prepare different flower arrangements for different areas- lobbies, front office, restaurants, guestrooms, banquet halls etc.
4. Treat cut flowers so that they last longer.
5. Maintain flower arrangements by changing water, etc .
6. Responsible for flower arranging equipments and equipments, accessories etc.
7. Train the assistant florist.

21) Laundry Manager:-

He/she is in charge of the laundry and Laundry Manager reports to the Director of housekeeping. He/she is responsible for entire functioning of laundry and dry cleaning unit. He /she should have good knowledge of fabrics and chemicals and laundry machines.

22) Laundry Supervisor:-

He/she is in charge of the functioning of the laundry in the absence of laundry manager. He must have the knowledge of all the aspects of the laundry equipment, chemicals and fabrics.

23) Dry cleaner and washers:-

He/ she is in charge of dry cleaning of the hotel linen and guest clothing and washer does the laundering of the linen, uniforms and guest clothing.

24) Laundry workers:-

They are the staff of laundry who perform following duties;-

1. Spot stained fabrics before loading them into washing machines.
2. Load soiled linen into washing machines, feed in the right amount of detergent and other laundering chemicals.
3. Load washed linen into dryers.
4. Clean equipments after use.
5. Sort soiled linen according to fabric types, colors, degree of soiling.
6. Transport soiled linen from linen room to laundry and fresh linen from laundry to linen room.

25) Valet/ Runners:-

“Valet service” means that they take care of guest laundry. They report to the linen room supervisor. They are responsible for collecting soiled guest laundry and delivering fresh guest laundry.

PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES OF HOUSEKEEPING STAFF:-

There are certain qualities which a housekeeping staff should possess in order to perform the housekeeping functions which are sometimes more important than the skill too.

1. Pleasant personality- The staff should have a good presentation of ones own self when interacting with guests. This reflect the quality of service and standards in an establishment.

2. Physical fitness- The housekeeping staff should go through a thorough medical examination and should be fit to perform the housekeeping functions.

3. Personal Hygiene- The housekeeping staff should have healthy skin, clean hair, eyes, teeth, nose, nails and fingers etc.

4. Eye for detail- The staff should possess power of critical observation to make a flawless room and keen sense to inspect rooms for perfection.

5. Cooperation- The staff must cooperate with staff of other departments for team work and more efficiency.

6. Adaptability- The staff should be able to adopt to new ideas and accept changing situations willingly

7. Honesty- The housekeeping staff need to have this quality as they have access to all the rooms and guest belongings are left lying around. They also deal with various kinds of guest amenities that are very expensive. So they should have inherent discipline and integrity.

8. Tactful and diplomatic- The housekeeping staff have to handle guest requests and complaints. The guests are fussy and can make unusual requests. The staff have to be tactful and diplomatic to handle these requests.

9. Right attitude- The staff should have a right attitude which displays an even temper, courtesy and good humor and optimistic in nature.

10. Calm Behavior- Should be able to handle situations with composed personality and humbleness and politeness.

11. Courteous- Should be courteous to both guests and colleagues

12. Punctuality- Should have respect for time during working hours as this reflects on his/her sincerity.

13. Good memory- Should have good memory to remember staff likes, dislikes, needs and wishes of guests and especially repeat guests.

Layout of the housekeeping Department:-

The layout of the department indicates the different areas and subdivisions in the department. The layout of the department depends on following factors;-

#Total number of Guestrooms

# No. of outlets and banquets

# Amount of manpower required.

Following are the areas of the department:-

Executive Housekeepers Office- This is the Executive housekeepers office where the administrative work of the department is performed.

Housekeeping Desk- This is the control centre of the housekeeping and is manned 24 hrs a day. This is the area where housekeeping staff report for duty and sign out at the end of the shift. Notice boards, telephones, computers, storage shelves (for registers and files), lost and found cupboard, key racks etc. are present here.

Laundry- The place in the hotel where washing, pressing, dry cleaning, folding of linen and uniform of the hotel takes place.

Linen Room- The linen room is the place where the linen of the hotel are stored, collected & circulated throughout the hotel. Eg. of linen-bed sheets, towels, table covers etc.

Uniform Room- The place from where uniforms are collected, stored and distributed to the staff of the hotel.

Sewing room- The place in the department where stitching and repair of linen and uniforms takes place.

Housekeeping Stores- This is the storage area in the department where the cleaning agents, cleaning equipments, guest supplies are stored for the daily housekeeping functions and are securely locked.

Flower Room- Ideally should be an air-conditioned room to keep flowers fresh for arrangements in the hotel. It should have work tables, counters, sink, water supply, cupboards to store vases, stones etc.

Lost and found- The lost and found section in the department stores all the articles left by the guest and is stored for a specific period.

Floor Pantry- Located on each guest floor to stock the linen, cleaning supplies and guest supplies required for operations of the floor and should be securely locked.