Housekeeping Manager, position of my dreams once, now became a fact of life. I haven’t had any management experience but I was ready to learn, I was ready to be mentored and guided.
First of it was to learn scheduling for the larger team than before. And oh boy I must say it was a first challenge. Having so many personalities in the department and so many needs made my head spin many times. How you manage to balance operational needs with your employees needs. I found that there is always a space for compromise and properly managed and balanced schedule and vacation place is the key. It took me many month to understand and master that to almost perfection. Clear rules are the key to successful scheduling, well at least in Poland. Labor law is completely different, each employee needs to have every 4th Sunday off. No seniority rules. Finding the right balance was much easier.
From the schedule we move down to P&L statements (Profit&Loss), it was not new to me but I love to dive into numbers so it didn’t take much time for me to break it all down. I had understanding of where my department falls in when it come to overall hotel goals. Productivity, cost per occupied room (cpor), average daily rate (adr), accruals etc. terms that very quickly became my best friends.
Another important part to learn to have better understanding of the hotel operations and get a grasp on potential expenses is to walk… Walk entire hotel from top to bottom, open each door and enter each room. Get to know every inch, from what type of linens we have, carpets, decor, amenities, tiles to something as simple as a light bulb and type of paint on the wall. When we have that knowledge we can get back to the drawing board and properly plan expenses to the budget and forecasts. And I think we know all how that always goes. Housekeeping is a cost generating department and when money is needed to save the forecast or budget we are the first ones to go under magnifying glass. So you better have something in there you can spare when time comes.
I think I should mention next best thing to do in the first place. As this is THE most important. Meet your entire team, talk to them, work with them, help them, let them to get to know you. Build an unbreakable bond and trust. I am a hands on manager, I like to sit behind the desk only when I really have to. Otherwise you will find me on the floors, inspecting rooms and making beds. I am sure I can be top 3 best making bed competition challenge.
Vendors… oh boy, another important part of daily hotel operations. From overnight cleaning to all the supplies we purchase. Such an important group to have a great relationship.
Sheraton in Poznan gave this chance to learn, master and grow as a young manager. I was soaking all that knowledge like a sponge dropped into a bath.
