Housekeeping and hotel cleaning in a new post-coronavirus world

In this article, we gathered the most important information about housekeeping in the hospitality industry to help you meet health and hygiene requirements. In addition, we put together some efficient and useful tips for improving the work of your cleaning crew, and for optimizing the workflow of the entire department.

Housekeeping is quite a tough job!

In new post coronavirus reality, hotel cleaning is becoming an even bigger priority for the industry. It has already encompassed many work processes that served one purpose - to create a positive impression of the hotel and to strengthen the reputation for perfect cleanliness.

Rated extremely highly, it is no longer about a negative rating on the Internet, but about the safety and health of both the guests and the hotel staff.

According to the World Health Organization, regular cleaning and social distancing are the two most important measures against COVID-19 in everyday life. These regulations also bring challenges and extra tasks for employees, as well as additional costs for entrepreneurs. However, you have to adapt to the new conditions and survive such corona sequences. So we asked ourselves:

How to meet the new corona challenges and demands in the Housekeeping field?

For keeping guests safe in a hotel, it is important to take the restructuring measures, one of which is staff training. Additionally, hoteliers should keep a pulse on new requirements, which appear every day, starting from following new cleaning standards, documents, and operational protocols to adopting new housekeeping software and tools.

Clear that the organization forms the basis. A reasonable structure provides better optimization of the working process. The most common thing eating into cleaning time is reporting and problem fixing, keeping the room, and housekeeping status information up-to-date and actually organizing the working schedule. When the system is out of order, there is much more time pressure, it affects the mood of the whole staff and their working ability. And as a consequence - the appearance of the hotel rooms. That is why it is essential to take care of the comfort and security of guests and employees. To achieve this, it is recommended to use the Concierge App.

Hotel rooms can score with nice facilities without question, but it doesn’t save the situation when everything is gross and dirty. That's why, as a hotelier, you should pay more attention to the results of housekeeping staff work. Cleanliness is at the top of the visitor’s list, and it is the main factor of their satisfaction. It leads to positive reviews and further recommendations.

Sometimes a problem arises because the staff cannot cope with the time pressure, and in the end, the cleaning isn’t done properly. And this problem only gets worse over time: hard water stains or even mold are a consequence of constant improper cleaning, and when those start to appear, it is way more difficult to get back to a high level.

We will give you our TOP tips and tricks to solve this problem, so your cleaning personnel will definitely be motivated and satisfied, which will result in notable progress, as well as a higher standard of cleanliness.

Housekeeping tips in hospitality

Organize and coordinate the work of housekeeping staff on a day-to-day basis and don't let the looming pressures get them down. A realistic and clear schedule will improve the situation.

Offer training sessions and further education: invest in your personnel, so that your hotel can function properly. Communicate the performance standards through ongoing training programs and revise those standards at least once a year. Keep your staff up to date and inform them about the new hygiene and health standards.

Minimize direct contact between guests and employees. The same applies to communication between employees: structure the shifts in such a way that the employees always work with the same people.

Organization is key

● Adapt work schedules to the occupancy schedule.
● Do not forget to give feedback.
● Be open to feedback, wishes, and problems yourself.
● Create a checklist for the cleaning staff.
● Improve the relationship between housekeeping and maintenance staff - teamwork will boost the general work efficiency.
● Don’t bail on cleaning inspections and cleaning quality checks - one small thing left unnoticed can cause lots of troubles. Besides, it lowers the standards of cleanliness. Implement the renovation and supply of the public spaces and the guest rooms with the hygiene products.
● Adjust to the latest requirements and government regulations related to COVID-19.
● Balance performance standards with productivity standards.

Tips for hotel housekeeping staff

● Professional cleaning and care not only makes the guests feel better but also extends the life of the hotel furniture.
● Check availability and easy access to disinfectants, disposable gloves, and masks.
● It is better to recognize and address guestroom deficiency or malfunction before they lead to guest dissatisfaction.
● Keep track of supply amounts in the housekeeping inventories and report if something is out of stock.

So, how can HotelFriend help you?

It goes without saying that guest satisfaction, which is directly proportional to revenue, is the ultimate desire of any hotelier. It is a mosaic made of many pieces - not only smiley receptionists and polite porters but also such intangible things as the impeccable cleanliness of carpets and mirrors. Only stress-free and happy employees can provide a level of service that distinguishes a just OK hotel from the ones where guests want to return to.

Our Housekeeping software module allows to organize the work of housekeeping personnel effectively. It helps improve the quality of cleaning and reduce the employee stress level, as well as minimize contacts between guests and hotel employees. This is how it works.

Thanks to the cloud-based technology, all data is accessible through any smartphone or laptop. You do not need to purchase any additional devices for your housekeepers - all it takes is internet access.

When a guest leaves a room, its housekeeping status changes in the system. Depending on how soon this room needs to be in use again, the administrator can set a cleaning priority. In the Housekeeping module, it is also possible to assign unlimited housekeeper roles to employees, who will report about the change of the room status in real-time with just a few clicks as soon as it is ready for check-in. For instance, to form a list of immediate tasks for a housekeeper, the coordinator can apply a high priority filter to all dirty rooms, adding such filters as floor or type of room.

With this approach, when data is instantly updated, nothing can be lost, forgotten, or confused, no matter how many housekeepers are working simultaneously, as all the changes are easily tracked on a single interface, with FrontDesk and Housekeeping modules fully synchronized. In the Reports module, it is also easy and convenient to generate a housekeeping list. It is a daily report about the work completed by each employee, or on each floor, etc.

How you see, no personal contact required, as such work optimization brings with it both safety and increased performance.

Let HotelFriend contribute to your success!

Our benefits

I	Stress-free and easy organization and management of housekeeping processes that meet the new hygiene standards in the days of Covid-19.
II	Assigning multiple housekeeper roles to employees in the system without personal communication.
III	Real-time room status display in Housekeeping and FrontDesk.
IV	Fast and convenient search with a set of filters.
V	Prioritization of guest rooms by the status and cleaning urgency.
VI	Possibility to group-change the cleaning status of rooms.
VII	Possibility to change room status in Front Desk.

We gave you only a little insight into the possibilities that HotelFriend offers. If you want to learn more, click here.

Public relations: Stephanie Moench

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