Labor is the single largest controllable expense in a hotel. Managing your labor costs is even more critical, especially within the housekeeping department. Staffing needs fluctuate greatly based on cancellations, room types, stay overs, deep cleans, late departures and more. Having the right tools can remove the guesswork and drive predictable expense levels.
Labor Software Can Help:
- Save time and resources
- Identify and act on changes quickly
- Strategically manage room allocations and staff
- Optimize schedules and budgets
- Open channels of communication with staff
- Create benchmarks within the housekeeping department
- Improve the consistency and quality of guest experience
There is a real opportunity to reduce labor costs within the department and leveraging technology can make all the difference.
Scheduling Tools
You need a tool to effectively assign and manage staff, but you also need one to help navigate the changing tides of hotel occupancy. When building a daily schedule, an Executive Housekeeper must factor in:
- Arrivals & departures
- Early/late/canceled bookings
- Shifting reservations
- Room types
- Cleaning service levels (deep cleans, stay overs, etc…)
The best software will provide you with estimates that can predict your labor needs for the day across all variables. When you create your schedule with a labor tool built for hoteliers, you have the power to customize different room types and assign different MPOR values to them.
Tracking Tools
Another crucial feature that should be included in any labor software is employee tracking. It’s important to monitor how productive your housekeepers are when they’re on the job. Keeping up with the performance of your employees could provide some advantages for your department:
- Increased efficiency
- Greater staff accountability
- Individual/departmental reporting
Software should understand the time budgeted for all cleaning service levels and room types assigned to a housekeeper and also provide an accurate shift record. Visualizing scheduled and actual time aligns the expectations of the employee and their supervisor. You can motivate housekeepers to stay on task and increase productivity if their performance is tracked in this way.
Evaluation is simple when labor software integrates with your time clock. The direct flow of data will average the time they were on the clock against the MPOR they were budgeted. When you can view this level of detail within your software, you can easily analyze your department’s efficiency, and identify the opportunities for training, coaching, or supervision.
Sanitization Standards
Travelers are sensitive to how businesses maintain their cleanliness, particularly within the travel and hospitality industry. Sanitization procedures are increasing, and you must prepare to continue elevated sanitization efforts going forward as with during a pandemic.
Ecolab has specific recommendations and considerations for hoteliers to eliminate the spread of contagions including:
- Hand sanitizing stations (wipes, gel, spray)
- More tissues and paper products
- Sanitizing products for all major touchpoint areas
- Antibacterial soap
- Plastic laundry bags (individual bag per room)
- Baskets to leave frequently handled items for no-contact procedures
You will require flexible tools to help with occupancy forecasting and to help you create a new budget for the Housekeeping Department in two different ways: revised MPOR, and greater budgeting for cleaning supplies. Your staffing and training must account for revised protocols, increased MPOR and extra time to correctly care for all public spaces in your hotel.
Conclusion
Investing in technology for housekeepers will help control labor costs and eliminate the guesswork in your operations to save your bottom line. You can have fewer instances of under/overstaffing, improve your employee’s focus and accountability, and give your Executive Housekeeper a scheduling powerhouse for every level of occupancy.
