Each year an increasing number of hotels, both in the United States of America and abroad, as well as facilities and services for tourists, take one of the first places in the formation of tourist infrastructure. Accommodation is an important element of almost any tour. Often the motivation for choosing the hotel tourist is decisive. Therefore, today hospitality is one of the most promising and fastest growing industries, generating worldwide multimillion profits. Hospitality has a great potential to generate a steady income. From a business perspective, the hotel is now in production and the provision of services of commercial hospitality that offers the amenities and service to the consumer. That is the functional purpose of the services is that the hotel is designed to create a comfortable environment for guests and provide him with a number of additional services. This paper is aimed on proving that the housekeeping department is significant for hotel guests as well as for the hotel itself.
It is well known that the success of any business depends on its proper organization. Hospitality is no exception to this rule, therefore, the organizational structure in a very high impact influences the performance of an absolute majority of the company. To quickly and efficiently provide customers with a claimed range of services, the hotel will have to have a well-oiled mechanism of providing such services. In addition, the crucial factor is the harmony in the work of all structural units of a hotel because hotel business is characterized not only by a large number of staff with different skills, but also various kinds of relationships (links) between its employees (staff and management), as well as structural units (departments). Although properly designed organizational structure itself is not a sufficient condition for the success of the hotel, its absence makes it impossible to organize the effective work of the entire enterprise, regardless of the level of skills and competencies of managers and staff.
The purpose of the housekeeping department is to provide guest service in the rooms, maintain the necessary sanitary conditions of the guest rooms and public spaces, the provision of personal services to customers. Neither hotel can exist without the housekeeping department. It is headed, usually by a woman. In large hotels subordinate leader of the Housekeeping services usually are: Deputy (Assistant Housekeeper); assistant head of service or senior maids (HSKP Supervisors); staff maids (chambermaids); staff Laundry and Dry (Laundry / Dry Cleaning Service) and linen (Linen Room ); employees health club (Health Club) or the sports center (Fitness Center); florists (Florists).
As a rule, the housekeeping is a component of the control capacity of the hotel. The role of this unit is great, because the cleanliness or lack thereof are striking the first to the guests. According to surveys of customers, order and cleanliness are paramount among the requirements to the hotel. Indeed, the depth of the pool is rarely in a hotel or car numbers supplied excite guest more than the bed comfort, the quality bedding and sanitary conditions of the bathroom. Largely through the efforts of staff administrative service guest feel at home, surrounded by care and attention. For many people, the maid is still associated with a broom and a bucket. Argued that the work of the housekeeping department is unattractive, not qualified, not prestigious, unlike other parts of the hotel enterprise. Earlier in the service of the hotel maids were treated as secondary, not worthy of special attention. All this took place, but it took a long time in history. Nowadays hotel business is developing rather fast and managers understand the role housekeeping plays in the business. That work of a maid every guest spots daily (communicating with her even if not directly, but indirectly), and more often than recorder operation, the driver or waiter. Guests wake up in the morning in bed prepared by a maid, enjoys perfume and cosmetic products which were decomposed by a maid; sees the room in the evening and goes to bed prepared by the maid during the day.
Employees of administrative service are of great value to the enterprise. The head of the housekeeping service has the same high status as the leaders of other hotel services. To work today in the administrative service, one should know a lot and be very skilled. This unit needs a reliable and honest staff, as it has direct access to the personal belongings of guests staying in the rooms. The housekeeping is the largest division in the hotel on the number of staff. People there work in a big team of employees who have the opportunity to demonstrate their organizational and leadership skills. Work in this unit is a good starting place for career advancement and compares favorably in this respect from other smaller units by company headcount hotel. Nice hotel manager is obliged to thoroughly know the work of the housekeeping staff.
In its activities, the housekeeping staff apply certain techniques and work in accordance with accepted standards of service in the hotel. Advanced technology service of this unit includes a clear procedure and better ways of cleaning of residential rooms and public areas. The concept of standard is defined as the type species, the sample to be met by anything in their characteristics, properties or qualities. Standard - established hotel requirements for products and services. To survive in the fierce competition and succeed in the market, it is necessary to improve the functioning of all services of the hotel, and in particular at the housekeeping , to introduce the latest technology in the service organization and the number of rooms to strictly follow the high standards of cleanliness . Leaders of the hospitality industry is constantly working on these challenging task. Requires to be constantly ahead of others, to put forward new ideas and creative approach to work, seek new forms and methods to improve the service. The hotels owned by large hotel chains, introduced strict standards of service.
On the one hand, customers are assured that the service will be what they expect to see it regardless of the country in which the hotel is located. On the other hand, if there are certain standards, it is easier to control the quality. The housekeeping department is an invisible department: usually guests do not see what goes on and how their rooms become clear. However, the point is that this department is the most significant in the hotel. It has been already mentioned that guests evaluate a hotel according to its order and cleanness. Thus, the better the housekeeping department works in the hotel, the more guests will visit it.
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