HM Elec 4-

Housekeeping
Operation

BY: JENNYLYN C. CASABAR

 CHAPTER 3-
DIRECTING
AND
CONTROLLING
INTRODUCTION
 Housekeeping is the heart and backbone of the
hotel.
 Responsible for the cleanliness and maintenance of
different areas of the hotel, and ensure that guest
feels welcome and comfortable.
 Responsible in handling keys, and managing the
laundry.
 It is rightly said that housekeeping is a 24x7x365
operation.
Control Desk
 This is the main communication center of the Housekeeping.
 It is from here that all information is sent out and received concerning the
department.
 It is the house center for co-ordination with the front office, banquet,
Room service and maintenance etc.
 It should have a large notice board to pin up staff schedules, day to day
information, instruction etc.
 The desk control room is the point where all staff report for duty and
checkout at the duty end.
 It would normally adjoin the Housekeeper‘s office.
 The main job of housekeeping control desk is to maintain the smooth
communication process in order to complete daily housekeeping
operations.
Importance of Housekeeping Control Desk
 It is the hub or the single point of contact for all hotels‘
housekeeping staff.
 It where the new information is fetched and it is distributed
among the relevant staff.
 It also needs to ensure that the coordination among the
housekeeping staff and with all other departments of the
hotel goes smooth.

As the housekeeping work is mainly oriented towards providing

the best service to the guests, this department needs to work
towards sharing information without any communication gaps
Function of Housekeeping Control Desk
 Thehotel housekeeping performs the following
functions:
Collecting all requests made by the guests.
Briefing
the staff about the routine or special event
preparation before the staff turns up their sleeves.
Assigning
routine duties / changed duties to the
housekeeping staff.
Collecting work reports from staff.
Collecting check-out room number and updating it
to the floor supervisor.
Function of Housekeeping Control Desk
Handling key cabinet that contains the keys of all
floors‘ master keys and housekeeping store keys.
Maintaining various records of forms and registers.
Recording all room number especially of the groups.
Maintaining daily weekly cleaning schedule.
Preparingduty roster of journal housekeeping staff
and supervisors.
Maintenance of record on daily basic.
IMPORTANT REGISTER MAINTAINED BY
HOUSEKEEPING
 Weekly Cleaning Register: The weekly cleaning schedule is set out
by the floor supervisor who controls their activity through a Register
 Babysitting Register: Babysitting is provided as a service by
housekeeping department for guest who have small baby or
children.
 Store Indent Book: The store indent book is kept at the control
desk so that the supervisors may indent for housekeeping
supplies that are required by the GRAS.
 Key Control Register: This is one of the most important register
maintained at the control desk. It is a part of the Key Security
System to be followed by the H.K. Department. Each employee
who is handed over a key, any key, from the key cabinet is
supposed to sign for it in a key control seat in the register.
 Logbook: Log book is used to record all messages that
staff from an earlier shift 1 to convey to the employee on
the next shift.
 Memo book: This book is used for recording all the
maintenance work for which the housekeeping department
initiated work orders.
 Guest Message Register: The housekeeping control desk is
responsible for taking these guest messages and passing them
onto the concerned staff. The message could be about the
provision of certain guest loan items for a request for a second
service.
 Carpet Shampoo Register: This record the Carpet cleaning task
that has been followed recording each such project as it is
completed.
 Room Inspection Checklist File: Room checklist should be developed for all
the areas that the housekeeping department is responsible for cleaning
and maintaining. The ideal checklist itemize all surfaces and articles, lays
down and Standards of cleanliness to be achieved, and allows space for
supervisors to indicate checks and record any observation.
 Key history register: The record of all key lost in
the housekeeping department and those for
which new keys are duplicated are being used.
 Leave Application Form: Leave application forms
are stocked at the control desk so that they are
easily accessible to employee who wishes to
take leave.
 Accident Report Form: An Accident Report form
is filled up when any employee or Guest meets
with an accident on the hotel premises.
 Room status reports file: The room reports is prepared in triplicate by the
housekeeping department each shift as an independent check on
occupancy.
DUTY ROSTER AND WORK SCHEDULE
 Duty roster specify the allotment of jobs of duty and days off
for each employee to make for an even there of duties the
Roaster should be rotated every 4 weeks
 Advantage of duty roster:
The major advantages of duty roaster are as under:
 The exact number of staff required to be on duty at any
given Occupancy.
 Thatstaff working hours are as per their employment
contract.
 Knowledge of which employees are present on the
premises in any emergencies.
DUTY ROSTER AND WORK SCHEDULE
 Work schedule: - A work schedule is a document
that lists the actual work to be carried out by an
employee in the particular shift and the time frame
in which to undertake each task.
 The document includes the following points.
1. The position of the employee.
2. That time at which the employee has to perform
the allotment task.
3. Time for tidying equipment and closing up.
BRIEFING AND DEBRIEFING
Briefing:
- Briefing is the process facilitates a two-way
communication between the management and the
staff.
The following may be communicated in the course of
a briefing session of 10 minutes:
Job allocation
Any VIP in the hotel
Checking of grooming and personal hygiene
Appreciation of work wall done on earlier shift
BRIEFING AND DEBRIEFING
 Debriefing: - This session, same as to the briefing at the staff of a
shift
 May include the following:
Discussion problem faced by any in staff member
Sharing
experience and inciting ideas to tackle any particular
common problem
Handover of any incomplete work to the stuff on the next shift
Checking the next day‘s duty Roaster
After the debriefing the morning shift employee proceeds to
the uniform exchange counter to exchange a solid uniform for
fresh ones for the next working day.
 Managing
Inventories and
Controlling
Expenses
The term inventory can be described as
the stocks of purchased operating
supplies, equipment, and other items held
for future use in housekeeping operations.
Inventory Control
 is
a technique of maintaining and checking the stock in
housekeeping department.
 Stock control involves purchasing, requisitions, receiving,
storing, issuing to various sections of housekeeping
department.
 The Inventory control system is maintained by every
department to manage its inventories efficiently. Inventory
control can be managed by maintaining par stock, stock
taking, and accurate forecasting.
The benefits or importance of inventory
control is listed in following points:
1. It enables housekeeping department to provide better services to its
customers.
2. It keeps a smooth flow of Housekeeping supplies and aids in
continuing operations.
3. It checks and maintains the right stock in department and reduces
the risk of loss.
4. It makes effective use of working capital by avoiding over-stocking.
5. It helps to maintain a check on loss of materials due to carelessness or
pilferage (stealing).
6. It facilitates cost accounting activities.
The benefits or importance of inventory
control is listed in following points:
7. It avoids duplication in ordering of stock.
8. It helps housekeeping department for forecasting and
budgeting.
9. By managing inventory better, housekeeping department
can avoid dead stock.
10. It manages storage space very efficiently.
11. Shortage or poor stock rotation will reduce standards and
therefore directly reduce revenue.
The benefits or importance of inventory
control is listed in following points:
12. Excessive stock may constitute a safety risk and
reduce cash flow.
13. Losses may occur will must be identified, caused
established and controls implemented.
14. Monitoring of use and product evaluation is better
achieved.
15. Budgetary control is facilitated.
16. Standardization of quality is facilitated.
Methods of Inventory Control:
The following are the methods used in Housekeeping
department for Inventory control:
Physical Inventory: A periodic actual counting of all the
operating supplies, equipment and other items in the storage
areas.
Methods of Inventory Control:
 Perpetual Inventory System: Perpetual maintaining a
continuous record of all purchases and issued items like mini
bar supplies and room’s non recycled supplies.
 The following are the techniques
used in the Housekeeping
department for controlling stocks:

Set Par stock

First in First Out and Last in First out
Auditing
Accurate Forecasting
 SET PAR STOCK:
 Par stock is the minimum level of supplies required to meet daily demands to
ensure smooth operations. It is the standard quantity of each inventoried
item that must be on hand to support daily, routine housekeeping
operations.
Importance of Par Stocks:
i. Correct and sufficient Investment of capital
ii. Prevent over stocking
iii. Helps in Budgeting
iv. Inventory taking
v. Optimum use of space/ store
vi. Ensure proper supply of linen and uniforms at all times
 Establishing Par Stock
Par levels are determined differently for the two types of inventories.
 Inventory levels for recycled items are measured in terms of a par
number. A par number is a multiple of the standard quantity of a
particular inventory item that must be on hand to support day to day
housekeeping functions.
 In case of non-recycled inventory items a par number is a range
between two figures: The minimum quantity refers to the lowest
number of purchase units that must be in stock at any given point of
time. The maximum inventory quantity refers to the greatest number of
purchase units that should be in stock at any given point of time. The
storage space available, the cost of the item, and its shelf life are
certain factors that must be kept in mind when establishing maximum
inventory levels for the non-recycled inventory items.
An example of par stock for linen

First-
determine the appropriate inventory
level for all types of linen used in the hotel.

Second- replacement of worn, damaged,

lost, or stolen linen.
This is a sample calculation of how to establish a par stock level for
king-size sheets for a hotel that uses an in-house laundry operation
and supplies three sheets for each of the property’s 300 king-sized
beds.

100 king-size beds x 3 sheets per bed = 300 sheets per par number
One par in guestrooms 1 x 300 = 300 sheets
One par in floor linen closets 1 x 300 = 300 sheets
One par soiled in laundry 1 x 300 = 300 sheets
One par replacement stock 1 x 300 = 300 sheets
One par for emergencies 1 x 300 = 300 sheets

Total number = 1,500 sheets

1,500 sheets ÷ 300 sheets/par = 5 par

Practices For Effective Inventory Control

 Control on misuse, shortage and mix-

ups
 Proper storage
 Regular stock taking
 Spot checks
 Proper supervision
STOCK-TAKING:
 Counting of on-hand inventory. This means
identifying every item on hand, counting it and
summarizing these quantities by item.
 Discrepancies
between Housekeeping manual stock
count and electronic records (PMS) allow picking up
on a range of issues and putting processes into
place to ensure better stock control and
management. This will lead to increased profits in the
future.
Importance of Stock taking:
Stocktaking highlights stock control issues and areas where a
department needs to improve on in order to be even more
profitable. The importance of stock taking as follows:
 Stock taking helps Housekeeping executive to find out any
thefts in the department.
 A regular stocktaking will also highlight problems with
damaged stock, unprocessed or missing orders, and poor
stock control practices.
 Stocktaking will highlight any shortages department weren’t
aware of and will prompt to order more next time.
 Stocktaking acts to improve areas of weakness and loss.
Methods and Principle involved:
 Physical counting is done after every three months and is also known as
quarterly inventory.
 All items are segregated and grouped including discards.
 Counting of items in circulation and in store is separately done and
added together.
 Discards are stamped “condemned “and kept aside.
 Counted total should tally with the last inventory figures plus issues
received after that.
 Inventory must be conducted in the presence of the housekeeper,
Accounts clerk and the auditor.
 Stock taking is conducted on three separate days, each for: Uniforms,
Room linen and Restaurant linen.
Room Linen Inventory Form